Logical Reasoning

PT12 · S1 · Q10 Stage performances are judged to

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Stage performances are judged to be realistic to the degree that actors reproduce on stage the behaviors generally associated by audiences with the emotional states of the characters portrayed.

Conclusion (therefore)

Audiences will judge the performances of Method actors to be more realistic than the performances of traditional actors.

Evidence

Audiences judge realism based on the degree to which actors reproduce the behaviors an audience would associate with the emotional states of the characters portrayed.

Traditional actors imitate those behaviors. Method actors experience the same emotional states as their characters.

Evaluate

We know that the metric for judging realism is how well the actor .

If the author thinks that audiences will find Method actors more realistic, then he assumes that Method actors .

All we know about Traditional vs. Method is "imitating those behaviors" vs. "experiencing that emotional state".

Goal

So the argument assumes that someone who is "experiencing an emotional state" will do a better job reproducing the behaviors generally associated with that emotional state than will someone who is merely imitating those behaviors.

10.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Performances based on an actor’s
Out of Scope: affect audience's emotions
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% picked this
Correct
The behavior that results when
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% picked this
Realism is an essential criterion
Too Strong: essential
Just because this argument is talking about judging realism doesn't mean the author is assuming that judging realism is essential.
7% picked this
Traditional actors do not aim
Out of Scope: aim
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% picked this
In order to portray a
Opposite, if anything
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% picked this

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