Reading Passage Question

Jacob Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European women “stood on a footing of perfect equality” with Renaissance men has been repeatedly cited by feminist scholars as a prelude to their presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s inequality. In striking contrast to Burckhardt, Joan Kelly in her famous 1977 essay, “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” argued that the Renaissance was a period of economic and social decline for women relative both to Renaissance men and to medieval women. Recently, however, a significant trend among feminist scholars has entailed a rejection of both Kelly’s dark vision of the Renaissance and Burckhardt’s rosy one. Many recent works by these scholars stress the ways in which differences among Renaissance women—especially in terms of social status and religion—work to complicate the kinds of generalizations both Burckhardt and Kelly made on the basis of their observations about upper-class Italian women.

The trend is also evident, however, in works focusing on those middle- and upper-class European women whose ability to write gives them disproportionate representation in the historical record. Such women were, simply by virtue of their literacy, members of a tiny minority of the population, so it is risky to take their descriptions of their experiences as typical of “female experience” in any general sense. Tina Krontiris, for example, in her fascinating study of six Renaissance women writers, does tend at times to conflate “women” and “women writers,” assuming that women’s gender, irrespective of other social differences, including literacy, allows us to view women as a homogeneous social group and make that group an object of analysis. Nonetheless, Krontiris makes a significant contribution to the field and is representative of those authors who offer what might be called a cautiously optimistic assessment of Renaissance women’s achievements, although she also stresses the social obstacles Renaissance women faced when they sought to raise their “oppositional voices.” Krontiris is concerned to show women intentionally negotiating some power for themselves (at least in the realm of public discourse) against potentially constraining ideologies, but in her sober and thoughtful concluding remarks, she suggests that such verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed; women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them.

“Jacob Burckhardt’s View that Renaissance European Women Stood on” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions.

The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. The comprehension question usually involves a recent news item, a topic linked to the competitive exam, or something from another area of life. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Q1) The author of the passage discusses Krontiris mainly to provide an example of a writer who

1. is highly critical of the writings of some Renaissance women
2. supports Kelly’s view of women’s position during the Renaissance
3. has misinterpreted the works of some Renaissance women
4. has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly
5. has studied Renaissance women in a great variety of social and religious contexts

Q2) According to the given passage, Krontiris’s work differs from that of the scholars mentioned in the highlighted text in which of the following ways?

1. Krontiris’s work emphasizes the achievements of Renaissance women rather than the obstacles to their success.
2. Krontiris’s work is based on a re-interpretation of the work of earlier scholars.
3. Krontiris’s views differ from those of both Kelly and Burkhardt.
4. Krontiris’s work focuses on the position of women in Renaissance society.
5. Krontiris’s views are based mostly on the study of a privileged group of women.

Q3) According to the passage, feminist scholars refer to Burckhardt’s view of Renaissance women primarily for which of the following reasons?

1. Burckhardt’s view forms the basis for many arguments refuting Kelly's point of view.
2. Burckhardt’s view has been rejected by Kelly.
3. Burckhardt’s view is one with that many feminist scholars wish to disagree.
4. Burckhardt’s work gives rich historical evidence of inequality between Renaissance women and men.
5. Burckhardt’s work includes historical research supporting the arguments of many feminist scholars.

Q4) It can be inferred that both Burckhardt and Kelly have been criticized by the scholars mentioned in the highlighted words or which of the following?

1. Assuming that women writers of the Renaissance are representatives of Renaissance women in general
2. Drawing conclusions that are based on the study of an atypical kind of women
3. Failing to describe clearly the relationship between social position and literacy among Renaissance women
4. Failing to recognise the role played by Renaissance women in opposing cultural stereotypes
5. Failing to acknowledge the methods in which social status affected the creative activities of Renaissance women

Q5) The writer of the passage suggests that Krontiris incorrectly assumes that

1. social differences among Renaissance women are less significant than the fact that they were women
2. literacy among Renaissance women was more common than most scholars today acknowledge
3. during the Renaissance, women were able to successfully oppose cultural stereotypes belonging to a gender
4. Renaissance women did not face many difficult social obstacles belonging to their gender
5. in order to gain power, Renaissance women attacked basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them

Q6) The last sentence in the passage serves mainly to

1. suggest that Krontiris’s work is not representative of modern trends among feminist scholars
2. undermine the argument that literate women of the Renaissance demanded to oppose social constraints imposed on them
3. show a way in which Krontiris’s work exemplifies a “cautiously optimistic" assessment of Renaissance women’s achievements
4. summarize Krontiris’s view of the effect of literacy on the condition of upper- and middle-class Renaissance women
5. exemplifies how Krontiris’s study differs from the studies done by Burckhardt and Kelly

Q7) The author of the passage means that the women studied by Krontiris are unusual in which of the following ways?

1. They faced obstacles less formidable than those experienced by other Renaissance women.
2. They have been seen by historians as more convincing than other Renaissance women.
3. They were more related to recording history accurately than were other Renaissance women.
4. Their opinions are more likely to be accessible to historians than are those of most other Renaissance women.
5. Their concerns are likely to be of greater focus to feminist scholars than are the ideas of most other Renaissance women.

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