RC Question 1 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Which one of the following most accurately…
DISCUSSION: A main point answer has to be, at minimum, in the passage. All of the wrong answers here either contradict the passage or aren’t in it.
___________
- This doesn’t match the stimulus. The author never said that Schoenberg is any more appreciated now than when he was alive. We only know that Beethoven now has more appreciation than when he was alive.
- The author didn’t actually say this. The author likes Schoenberg, but they haven’t said whether he should be as highly regarded as Beethoven. Beethoven is considered to be one of the greatest composers, ever.
The author analogizes Beethoven’s progression to Schoenberg’s, but that doesn’t mean the author thinks the two composers are equally good. - CORRECT. Expressive range appears to refer to the the range of emotional states expressed in Schoenberg’s music. See lines 50-56. It’s clear that expressive range refers to something other than the technical features of Schoenberg’s music, because this answer says “both”.
So this fits best. The author praised both Schoenberg’s technical achievements and his music’s emotional expression. - This contradicts lines 50-56. The author said that it’s the emotional content of Schoenberg’s music that is the most important.
- We don’t know this. The author didn’t tell us when Schoenberg composed. It took Beethoven a century to gain acceptance. If Schoenberg composed less than a century ago (he did, in fact) then we can’t say that Beethoven gained acceptance faster, because Schoenberg hasn’t had enough time.
So this answer simply isn’t in the passage. If the passage doesn’t support an answer, then it can’t possibly be the main point.
Err, from C to B, rather.
I hate to say it, but I ended up getting this one wrong by trying to use the tactic Rosaline mentioned in a different comment thread — when looking for the answer to a “main point” question, to go paragraph by paragraph and make sure your answer had some kind of relation to each, at least in some tangential way. Because there is a paragraph that has no mention whatsoever to Schoenberg, I ended up switching to from B to C.
I should’ve reasoned it out though. I think the check-every-paragraph-for-relation is a good rule of thumb in general… but not to point where I should’ve rejected an answer arrived at from a more robust method of tackling the question’s content. For a maniac like me who is dead set on moving from 168 to 180, I need to be more careful not to rely wholly on general rules of thumb over doing the full analysis of a question.
I think I should’ve clarified that when checking each paragraph, it shouldn’t be in isolation (correct me if I’m misunderstanding you!). Looking at this passage, are you referring to the first few passages about Beethoven which don’t mention Schoenberg? They’re actually related to Schoenberg since they set the scene for why his music has been so well received! If you look at the paragraphs in isolation, then yes, they don’t mention Schoenberg. But if you read the paragraphs in continuity, then you’ll see how they give reasons why Schoenberg’s must is admired (because it shares similar qualities with Beethoven, and Beethoven is praised for those qualities in those paragraphs).
But another reason to get rid of B (if the paragraph check fails) is to hone in on the word “deserves”. What type of passage is this? Is this a persuasive passage? Where the author is advocating for Schoenberg to be highly regarded like Beethoven? No! It’s more of an expository essay that describes why people like Schoenberg. The reference to Beethoven isn’t really a main point, it’s just one reason why people might like him. The passage goes on to give other reasons why people like Schoenberg (12 tone technique, disquieting emotional states, tells the truth, etc.)