SAT OwlQuestion bank / Central Ideas and Details
Translators of poetry face a familiar dilemma: a translation that keeps a poem's literal meaning often loses its rhythm and rhyme, while one that keeps its music must alter its meaning. Translator Ilse Varga argues that this dilemma, though real, is often overstated. In her view, every reading of a poem, even in its original language, involves choosing which of its qualities to attend to; a translator merely makes those choices visible. Translation, she suggests, differs from ordinary reading in degree rather than in kind.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
Varga argues that translating poetry is impossible because meaning and music cannot both be preserved.
Varga claims that translators should always preserve a poem's rhythm rather than its literal meaning.
Varga contends that the choices a translator makes resemble those every reader makes, so translation is less unusual a problem than it seems.
Varga asserts that readers of a poem in its original language notice all of its qualities at once.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Varga accepts that the dilemma is real but says it is overstated, because every reader chooses which qualities of a poem to focus on. Translators just make those choices visible. Choice C captures her claim that translation differs from reading only in degree.
Choice A states the dilemma itself, which Varga says is "often overstated," not her own conclusion.
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