Federal Theater Project

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: performing arts center15% picked this

   a publicly funded performing arts center dedicated to the production of plays for

   If we said something like, "A publicly funded performing arts initiative dedicated to producing plays for African American audiences", then that would be pretty acceptable. But the passage didn't say that they built one big performing arts center. The passage suggests that these 18 Negro units were dispersed among many states across the nation.

   15%
2. B

   Correct76% picked this

   a broad-based dramatic-arts enterprise reflecting the diversity of views and tastes of African American

   Why this is right

   The language of "broad-based" is supposed to lock in with "truly national". We can imagine that if we were describing a group of black theater artists, that we might say, "It's a locally-based performance troupe / it's regionally-based / it's nationally-based". And then "reflecting the diversity of views and tastes" of African Americans is supposed to lock up with "producing plays on African American subjects for primarily African American audiences" Both of these language matches are relatively weak, but this answer is still the best available. It substitutes in place for "a truly national black theater" better than the other answers do. Sure, groups of African American theater artists had existed before, but the Negro units came closer than them to founding ... a broad-based dramatic-arts enterprise reflecting African American tastes and views.

   Skill tested: Meaning in Context · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   76%
3. C

   Unrelated to Goal: govt program / Depression2% picked this

   a federal government program established during the Great Depression to promote the dramatic arts in

   It is true that the Negro units were part of a federal government program established during the Depression, but that's not at all what was meant by "truly national black theater". The author is stressing that while groups of African American theater artists had existed prior to the Negro units, the effort carried out by the Negro units was the first time that a black theater organization had a truly national scale to it. The author isn't saying, "Sure groups of African American theater artists had existed before, but this was the closest they ever came to being a federal govt program established during the Great Depression."

   2%
4. D

   Too Narrow1% picked this

   a canon of plays written by African American playwrights and endorsed

   Too Narrow: canon of plays Out of Scope: endorsed by scholars The phrase "a truly national black theater" wasn't restricted to the set of plays that were written. It's not just about playwrights. It's about "actors / directors / designers / technicians / playwrights". Also, where in the 1st paragraph does it say that this set of plays was endorsed by scholars?

   1%
5. E

   Out of Scope: black-owned playhouses Dictionary-Trap6% picked this

   a successful chain of black-owned playhouses spread throughout the

   If someone hadn't read the passage, they would be most attracted to this answer, since "truly national black theater" seems to match up with "black / playhouses / spread throughout the U.S.". But nothing in the passage talked about a chain of black-owned playhouses. We don't know what venues they performed in. We don't know if those venues were black-owned or part of a chain. We only know that there were "actors, directors, designers, technicians, and playwrights" employed by the U.S. government, making this truly black national theater happen.

   6%