Surrealism

Which of the following examples would most likely be categorized as a surrealist work?

• A portrait of a member of the french Aristocracy, posing with his dog and wearing a pink suit

• An article about how dreams influence people’s behavior, backed by scientific studies

• A very detailed picture of a girl riding a unicycle while juggling various items of fruit

• A dreamlike scene in which all the figures have human faces and animal bodies

Tags

E2.5C

E2.5D

E2.4F

The following passage (paragraph 2) mainly adds to the development of the text by ...

At the end of the nineteenth century, western European nations were at the height of their powers. It was a time of prosperity—the cities of London, Paris, and Berlin were capitals of commerce and art. It was an age that prized rational thinking and realism above all else. However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 shattered that world. Four years later, millions of people were dead, and land was scarred by trenches and battles. The artists and writers who emerged in the postwar period wanted a new way of thinking about the world and representing it in their art.

• describing the cultural and historical events that brought about surrealism

• showing the difficulties that surrealist artists and writers faced in their everyday lives

• explaining why surrealist artists were particularly drawn to violence and death

• arguing that European surrealists were partially to blame for starting World War I

Tags

E2.5D

E2.7D.ii

Which meaning of conscious most closely matches its meaning in the following passage (paragraph 2)?

According to Freud, the unconscious mind, with its bizarre dreams, hazy memories, and impolite impulses, deeply influences the way people behave in the world. In 1924, French poet and critic André Breton took Freud’s idea of the unconscious versus conscious and applied it to art and literature. Breton believed that rational thought and realism kept artists and writers from accessing their creativity.

Answer choices for the above question

• adjective | Aware of and responding to one's surroundings; awake

• adjective | (Of the mind or a thought) directly perceptible to and under the control of the person concerned

• adjective | Painfully aware of; sensitive to

• adjective | Concerned with or worried about a particular matter

Tags

E2.5C

E2.2B

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the following passage (paragraph 4)?

Each of the surrealists had a distinct style of exploring and expressing the unconscious, but ultimately they fell into two groups. Some, like Dalí and Magritte, created works that incorporated identifiable objects from the real world but arranged them in strange, often nightmarish scenes. A classic example is Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, which features several clocks that appear to be melting in a desert setting. Viewers recognize the clocks, but the fact that they are melting and in a desert is irrational and unsettling. Magritte’s paintings are characterized by faceless men and women standing against a blue sky filled with white, fluffy clouds. Their faces are often obscured by a cloth or replaced by an object, such as an apple. First-time viewers usually experience confusion as they gaze at the images, and they struggle to make an interpretation. Other surrealists, like Miró and Arp preferred to create surreal art that they considered “organic” or “absolute.” Their works mixed abstract shapes, colorful blobs, and chaotic lines that evoke a strong response in viewers and can not be easily described or interpreted. Max Ernst’s Ubu Imperator reflects these features. Comprised of a red, tower-like structure with arms that seems to be spinning on a top, this painting defies easy interpretation.

• Surrealists often collaborated on the same piece of art, while utilizing different techniques and tools.

• Surrealists aimed to create art without straightforward meaning or obvious interpretation.

• Surrealists usually experienced mental health struggles that influenced their dark and unusual art.

• Surrealists were often frustrated that viewers did not understand their art.

Tags

E2.5D

E2.4F

Surrealist authors and artists were mainly influenced by​ (Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud​, Pablo Picasso's) (a)   psychological theory about ​ (b)   ( avant-garde, impolite impulses and nightmares, the conscious mind).

• Sigmund Freud’s
• the unconscious mind
• Carl Jung’s
• the conscious mind
• Pablo Picasso’s
• avant-garde
• impolite impulses and nightmares

Tags

E2.5C

E2.5D

Which selection from the excerpt best supports that Surrealists were inspired by Freud’s theory about the unconscious mind.

• “Surrealists drew on Sigmund Freud’s theories about the unconscious mind that were based on his work with dreams.”

• “Thus, surrealism became a movement of artists and writers who tapped into their unconscious minds to make art that was strange and fantastical.”

• “Some, like Dalí and Magritte, created works that incorporated identifiable objects from the real world but arranged them in strange, often nightmarish scenes.”

• “Freud concluded that a person’s unconscious mind was as important as his or her conscious mind.”

Tags

E2.5C

Which of the following statements about free form and surrealist writing is best supported by the text?

• It requires formal literary training because there is no ability to edit after the writing is completed.

• It creates the sense that the reader is experiencing their own thoughts while reading.

• It allows the author to express their inner thoughts without holding back or overthinking the process.

• All of the above

Tags

E2.5C

E2.5D

E2.4F

Which sentence from the excerpt best supports that the benefit of free form is that the writing does not have to be perfect or have a straightforward meaning; this allows the writer to express themselves without overthinking.

• “Like surrealist art, surrealist poetry was deeply influenced by the unconscious. The poetry was characterized by the juxtaposition or unexpected placement of contrasting words, ideas, and symbols.”

• “They wanted to create art and literature that was absolute, pure, and a reflection of their unconscious minds.”

• “The result is often chaotic and full of bizarre descriptions and incomplete or meandering sentences, as in Dali’s partly fictional autobiography.”

• “She relied on free-form to express her most intimate passions, tragedies, and frustrations.”

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E2.5C

Match each vocabulary word with its definition.

• unconscious

• The avoidance of conscious intention in producing works of art, especially by using mechanical techniques or subconscious associations

• bizarre

• New and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts,

• automatism

• Very strange or unusual

• avant-garde

• The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

• juxtaposition

• Done or existing without one realizing

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E2.2B

Match each characteristic to the corresponding artist, as supported by the text.

• Salvador Dalí

• Artist who did not use his unconscious mind to create, but whose “style was partly borrowed from and reinforced by the surrealists.”

• René Magritte

• Artist whose writing was “chaotic and full of bizarre descriptions and incomplete or meandering sentences.”

• Pablo Picasso

• Artist who created “elaborately surreal collages and films.”

• Joseph Cornell

• Artist who created works with “faceless men and women standing against a blue sky filled with white, fluffy clouds.”

Tags

E2.5C

E2.5D