CSS 2009 Solved Precis

• Infection (Noun)
  • Meaning: The transmission of a disease or, figuratively, of a feeling or influence from one person to another
  • Contextual Explanation: Tolstoi's theory holds that art works by "infection," that is, transmitting the artist's emotions directly into the audience and that the degree of infectiousness is the sole measure of artistic excellence.
• Aesthetic (Adjective)
  • Meaning: Relating to the perception and appreciation of beauty and art
  • Contextual Explanation: The "aesthetic experience" is the state of mind in which art is contemplated. It is distinguished from both theoretical reasoning and moral judgment, and it is within this experience that passion undergoes its transformation.
• Contemplation (Noun)
  • Meaning: Deep, attentive observation or reflection; the act of viewing something thoughtfully
  • Contextual Explanation: Aesthetic experience is defined as "the experience of contemplation" as a distinct mental state, filled with passionate energy yet fundamentally unlike the coolness of theory or the sobriety of moral judgment.
• Sobriety (Noun)
  • Meaning: Seriousness, moderation, and restraint in conduct or judgment
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage contrasts aesthetic experience with "the sobriety of our moral judgment," meaning the measured restraint with which moral evaluations are made.
• Impenetrable (Adjective)
  • Meaning: Impossible to see through, enter, or understand
  • Contextual Explanation: Outside art, our passions are "dark and impenetrable" forces we cannot see into or master, but aesthetic experience renders them transparent, allowing us to look through them into their very nature.

The passage refutes the charge, made from Plato to Tolstoi, that art corrupts by inflaming the passions. The accusation ignores form, through which art transforms passion rather than transmits it. Moreover, it demonstrates that audiences at a Shakespeare play do not catch the emotions represented but see through them into their nature, a conception of art shared by the great painters and sculptors.

Main Idea of the Passage

• The refutation of art's infection theory through the transforming power of aesthetic form
  • The ancient charge that art inflames the passions and disturbs moral life fails because it ignores form, the fundamental element through which aesthetic experience transforms passion from a blind, felt force into something contemplated and understood, as Shakespeare's drama and the fine arts have always demonstrated.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• The historic accusation from Plato to Tolstoi: art inflaming passion and disturbing moral order
  • From Plato to Tolstoi, art has been accused of exciting the emotions and thereby disturbing the order and harmony of moral life: Plato holding that poetry nourishes passions that ought to be starved and Tolstoi treating art as infection, with infectiousness the sole measure of artistic excellence.
• The theory's obvious flaw being Tolstoi's suppression of form
  • This theory, however, carries an obvious flaw as Tolstoi suppresses a fundamental element of art, its form.
• Aesthetic contemplation as a distinct state transforming passion's nature and meaning
  • Aesthetic experience is a state of mind distinct from the coolness of theoretical judgment and the sobriety of moral judgment; it is filled with the liveliest passionate energy, yet passion within it is transformed in both its nature and its meaning.
• Against Wordsworth, poetic emotion as alive and immediate as they are seen rather than felt and transparent rather than dark
  • Contrary to Wordsworth's definition of poetry as emotion recollected in tranquillity, the emotions of great poetry belong to no remote past. They are alive and immediate at full strength, yet directed anew: seen rather than immediately felt, so that our passions cease to be dark, impenetrable powers and become transparent.
• Shakespeare's implicit affirmation through Hamlet being drama as the mirror held to nature
  • Shakespeare, who never theorized about art, nonetheless lays the whole stress on this very point in the one passage where he speaks of drama's function: Hamlet's declaration that the purpose of playing is to hold the mirror up to nature.
• The image of passion not the passion: audiences penetrating emotions rather than catching them
  • But the image of a passion is not the passion itself: the poet who represents a passion does not infect us with it, for at a Shakespeare play we are seized by neither Macbeth's ambition, Richard's cruelty, nor Othello's jealousy; we look through these emotions and penetrate their very nature and essence.
• Shakespeare's implicit theory in line with the great painters' and sculptors' conception
  • In this respect, Shakespeare's implicit theory of dramatic art agrees completely with the conception of the fine arts held by the great painters and sculptors. 

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

If you are still struggling to identify the main idea and supporting ideas of a precis passage, please make sure to revise all Precis Writing lectures that I have already delivered. These lectures were designed to build your understanding from the very basics to the advanced techniques required in CSS and PMS examinations.

• What a precis is and why examiners ask it.
• How to read and analyse a precis passage effectively.
• How to identify the main idea of a passage.
• How to distinguish supporting ideas from examples, illustrations, and minor details.
• What a Precis Map is and how to build it before writing.
• How to coordinate the main idea and supporting ideas logically.
• Etc. 

Moreover, please revise the 20 to 30 solved examples shared in the WhatsApp groups during your English Essay and Precis Course. These examples clearly demonstrate the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing and show how the concepts discussed in the lectures are applied in actual passages.

Precis 1

Art has long faced blame for stirring emotion and upsetting morals. Plato said poetry feeds passions that should die; Tolstoi called art an infection and measured worth by infectious power. However, this theory ignores form, art's basic element. Aesthetic contemplation is neither cold reasoning nor sober moral judgment. Full of passionate energy, it changes passion's character and meaning. Although Wordsworth called poetry emotion remembered in calm, great poetry's feelings are present and alive. Indeed, people witness their strength rather than suffer it, so passions become clear rather than blind. Shakespeare is no theorist but makes the same point when Hamlet calls drama nature's mirror. Nevertheless, a portrayed passion differs from a felt one: viewers take neither Macbeth's ambition nor Othello's jealousy but grasp each feeling's true nature. In this regard, Shakespeare's unspoken theory matches the finest painters' and sculptors' view.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 423
• Precis Word Count: 140
• Title: Form as Art's Answer to Its Accusers

Precis 2

From Plato, who believed poetry nourishes desires better starved, to Tolstoi, who judged art by contagious power, critics have charged art with exciting emotion and disturbing moral harmony. But this indictment fails because it suppresses form, art's fundamental element. Aesthetic contemplation, distinct from theoretical coolness and moral sobriety, holds passion at full strength and transforms its character and significance. Whereas Wordsworth took poetry for emotion recalled in calm, a great poem's feelings are alive and present; their force is observed, not undergone, and passion loses its darkness, becoming transparent. Furthermore, Hamlet's claim that drama reflects nature carries Shakespeare's endorsement of this principle. Since representation is never the emotion represented, no spectator acquires ambition from Macbeth or jealousy from Othello; each is examined to its core. Thus, Shakespeare's unstated theory accords with the masters of painting and sculpture.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 423
• Precis Word Count: 137
• Title: Aesthetic Form and the Transformation of Passion

Precis 3

Plato holding that poetry cultivates desires fit to die and Tolstoi equating artistic merit with infectious power, together fixed upon art an ancient charge: it excites emotion and disorders moral life. Nonetheless, the indictment overlooks a fundamental element of art, form. Aesthetic contemplation belongs to neither theoretical coolness nor moral sobriety; passion fills it while surrendering its former character and meaning. Hence great poetry defies Wordsworth's calm remembrance. Its emotions are immediate, their strength beheld rather than undergone, converting opaque impulses into transparent ones. Though no theorist, Shakespeare testifies through Hamlet that drama holds a mirror to nature, and a reflection differs from the thing reflected. The spectator adopts neither Macbeth's ambition nor Othello's jealousy; instead, they grasp each emotion's inmost character. Herein Shakespeare's implied theory coincides with the view maintained by great painters and sculptors.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 423
• Precis Word Count: 136
• Title: Art's Transformation of Passion through Form