ELA 1.02 "Mary Cassatt: Artist and Trailblazer"

How does the author demonstrate Mary Cassatt’s determination to be a great painter someday?

Select the two correct answers.

• through an example of how people admired Cassatt’s paintings of the countryside

• through an anecdote about vowing to a friend that she would be greater than the old masters

• through an anecdote about seeing works of art in the Louvre and wanting to be a painter

• through an example of Cassatt realizing American museums did not have many great paintings

Read the passage from "Mary Cassatt: Artist and Trailblazer."

Some time later, Degas saw one of Cassatt’s portraits. He noticed that while she painted with the skill and grace of the old masters, she also mixed in the ideas and techniques of newer artists. In her work, he recognized a kindred spirit. It is said that after he looked at her painting, he cried o his friend, “There is someone who feels as I do!”

How does this anecdote from paragraph 14 affect the reader?

• It shows that Cassatt and Degas shared the same artistic vision.

• It reveals that Degas like Cassatt felt he could someday paint better than the old masters.

• It shows that her work made Degas cry because he realized she was a better painter than he was.

• It suggests that he saw things in Cassatt’s work that he wanted to use in his.

Which elements of this painting would prevent it from being accepted by the jury at the Salon?

• the casual pose of the young girl

• the short quick brush strokes

• the bright colors

• a female subject

Read the passage "Mary Cassatt: Artist and Trailblazer."

One day, as Cassatt walked past a gallery window, she saw a pastel drawing by a boldly original French artist, Edgar Degas. She stopped in front of the window and stared at it. She could not tear herself away. The next day she returned to look at Degas’ work, and the next, and the next. “I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art,” she wrote to a friend. “It changed my life. I saw art then as I wanted to see it.”

Why does the author include this anecdote of Cassatt first seeing the work of Degas?

• She wants the reader to understand that Cassatt learned her technique from Degas.

• She offers a connection to Cassatt’s original idea of wanting to paint like the old masters.

• She is trying to prove that Degas was so bold and original that Cassatt had to copy his painting.

• She wants to show how Degas’ art changed the way Cassatt looked at art.