Bigbook Test19 - Session 1 - Short Passage - Confused

GRE Verbal Problem Solving
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(Full passage below)

This passage seems to abruptly change from talking about writing to dancing. Because of this, I was quite surprised during my reading and had to check back what I read to make sure it’s talking about the writing at the beginning - which obviously cost me quite a bit of time doubting myself and what I read. Does anyone have the same feeling? Is this only me? Or is this passage really talking 2 different things - writing and dancing?

This is the sentence which started abruption in me. Out of nowhere, the author is mentioning “movements of her body.” After reading that I panicked, started to questioning what is really going on here. Is this passage about writing or dancing? or that “masterly writings on the dance” somehow has a different meaning of dancing?

She shunned bodily ornamentation and strove to use only the natural movements of her body, undistorted by acrobatic exaggeration and stimulated only by internal compulsion.

After some thought after reading the whole passage, I concluded that she’s a special dancer and use dancing as the main theme to guide me answering questions. Even though I got all correct, I’m sure I may experience this disconnection again?

Isadora Duncan’s masterly writings on the dance reveal the depth of her determination to create a lyric form of the art which was free of characterization, storytelling, and the theatrical exhibition of skills: She wished to discard the traditional methods and established vocabularies of such dance forms as ballet and to explore the internal sources of human expressiveness. She shunned bodily ornamentation and strove to use only the natural movements of her body, undistorted by acrobatic exaggeration and stimulated only by internal compulsion. In her recitals Duncan danced to the music o Beethoven, Wagner, and Gluck, among others, but, contrary to popular belief, she made no attempt to visualize or to interpret the music; rather, she simply relied on it to provide the inspiration for expressing inner feelings through movement. She did not regard this use of music as ideal, however, believing that she would someday dispense with music entirely. That day never came.

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The author here is using writing, vocabulary of ballet figuratively. He is actaully talking about dance all the way.

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Thanks for the explanation. I tried to find a different definition of writing that may relate to ballet but I could not find any. Does figurative mean something that we have to kind of infer and not exist in the dictionaries? If you have further insight, would love to hear it

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Hi @HoldMyBeer,

I did check that video out before posting this question, but the video does not seem to address my question. If you have more insights, would love to hear them

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Well, if you think about it a dance is a lot like a novel right? Often there’s story, characterization, etc. in a dance performance. Think about a production like Swan Lake. They aren’t just dancing around willy-nilly on stage; they’re telling a story, with a plot and everything :slight_smile:

I see where your confusion stems from - I briefly got confused too, but really, the only reference to writing in this entire paragraph is in the first sentence: “Duncan’s writings reveal her feelings about dance.”

The rest of the passage reads like an extended metaphor for a novel, although it really isn’t a metaphor at all because both dances and novels tell stories.

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Good discussion everyone.