Stage performances are judged to

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: affect audience's emotions26% picked this

   Performances based on an actor’s own experience of emotional states are more likely to affect an audience’s emotions than are performances based on imitations

   Nothing in the argument is concerned with how much an audience's emotions are affected. We're only concerned with the audience's sense of realism, which is based on which actor "best reproduces the behaviors generally associated with an emotional state".

   26%
2. B

   Correct58% picked this

   The behavior that results when a Method actor feels a certain emotion will conform to the behavior that is generally associated

   Why this is right

   We know that Method actors actually experience the emotional state of the character. And we know that audiences judge realism based on whether the actor does a good job reproducing the behaviors generally associated with an emotional state. So since we're concluding that Method actors are more realistic, we must think that by experiencing the emotional state of their character, they can reproduce the behaviors generally associated with that emotional state. That's what this answer says. If we negated it, it would give us the objection that, "even though Method actors actually experience the emotional state of the character, the behavior that results doesn't resemble the behaviors generally associate with that emotional state, and thus the acting doesn't seem realistic."

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   58%
3. C

   Too Strong: essential7% picked this

   Realism is an essential criterion for evaluating the performances of both traditional actors

   Just because this argument is talking about judging realism doesn't mean the author is assuming that judging realism is essential.

   7%
4. D

   Out of Scope: aim6% picked this

   Traditional actors do not aim to produce performances that are realistic representations of a

   The argument isn't concerned with what actors are aiming to accomplish. It's concerned with what the audience perceives them to be accomplishing. It's probably the case that all actors aim to produce realistic performances. The author is just arguing that the technique used by Method actors will result in more realism than will the technique used by traditional actors.

   6%
5. E

   Opposite, if anything3% picked this

   In order to portray a character, a Method actor need not have had experiences identical to those

   The argument says that a Method actor, through recollection of personal experience, actually experiences the same emotions that their characters are experiencing. So it seems more like the author is thinking that a Method actor does need to have similar experiences. Do they need to be identical? Probably not. So in a common sense way, the author probably believes this answer. But this isn't an Opinion question in RC. This is asking us whether the logic of the argument needs this answer. If we negate the answer and say that Method actors do need to have identical experiences to those of the character, does that weaken? Does that help us argue that Method performances are not more realistic? Nope. If anything, it makes it seem more likely that Method performances would yield realistic acting. After all, if you're never even seeing a Method actor try a scene unless they've experienced an identical experience as their character, then every Method performance you ever see will be informed by perfectly-suited personal experience.

   3%