Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialog need not happen af

Question

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialog need not happen after a traditional theater show, as it is most successful when it happens through a show. He believes that the live component of the theater distinguishes it from other media objects, and allows meaning to arise from the interaction between performers and audience as the performance is happening. Whereas television or film, for instance, has no room for active dialogue, theater does because the performers and audience are present in the space together. The theatrical text becomes the medium, and the performers speak through the way in which they perform the text, while the audience does so through a number of culturally sanctioned actions: applause, laughter (both laughing with and laughing at), sighing, gasping, cheering, and booing. Goldfarb recounts a particular occurrence surrounding a production of Dziady (Forefather’s Eve) in Poland in 1968. The show had been ordered to close and, on its last night, the theater was overcrowded with supporters. They were an enthusiastic, vocal audience who entered into “dialogue” with the actors and read into the play’s anticzarist language a critique of Soviet government. When the performance ended, the crowd went into the streets to protest. The play’s content became political through dialogue and, in a way, the theater building held a public sphere where an anti-Soviet public gathered to affirm their political sentiment before taking it to the street in open, public protest.

What Goldfarb does not write about is how uncommon such an event is, especially for today’s American theatergoers. Augusto Boal was probably closer to the reality of current Western theater when he complained about how still everyone is expected to keep during any performance, constantly policed by other audience members. The high prices on professional theater tickets and an elitist value on cultural tradition (versus popular, technology-based mass media) combine to produce an aristocratic culture surrounding theater. In this manner, a “high class” code of etiquette is imposed upon the performance space, dictating that audience members are to remain quiet: the actors speak, the audience listens. As Boal criticizes in Legislative Theatre, traditional form sets up a relationship where “everything travels from stage to auditorium, everything is transported, transferred in that direction — emotions, ideas, morality! — and nothing goes the other way.” He argues that this relationship encourages passivity and thus cancels theater’s political potential.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is

(A) To lay out a viewpoint and present a perceived omission
(B) To articulate an original thesis
(C) To deride an established tradition
(D) To contrast two opposing ideas
(E) To reconcile two opposing ideas

2 
 2. The author implies which of the following about American theater?

I. In some social settings, passivity is considered a virtue.
II. Augusto Boal would approve of the events of the closing performance of Dziady.
III. Physical presence has a bearing on the creation of active dialogue

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

3 
 3. Which of the following must be true according to the passage?

I. By American social mores, the Polish audience described would be exhibiting other than “high class” behavior.
II. Dziady criticized the Soviet regime.
III. Theater is more educational than film.

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

Manhattan GRE 5lb.

AishJegan · Answer

Can someone please post the explanation for 2nd and 3rd question

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. The primary purpose of the passage is

Explanation

The author presents Goldfarb’s view in the first paragraph and then highlights an omission in Goldfarb’s work in the second paragraph.

(B)  is incorrect because  “original”  contradicts the text — the author recounts the opinions of Goldfarb and Boal.

(C)  is wrong, as the author does not  “deride”  anything, and the word established is not supported by the text.

(D)  is eliminated because there is no contrast nor opposing ideas — Goldfarb neglected to mention that something he discussed was quite uncommon, but Goldfarb’s ideas do not oppose Boal’s.

Similarly, in  (E) , no reconciliation is attempted and there are still no opposing ideas.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. The author implies which of the following about American theater?

Explanation

The first statement must be true, as the second paragraph indicates that American audiences consider passive behavior polite.

The second statement must be true since, according to the last sentence of the second paragraph, Boal criticized passivity because it  “cancels theater’s political potential.”

The third statement is a nice match for this sentence from the first paragraph:  “Whereas television or film, for instance, have no room for active dialogue, theater does because the performers and audience are present in the space together.”

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. Which of the following must be true according to the passage?

Explanation

In the first paragraph, the passage describes the interaction between the Polish audience and the cast; in the second paragraph, the author tells you that American  “high class”  behavior involves remaining quiet in the theater. Together, these two pieces of information support the first statement.

The second statement is incorrect — the passage states that the audience  “read into”  or  interpreted  the anti-czarist language as a critique of the Soviet regime; while the play may very well have been intended that way, you can’t know this from the passage. The comparison concerning education in the third statement is unjustified because the passage only states that the live element is unique to theater.

Answer: A

Sandigaru · Answer

Hello Sajjad,

Please help, I Have a doubt correct me if I'm wrong, the 3rd statement in the 2nd question states that the   Physical presence has a bearing on the creation of active dialogue, but in case of American theater it has been mentioned in the 2nd paragraph, how everyone is quiet & still,. does it not mean that physical presence has no bearing.

glagad · Answer

Sandigaru , Here is my 2 cents:

First paragraph extensively talks about this idea, with an example of how Polish audience interacted with the theatre group and has been lauded by Goldfarb.

Second para - 
 
If you read through, you will find that American Theatre's practices are considered both (by Goldfarb & Boal) to be incomplete to the truest potential of theatre.

This can be read in the third para in the following lines
 
Hence, the author does imply the sentence that  Physical presence has a bearing on the creation of active dialogue.

SH160703 · Answer

what should be ideal time to solve thus passage would be sajjad sir i took 6;10 all correct if it should be less than please give some tips on how to improve time limit

SkinBob · Answer

The passage is missing the word "as", in the interpretation of the audience. If you got 3 wrong solely because of that, cut yourself some slack. It reads very differently without the correct wording - "read into the play’s anticzarist language a critique of Soviet government."

Sanoshmishra · Answer

Yes exactly! Is it a grammatical mistake or is it some stylized way of writing, like old-English?

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialog need not happen af

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Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialog need not happen af

Prep Toolkit

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

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