Aristotle established the first principles of dramatic criticism in hi

Question

Aristotle established the first principles of dramatic criticism in his classic work  Poetics , and his definition of tragedy shapes any literary analysis of tragic drama as it appears in classical Greek texts. Aristotle considered Sophocles the perfect writer and his  Oedipus the King  the perfect tragedy because the development of the plot conforms to the Aristotelian rules of tragedy—the most important of which are the unities of time, place, and action. However, of the three, only the unity of action can be applied to drama in general; the other two relate specifically to tragic drama of the classical period as it was performed on the Greek stage. According to Aristotle, the construction of dramatic tragedy demands the supremacy of the action over the characters. As such, in an ideal tragedy, the protagonist's moral character is revealed to the audience only through a series of causative events that unfold as fate takes its course.    1 
 1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Critical views of tragedy reflect the prevailing philosophical concepts of the time period.
B. Once the form was defined by Aristotle, dramatic tragedy was written in conformance with his principles for the Greek stage.
C.  Oedipus the King  served as a model for dramatic playwrights of later years.
D. Aristotle's principles of dramatic criticism have influenced other scholars.
E. The characters in modern tragedies assume greater significance than do characters in classical Greek tragedies.

2 
 2. Based on information in the passage, what can be inferred about Aristotle's influence on the field of dramatic criticism?

I. He developed a conceptual framework for analyzing classical Greek tragedy.
II. He established a set of rules for the construction of dramatic tragedy.
III. He expanded on the principles of dramatic criticism first articulated by Sophocles.

A. I Only
B. II Only
C. III Only
D. I and II Only
E. II and III Only

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 296 Date: 25 Aug-2023
 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

vdhanuka · Answer

question 1 . e 
question 2. d

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OA are revealed, OA to both of the questions is D.

simran01 · Answer

How can d(ques 1) be inferred from the passage?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

Explanation

Analyze the question stem

This is an Inference question, so the correct answer will be fully supported by information in the passage.

Research

The question stem does not refer to a particular idea or fact in the passage, so review the passage map and mentally recap the author's main points: Aristotle's principles continue to be very important to the analysis of tragedies, especially of classical Greek tragedies; his unity of action can be applied to any drama, and this principle means that action drives the revelation of a character's weaknesses.

Make a prediction

There is no way to predict an answer from a question stem this broad. Review each answer choice; only one can be reasonably inferred from the information in the passage.

Evaluate the answer choices

(D)  is supported by the first sentence in the passage, which says that Aristotle's definition  "shapes any literary analysis of tragic drama as it appears in classical Greek texts."

(A)  is too broad and not supported, as the passage does not mention or imply a consideration of  "philosophical concepts."  This choice might catch your eye if you know Aristotle is famous for being a philosopher, but ancient Greek philosophy isn't mentioned in the passage.

(B)  is not supported, as the passage describes Aristotle as a literary critic who, by definition, would have been reviewing work that had already been written; as an example, he described Sophocles's play, which must have already existed.

While Aristotle felt that Oedipus the King was a great example of tragedy, the passage does not indicate that later playwrights used this drama as a model, so eliminate  (C).

As for  (E) , the relative prominence of characters is addressed by the principle of unity of action, which the passage says applies to all drama, not just classical Greek drama; there is no reason to think that characters play larger roles in modern plays.

TAKEAWAY:  Be careful of unconsciously applying outside knowledge to the evaluation of answer choices. Only use the information presented in the passage itself.

Answer: D

mialanknox · Answer

Once you read all the options, you can can see that only 3 options talk about Aristotle's work which is the main focus of the passage so the answer must be related to the main idea of the passage (4 times Aristotle name is used).

A and E are comparing two time periods but says nothing about Aristotle's work. The passage is only talking about one time period. Also, these options used the word "tragedy" to makes us think the sentence is somewhat connected to the passage but it is not. 
Therefore, eliminate A and E.

C - It is only said that the book is a perfect proof of concept but it not mentioned anywhere that it served as a reference/ideal for others so not the correct option.

B -  Once is the key word here  - while we are told that Aristotle established the principles and definition but we are also told that these principles were for dramatic criticism aka for critics/reviewers. Writers are different from critics so we cannot say that writers followed his principles. The example of Sophocles is there to confuse us because they say his work conformed to those principles. This doesn't mean that he intended to align his work with those principles, it was a by product. Therefore, option B is a stretch choice.

D -  Who?  The main idea is about Aristotle so this option seems relevant.  What?  His principles were principles of dramatic criticism.  What did the work do?  His work influenced other scholars. This is the inferred part from the line "his definition  shapes   any literary analysis  of tragic drama as it appears in  classical Greek texts ". Shapes = synonym influences, any literary analysis = other people's work and classical Greek texts = tells us that these other people were not just random people but scholars.

Therefore, option D is the correct answer.

Posted from my mobile device

JoeKan1234 · Answer

1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Critical views of tragedy reflect the prevailing philosophical concepts of the time period.
B. Once the form was defined by Aristotle, dramatic tragedy was written in conformance with his principles for the Greek stage.
C. Oedipus the King served as a model for dramatic playwrights of later years.
D. Aristotle's principles of dramatic criticism have influenced other scholars.
E. The characters in modern tragedies assume greater significance than do characters in classical Greek tragedies.

D can be inferred from this sentence "his definition of tragedy shapes any literary analysis of tragic drama as it appears in classical Greek texts". So D is the correct answer choice.
E: no comparison is mentioned.
C: the author only mentions the features of the work as an example to describe what an ideal tragedy should be. He does not mention its significance for future playwrights.
B: too extreme
A: no mention - "prevailing philosophical concepts of the time period"

KumarRishav · Answer

Can someone explain Q2? How statement 2 is correct? It is talking about construction of tragedy which is related to writer where as here we are talking about dramatic criticizers who do not construct any dramatic tragedy.

KumarRishav · Answer

Can you explain Q2? How statement 2 is correct? It is talking about construction of tragedy which is related to writer where as here we are talking about dramatic criticizers who do not construct any dramatic tragedy.

Matty101 · Answer

Hello Kumar,

In the passage, it is written " Aristotle considered Sophocles the perfect writer and his  Oedipus the King  the perfect tragedy because the development of the plot conforms to the Aristotelian rules of tragedy."

This tells us that Aristotle did have a set of rules he created for tragedy. The passage then goes on to talk more about the most important rules of tragedy that Aristotle developed ("unities of time, place, and action"), with a particular focus on action.

Aboyhasnoname · Answer

Hello Can Somebody Please help me..See my analysis......Specially E.........
 1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Critical views of tragedy reflect the prevailing philosophical concepts of the time period..... Too broad...Not mentioned anywhere...Generalising to other horizons 
  
B. Once the form was defined by Aristotle, dramatic tragedy was written in conformance with his principles for the Greek stage.
 - He was a critic ...established first principles of criticism.... Not writing.....
 - His definition of tragedy shapes the analysis not...the writings.....

C. Oedipus the King served as a model for dramatic playwrights of later years.....
 Was perfect for Aristotle..Doesn’t mean it served as a model for Dramatic Playwrights...
 Also it was perfect for Tragic drama....which is a subset of Drama

D. Aristotle's principles of dramatic criticism have influenced other scholars.
 "shapes any literary analysis of tragic drama as it appears in classical Greek texts.”...Means he influenced others ..Correct

E. The characters in modern tragedies assume greater significance than do characters in classical Greek tragedies.
 Again although, I was unclear about the last couple of lines....
 Dramatic Tragedy - Demands supremacy of action over characters 
 As such, in an ideal tragedy, the protagonist's moral character is revealed to the audience only through a series of causative events that unfold as fate takes its course......I Couldn’t infer that ideal = Modern and.....also ..that it is of greater significance......

Can you please Expand upon the II and III line....
 2. Based on information in the passage, what can be inferred about Aristotle's influence on the field of dramatic criticism?

I. He developed a conceptual framework for analyzing classical Greek tragedy.... Yes Clearly mentioned 
II. He established a set of rules for the construction of dramatic tragedy..... While not explicitly mentioned, he said that... 
 ”Oedipus the King the perfect tragedy because the development of the plot conforms to the Aristotelian rules of tragedy”.......and tragedy is dramatic tragedy....... 
 
  III. He expanded on the principles of dramatic criticism first articulated by Sophocles..... Nope...First of all Sophocles was a writer and not critic...He Wrote the literary work ...he wasn’t a critic....and the principles of dramatic criticism was first established by Aristotle himself mentioned in the first line..

A. I Only
B. II Only
C. III Only
D. I and II Only
E. II and III Only

Thanks in Advance

Aristotle established the first principles of dramatic criticism in hi

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Aristotle established the first principles of dramatic criticism in hi

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards