SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: The photographs that Marta Kessler made in American steel mills during the 1930s are often valued as straightforward records of industrial work. Historians draw on them for details of machinery, clothing, and working conditions, trusting that Kessler showed the mills as they were.
Text 2: Kessler's contact sheets, recently opened to researchers, show that she often posed her subjects, asking workers to repeat a motion or to stand near a furnace where the light was most dramatic. Critic Jonah Freel argues that the photographs reflect Kessler's own view of labor as heroic and should be read with that in mind.
Based on the texts, how would Freel most likely respond to the historians' use of Kessler's photographs described in Text 1?
He would caution that the photographs may present an idealized rather than a neutral view of mill work.
He would argue that the photographs contain no accurate information about the mills.
He would agree that the photographs show the mills exactly as they were.
He would claim that Kessler never actually visited the mills and instead staged her photographs in a studio.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The historians trust the photographs as neutral records. Freel points out that Kessler posed workers and lit scenes dramatically to express her view of labor as heroic. He would warn that the images may be idealized, choice A.
Choice B overstates Freel's view. He says the photographs should be read with Kessler's vision in mind, not that they are useless.
Why the other choices are wrong
- B. Freel says to read the photographs with Kessler's view "in mind," not that they contain nothing accurate.
- C. The contact sheets show posed scenes, so Freel would doubt the photographs show the mills exactly as they were.
- D. Text 2 says she posed workers in the mills, so she clearly visited them.
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