Q18

[tzyc]

The author thinks it does not reflect reality because in fact Frence was not arusticratuc society as what Watteau drew so does not reflect the reality (and this is the discrepancy said in Q17 C), and his admiers thought it reflects the reality because Watteay predicted a society (so although it's future society, it's real)...correct??

Thank you

[ohthatpatrick]

I think you might be focusing too much on specific lines and missing the overall gist. The passage's overall point is that late 1800s French people think that Watteau's paintings accurately depict the age Watteau lived in (early 1700s).

Line 5 says that the late 1800s French "accepted this image as genuine".

The rest of the 1st paragraph explains how Watteau came to gain such an influential reputation, but the author doesn't begin fighting the idea of whether Watteau's France was a "genuine" image of France until the 2nd paragraph.

The author thinks it's silly that Watteau is regarded as showing what it meant to be French in the 1700s because
- Watteau only lived during the early 1700s, a calamitous time of war ... whereas he's remembered for depicting a "witty and amiable" century with "lyrical and charming" works.
- Watteau was born in a Flemish town that had only recently become part of France

The last part that was confusing you (about predicting the future) is saying this:
If someone said to these Watteau lovers, "Hey, guys .. how can you say that we was the essence of French if he was barely French?" they would say, "Well, being born Flemish didn't determine his art. His art was French!" If you said, "how can you say that he depicted the century he lived in when he lived through terrible war but painted lyrical, charming, happy stuff?" they would say, "Well maybe he didn't actually LIVE in the world he painted, but he predicted how France WOULD become after his lifetime."

These last lines are not really important to the big picture. The picture is just that people think of Watteau's work as a genuine image of the France he lived in, and the author's main point is that that notion is silly.

[HaojingZ594]

Why C is better than D? I think the whole passage talked about the author did not think it's proper to derive image of France from Watteau's paintings of France. But the passage did not say the only paintings Watteau produced were all about France, thus inferring from the passage that misleadingly "reflecting social reality" is somewhat overgeneralized.

I do find option D uses strong language "much more", but is there any other problem with this option?

Thanks.

[krisk743]

Why C is better than D? I think the whole passage talked about the author did not think it's proper to derive image of France from Watteau's paintings of France. But the passage did not say the only paintings Watteau produced were all about France, thus inferring from the passage that misleadingly "reflecting social reality" is somewhat overgeneralized.

I do find option D uses strong language "much more", but is there any other problem with this option?

Thanks.

Anyone?