Words & Operas

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct63% picked this

   An opera’s nonmusical elements are essential to the opera’s

   Why this is right

   Passage B definitely believes this, because he thinks that the music and words of an opera "are as united as hydrogen and oxygen are united in water". He says that "in any aesthetic judgment of opera, you shouldn't judge music or words in isolation". Would Passage A say that the words are not essential to to the aesthetic value of the opera? Yes, it turns out Passage A explicitly says that towards the end: So too an opera is largely independent of words, and depends for its aesthetic value not upon the poetry but upon its emotional range, a region dominated by the musical element. One might object that even though Passage A things that aesthetic value depends on emotional range, and even though the musical element dominates the emotional range, that doesn't mean Passage A thinks that only the musical elements of an opera are essential to aesthetic value. That's true, but that's a very weak case. This is a squishy most likely question stem, and if you're saying "X depends on Y, and the dominant force determining Y is Z", then you pretty much think "X depends on Z".

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

   63%
2. B

   Too Strong for B5% picked this

   Even in operas where there is relative parity among the various elements, the music is

   Too Strong for B: most important Passage A agrees We couldn't infer this from passage B. The author never ranks which is more important: words or music. And passage A would agree with this.

   5%
3. C

   Too Strong for B19% picked this

   An opera cannot be artistically successful unless it skillfully balances

   Too Strong for B: cannot unless Unsupported Disagreement We couldn't infer this from passage B. Even though that author thinks that a successful opera is balancing many factors, its feels too strong to say he was arguing under the principle that "it cannot be successful unless it skillfully balances many factors". We also have no ammunition for saying that Passage A would disagree. Where in passage A could we support the idea that "some operas are artistically successful, even though they do not skillfully balance many factors"?

   19%
4. D

   Trap8% picked this

   In order for an opera to be artistically successful, the music should not be subordinated to other

   Unsupported for B Passage A Probably Agrees Passage A was all about the superiority of music, so she would probably agree to this. At the end of Passage B's first paragraph, he says, "theoretically, it would seem that there should be a third kind of opera, in which the music is subordinated to the other features". He then says that the earliest operas tried this tactic and had only limited appeal. He reports as a historical fact that "a bigger role for music was required to establish opera", but that doesn't mean he thinks it's impossible for an opera where music plays only a supporting role to be artistically successful.

   8%
5. E

   Unsupported Disagreement5% picked this

   An opera’s libretto has formal features that can be analyzed independently of

   It can be derived that Passage B believes this claim is true. It would be weird to say this was a principle underlying B's argument, because it's actually a disclaimer that B brings up as an aside to his argument. B is arguing that we "should not analyze the libretto independently of the music", if we're evaluating aesthetic value. This answer is just a little disclaimer like, "naturally, you can analyze the libretto separately if you're doing something besides aesthetics." It's not a premise in B's argument. More importantly, we wouldn't be able to derive that Passage A disagrees with this, because we'd have to catch Passage A saying, "It is impossible to analyze any formal features of a libretto apart form the music".

   5%