The correct answer is (E).
Poetry and Fiction
Step 1: Read the Passage Strategically
Sample Highlighting
For decades, there has been a deep rift between poetry and fiction in the United States, especially in academic settings; graduate writing programs in universities, for example, train students as poets or as writers of fiction, but almost never as both. Both poets and writers of fiction have tended to support this separation, in large part because the current conventional wisdom holds that poetry should be elliptical and lyrical, reflecting inner states and processes of thought or feeling, whereas character and narrative events are the stock-in-trade of fiction.
Certainly it is true that poetry and fiction are distinct genres, but why have specialized education and literary territoriality resulted from this distinction? The answer lies perhaps in a widespread attitude in U.S. culture, which often casts a suspicious eye on the generalist. Those with knowledge and expertise in multiple areas risk charges of dilettantism, as if ability in one field is diluted or compromised by accomplishment in another.
Fortunately, there are signs that the bias against writers who cross generic boundaries is diminishing; several recent writers are known and respected for their work in both genres. One important example of this trend is Rita Dove, an African American writer highly acclaimed for both her poetry and her fiction. A few years ago, speaking at a conference entitled "Poets Who Write Fiction," Dove expressed gentle incredulity about the habit of segregating the genres. She had grown up reading and loving both fiction and poetry, she said, unaware of any purported danger lurking in attempts to mix the two. She also studied for some time in Germany, where, she observes, "Poets write plays, novelists compose libretti, playwrights write novels—they would not understand our restrictiveness."
It makes little sense, Dove believes, to persist in the restrictive approach to poetry and fiction prevalent in the U.S., because each genre shares in the nature of the other. Indeed, her poetry offers example after example of what can only be properly regarded as lyric narrative. Her use of language in these poems is undeniably lyrical—that is, it evokes emotion and inner states without requiring the reader to organize ideas or events in a particular linear structure. Yet this lyric expression simultaneously presents the elements of a plot in such a way that the reader is led repeatedly to take account of clusters of narrative details within the lyric flow. Thus while the language is lyrical, it often comes to constitute, cumulatively, a work of narrative fiction. Similarly, many passages in her fiction, though undeniably prose, achieve the status of lyric narrative through the use of poetic rhythms and elliptical expression. In short, Dove bridges the gap between poetry and fiction not only by writing in both genres, but also by fusing the two genres within individual works.
Passage Notes
Paragraph 1
Rift between poetry/ fiction in US
Rift supported by writers b/c of different qualities
Paragraph 2
Reason for rift: US suspicion of generalists
Paragraph 3
Genre crossing becoming OK
Ex: Rita Dove
Dove's POV on mixing genres
Paragraph 4
Dove: poetry/fiction share traits
Ex: her poetry
Dove's poems = narr. fiction
Dove's fiction = lyric narr.
Dove bridges fiction/poetry gap
Discussion
Paragraph 1 jumps right into the Topic: the division between poetry and fiction in the United States. The Scope and Purpose won't become clear until later in the passage, but the first paragraph does narrow the Topic a bit by focusing on how writers have perpetuated the division between fiction and poetry.
Paragraph 2 suggests a possible reason for the division: U.S. culture doesn't think much of generalists. You also get a taste of the author's perspective in the last sentence, . . . as if ability in one field is diluted or compromised by accomplishment in another. This suggests that the author thinks ability is not diminished by involvement in multiple fields, and starts to suggest the Scope of the passage.
Paragraph 3 starts with another strong indication of the author's view, the Keyword [f]ortunately. The author thinks it's a good thing that the boundaries are starting to break down. The rest of the paragraph (and, indeed, the rest of the passage) is devoted to the example of Rita Dove, an author whose work blends elements traditionally associated with poetry and those traditionally associated with fiction. Here, the Scope and Purpose should become clearer. The Scope, or specific aspect of the Topic explored by the author, is the move toward the breakdown of the barrier between poetry and fiction, as represented by Rita Dove. The author's Purpose is simply to illustrate the trend toward breaking down the poetry/fiction divide. The Main Idea is that Rita Dove is an example of a trend in which the rigid boundaries between poetry and fiction in America are starting to erode.
The author's attitude suggests that she advocates for further breakdown of the barrier, but the rest of the passage doesn't quite go that far. Rather than advocating anything, paragraph 4 simply explains how Dove not only writes in both genres, but also melds elements of poetry and fiction in some of her work.
(E) Inference
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
Any question that asks about the author's attitude toward a particular part of the passage is an Inference question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The "deep rift" between poetry and fiction in the United States is discussed mainly in the first two paragraphs and briefly at the beginning of paragraph 3.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
Fortunately the first sentence of paragraph 3 tells you that the author's not a fan of the rift between poetry and fiction, and that she's glad to see it diminishing. Also, the end of paragraph 2 suggests skepticism from the author toward the idea that crossing genres dilutes a writer's competence in either genre.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(E) correctly characterizes that idea as one of the "attitudes and presuppositions underlying the rift."
(A) is unsupported. The author isn't perplexed about what caused the rift; she tells us explicitly in paragraph 2.
(B) is Extreme and Outside the Scope of the passage. Astonishment is too strong a word, and there's no reason to believe that the author thinks academics are unaware of the rift.
(C) suggests that the author is conflicted about her position on the rift, but there's no sign of ambivalence; the author makes her position on the division crystal clear.
(D) is unsupported. The final sentence of the passage announces that one writer, at least, bridges the gap. If the author were truly pessimistic, then the hopeful example of Rita Dove would be left out of the passage entirely.
