Music and literature, rivals among the arts, have not coexisted

Question

Music and literature, rivals among the arts, have
not coexisted without intruding on each other's terrain.
Ever since what we think of as "literature" developed
out of the sounds of spoken, sung, and chanted art,
 (5)  writing has aspired to the condition of music, in which
form contributes significantly to content. Nowhere is
this truer than in the African American tradition,
whose music is often considered its greatest artistic
achievement and one of the greatest contributions to
 (10)  North American art. But while many African American
writers have used musicians and music as theme and
metaphor in their writing, none had attempted to draw
upon a musical genre as the structuring principle for
an entire novel until Toni Morrison did so in her 1992
 (15)  novel Jazz, a novel set in the Harlem section of
New York City in 1926.

In Jazz, the connection to music is found not only
in the novel's plot but, more strikingly, in the way in
which the story is told. The narration slips easily from
 (20)  the third-person omniscience of the narrator's
disembodied voice-which, though sensitive and
sympathetic, claims no particular identity, gender, or
immersion in specific social circumstances-to the
first-person lyricism of key characters. But throughout
 (25)  these shifts, the narrator is both generous with the
characters' voices and protective of his or her mastery
over the narrative as a whole. On the one hand, the
central characters are given the responsibility of
relating their parts of the overarching story, but on
 (30)  the other hand, their sections are set off by quotation
marks, reminders that the narrator is allowing them to
speak. In this way, the narrative is analogous in
structure to the playing of a jazz band which
intertwines its ensemble sound with the individuality
 (35)  of embedded solo performances.

In jazz, composer and conductor Duke Ellington
was the first to construct his compositions with his
individual musicians and their unique "voices" in
mind. Yet no matter how lengthy his musicians'
 (40)  improvisations, no matter how bold or inventive their
solos might be, they always performed within the
undeniable logic of the composer's frame-they
always, in other words, performed as if with quotation
marks around their improvisations and solos. It is this
 (45)  same effect that Toni Morrison has achieved in Jazz,
a literary rendering of an art of composition that
Duke Ellington perfected around the time in which
Jazz is set.

In this novel, Morrison has found a way,
 (50)  paradoxically, to create the sense of an ensemble of
characters improvising within the fixed scope of a
carefully constructed collective narration. By
simulating the style of a genius of music while
exhibiting Morrison's own linguistic virtuosity,
 (55)  Jazz serves to redefine the very possibilities of
narrative point of view.   1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) In Jazz, Morrison has realized a significant artistic achievement in creating the first African American work of fiction whose plot, themes, and setting are all drawn from the world of jazz.
(B) Morrison's striking description of a musical ensemble performance containing solo improvisations constitutes an important artistic innovation and makes Jazz an important model for other writers.
(C) Although many African American writers have used music as a central metaphor in their works, Morrison's 1992 novel is unique and innovative for using jazz as its central metaphor.
(D) Building on the works of many African American writers and musical composers, Morrison has over the years developed an innovative jazzlike style of narration, which she used especially effectively in the novel Jazz.
(E) In Jazz, Morrison has succeeded in creating an original and effective narrative strategy that is a literary analogue of Duke Ellington's style of musical composition.

2 
 2. The author's discussion in the first paragraph proceeds in which one of the following ways?

(A) from a common claim about the arts, to a denial of this claim as applied to a particular artistic tradition, to a hypothesis about a particular individual
(B) from a general remark about two art forms, to a similar observation about a particular artistic tradition, to a specific comment about a particular work that exemplifies the prior remarks
(C) from a description of a common claim about two art forms, to some specific evidence that supports that claim, to an inference regarding a particular individual to whom that claim applies
(D) from an observation about a specific art form, to a more general claim about the applicability of that observation to other art forms, to a particular counterexample to the first observation
(E) from general comments about the arts, to a purported counterexample to the general comments as applied to a particular artistic tradition, to a description of a particular work that bears out the original comments

3 
 3. The author's assertion in lines 10-16 would be most called into question if which one of the following were true?

(A) Even a casual reading of Jazz makes it evident that the author has intentionally tried to simulate a style of jazz performance in the narration of the story.
(B) A small number of African American novelists writing earlier in the twentieth century sought to base the form of their work on the typical structure of blues music.
(C) All novels about nonliterary arts and artists appear as if their authors have tried to make their narrative styles reminiscent of the arts in question.
(D) Depending partly on whether or not it is read aloud, any novel can be found to be somewhat musical in nature.
(E) A smaller number of African American writers than of non-African American writers in North America have written novels whose plots and characters have to do with music.

4 
 4. The information in the passage most supports which one of the following statements regarding Ellington?

(A) Morrison has explicitly credited him with inspiring the style of narration that she developed in Jazz.
(B) He prevented his musicians from performing lengthy solos in order to preserve the unity of his compositions.
(C) He is a minor character in Morrison's Jazz.
(D) He composed music that was originally intended to be performed by the specific musicians he conducted.
(E) Though he composed and conducted primarily jazz, he also composed some music of other genres.

5 
 5. The author's primary purpose in the passage is to

(A) analyze and commend the variety of contributions to the art of the novel made by a particular writer
(B) contrast a particular African American writer's work with the work of African American practitioners of another art
(C) describe a particular aspect of one work by a particular writer
(D) demonstrate the ways in which two apparently dissimilar arts are, on a deeper analysis, actually quite similar
(E) detail the thematic concerns in the work of a particular writer and identify the sources of those concerns

6 
 6. Each of the following excerpts from the passage exhibits the author's attitude toward the novel Jazz EXCEPT:

(A) " ... whose music is often considered its greatest artistic achievement and one of the greatest contributions to North American art" (lines 8-10)
(B) "In Jazz, the connection to music is found not only in the novel's plot but, more strikingly, in the way in which the story is told" (lines 17-19)
(C) "The narration slips easily from the third-person omniscience of the narrator's disembodied voice ... " (lines 19-21)
(D) " ... Morrison has found a way, paradoxically, to create the sense of an ensemble of characters improvising within the fixed scope ... " (lines 49-51)
(E) "By simulating the style of a genius of music while exhibiting Morrison's own linguistic virtuosity ... " (lines 52-54)

7 
 7. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to believe which one of the following?

(A) In Jazz, Morrison has perfected a style of narration that had been attempted with little success by other North American writers in the twentieth century.
(B) Because of its use of narrative techniques inspired by jazz, Morrison's novel represents the most successful representation to date of the milieu in which jazz musicians live and work.
(C) In Jazz, Morrison develops her narrative in such a way that the voices of individual characters are sometimes difficult to distinguish, in much the same way that individual musicians' voices merge in ensemble jazz playing.
(D) The structural analogy between Jazz and Duke Ellington's compositional style involves more than simply the technique of shifting between first-person and third-person narrators.
(E) Morrison disguises the important structural connections between her narrative and Duke Ellington's jazz compositions by making the transitions between first- and third-person narrators appear easy.

8 
 8. The passage contains information that most helps to answer which one of the following questions?

(A) Do any African American visual artists also attempt to emulate African American music in their work?
(B) In what way is Jazz stylistically similar to other literary works by Morrison?
(C) After the publication of Jazz, did critics quickly acknowledge the innovative nature of the narrative style that Morrison uses in that novel?
(D) How many works by African American writers have been inspired by the music of Duke Ellington?
(E) What characteristic of Jazz is also present in the work of some other African American writers?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. The information in the passage most supports which one of the following statements regarding Ellington?

Explanation

This is an Inference question, signified by the wording "the info in the passage supports which answer". For any Inference question, we have to support/prove our answer with a line reference. Simultaneously, we are wise to be very skeptical of three trap answer tendencies:

- extreme wording
- out of scope wording
- "fake" comparisons (comparative wording that was never used in the passage)

Since the keyword in this question stem is "Ellington", we know our proof will come from the 3rd paragraph (because that's the only info we have about Ellington). The support for (D) in line 36-39. Ellington "constructed his compositions with his individual musicians and their unique 'voices' in mind."

(A) is wrong because nothing in the 3rd paragraph says that Toni Morrison explicitly credited Ellington with inspiring her novel.

Line 45-48 is the closest thing to sounding like (A), but all it says is that Morrison achieved an effect that was similar to Ellington's style. We can't assume from that sentence that Morrison ever said to someone, "Hey, Duke Ellington inspired my novel."

(B) is contradicted by the 3rd paragraph. (B) is saying that Ellington prevented his soloists from playing lengthy solos. But line 39-42 implies the opposite. It says, "even though the soloists played lengthy, bold, inventive solos, they still fit within the composer's frame".

(C) nothing suggests that Ellington was a character in Morrison's novel.

(E) no support for "primarily" jazz, nor for "other genres"

Answer: D

Explanation Credit: https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/foru ... t6848.html

Hope it helps

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. The author's primary purpose in the passage is to

Explanation

Try to read RC passages for a Most Valuable Sentence. Sometimes you need to pick two important sentences, but often (if not typically) you can really pinpoint one sentence that acts as the most purpose-driven sentence. And you'll find that the correct answer to Main point and Primary Purpose frequently paraphrases this sentence. The two most common patterns associated with the MVS are that it frequently comes after the first important but/yet/however of the passage ... and that it frequently comes toward the end of the first paragraph.

So the sentence you identified, lines 10-16, is definitely what I would have chosen. The "But" at the beginning of these sentences is normally an indication that the author is through giving us background information, historical context, or other people's ideas and is ready to shift into his primary focus.

This sentence also has the "while ____, ____" structure. Whenever we see

despite ____, ____
although ____, ____
while ____, ____

we want to think:

the 1st half is either a counterpoint that the author is conceding to his opponent or it's just a relatively unimportant part of the sentence. the 2nd half is the what the author is really trying to convey/stress. So the 2nd half of this sentence is saying that Toni Morrison, in Jazz, was the first African American writer to use a musical genre as a structuring principle. The topic sentence of the 2nd paragraph reinforces this idea, and the wrap-up 4th paragraph as well comes back to the way the musical genre of jazz relates to the form of Morrison's novel. the correct answer (C) matches up well with the overall topic of how Morrison used jazz as a structuring principle in he novel Jazz.

(A) This is just too vague and broad, not attuned enough to the framing idea that "Morrison structured her novel the way jazz music from the 20's was structured". Although several things about how Morrison wrote Jazz are discussed, they are all enfolded under the idea of making the genre of jazz a structuring principle to her novel. So that kinda only counts as ONE contribution. (I agree, though, this is TOUGH to get rid of ... there's nothing really inaccurate about what it says ... the author at the end even says that Morrison helped to redefine the possibilities for narrative point of view ... but that's still because of the overall idea of mimicking jazz as a genre).

If you were down to (A) and (C) on this question, you might wanna ask yourself this:

"Which is more likely to be a trap answer?"

I think (A) is more likely to be the trap because it sounds generic and applicable to any passage that discusses a writer who did something innovative. (C) is more focused on the specific emphasis the author was trying to convey.

(B) too narrow. Although this happens in lines 10-16, the passage is not about discussing other writers' works.

(D) The author is NOT trying to ultimately reconcile music and literature, just discussing a writer who used music as a way of structuring one of her novels.

(E) "Thematic concerns" is not a good match for "structural principle". It seem like the novel was noteworthy because it discussed jazz (as opposed to being organized the way a jazz ensemble performs a piece of music).

Answer: C

Explanation Credit: https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/foru ... t7669.html

Hope it helps

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

6. Each of the following excerpts from the passage exhibits the author's attitude toward the novel Jazz EXCEPT:

Explanation

Due to the rather confusing language of this EXCEPT question, it is important to understand exactly what we are being asked to do. Four of the answer choices will contain excerpts from the passage that exhibit the author’s attitude toward Jazz. The correct answer will be the one that does not. Thankfully, the passage contains only one viewpoint, that of the author, saving us the hassle of considering whether or not each excerpt exhibits someone else’s viewpoint. This makes our task relatively simple: as long as an excerpt is about Jazz, we can safely presume that this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (A):  This is the correct answer choice, because the excerpt in  lines 8-10  refers to the African American tradition, not to Jazz.

Answer choice (B):  This answer choice is incorrect, because it describes the unique relationship between literature and music in Jazz.

Answer choice (C):  This answer choice is incorrect, because it refers to the narrative style of Jazz.

Answer choice (D):  Although the grammatical subject of this sentence is Toni Morrison, the excerpt contains an observation regarding the narrative structure of Jazz.

Answer choice (E):  To fully understand the meaning of this excerpt, you need to refer to the entire sentence in  lines 52-56 . A quick look reveals that the excerpt is in reference to Jazz.

The correct answer choice is (A)

7. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to believe which one of the following?

Explanation

Due to the general nature of this question, the method of elimination is likely to prove useful—any answer choice that cannot be proven by the passage will be incorrect.

Answer choice (A):  This is the Opposite answer. The author clearly states that no writer other than Morrison had ever attempted to draw upon a musical genre as the structuring principle for an entire novel  (lines 11-14) , proving  answer choice (A)  to be false.

Answer choice (B):  Neither the theme, nor the plot, of Jazz are discussed in the passage. It would be impossible to prove that the novel represents the milieu in which jazz musicians live and work, let alone argue that it is the most successful representation of that milieu. This answer choice contains both an exaggeration and a digression from the scope of the passage.

Answer choice (C):  To claim that the voices of individual characters in Jazz are sometimes difficult to distinguish would contradict much of the discussion in the second paragraph. In it, the author describes the first-person narration of the central characters in Jazz as  “set off by quotation marks,”  which helps protect  “the mastery of the narrator over the narrative as a whole”   (lines 25-27 and 30-31) . A similar point is made about Duke Ellington’s compositional style, whereby the individual voices of musicians are given the liberty to perform bold and inventive solos  (lines 40-41).

Answer choice (D):  This is the correct answer choice. The structural analogy between Jazz and Duke Ellington’s compositional style is not simply a matter of shifting between first-person and third-person narrators. For instance, the analogy also involves allowing individual characters to relate their own stories within the fixed scope of the narrative, just like Duke Ellington allowed his musicians to improvise  “within the undeniable logic of the composer’s frame”   (line 42) . The analogy between Jazz and Duke Ellington’s style clearly involves more than a particular narrative technique.

Answer choice (E):  Morrison’s writing technique was never intended to disguise the structural connections between her narrative and Duke Ellington’s jazz compositions. Such an objective was neither suggested nor implied in the passage.

The correct answer choice is (D)

8. The passage contains information that most helps to answer which one of the following questions?

Difficulty Level:   750

Explanation

This Global Reference question has the potential of being time-consuming. Our job is to identify a question that can be answered with the information contained in the passage. To do so, we need to proceed by the method of elimination: any answer choice that cannot be answered with the information contained in the passage will be incorrect. Awareness of passage organization is incredibly important, as it helps locate potentially relevant information relatively quickly.

Answer choice (A):  The only section that may contain an answer to this question is the first paragraph of the passage, in which the author discusses African American tradition and music. However, there is no mention of visual artists in this paragraph.

Answer choice (B):  The author only discusses a single literary work by Toni Morrison. Any mention of other works would have occurred in the first or the fourth paragraphs, and no such mention was made.

Answer choice (C):  The critical reception of Jazz is never discussed in the passage.

Answer choice (D):  The only section potentially useful to answering this question is the third paragraph of the passage, in which the author describes the music of Duke Ellington. How many works by African American writers he was able to inspire is entirely unknown.

Answer choice (E):  This is the correct answer choice. The first paragraph describes the work of African American writers who frequently used musicians and music as theme and metaphor for their writing  (lines 10-12) . Jazz also draws upon the musical genre, albeit in a different way. The connection to music is therefore a characteristic of Jazz present in the work of other African American writers.

The correct answer choice is (E)

Explanation Credit: Power Score

Hope it helps

auradediligodo · Answer

Hi everyone,
Solved this one in 18 minutes and got 6/8 correct.

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P1

Paragraph one starts with a general statement about music and writing. We are given that those 2 are somehow connected and that "writing" aspires to be like music, which is characterized by a form who affects the context as well. Furthermore a great example of all this is the AAM (African American Music), which we know is the best art of north America.
Then a   contrast   is introduced: no-one before TM based a novel entirely upon a music genre.

Brief summary: Music and writing are connected and TM is an example of a writer exploiting this connection

P2

Paragraph 2 explains how "jazz" is influenced by music. While the plot obviously play a role, the way in which the story is told contributes even more. The novel is characterized by frequent shifts from the 3rd person to the 1st person and characters are given a lot of time to talk and to express themselves. However characters are always controlled and guided by the author. Similarly all this happens also in a Jazz band where musicians perform solos but they stick to a common line.

Brief summary: The way in which music affects TM's "jazz" novel

P3

Paragraph 3 talks about DE. DE, similarly to what TM does in her novel, works with a lot of musicians who are always kept in line no matter how bold they were.

Brief summary: DE did something similar in music as what TM did in her novel

P4

Paragraph four talks about the achievement of "jazz": the novel was  paradoxically  able to give space to the characters while keeping a fixed scope throughout the narration. Plus the novel redefined the possibilities of the narrative point of view.

Brief summary: "Jazz"'s achievements

Main point

The main point is to understand through the example of a novel how the music genre can be successfully applied to the genre of writing.

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1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

Pre-thinking

Main point question

Refer to main point and paragraph summaries above

(A) In Jazz, Morrison has realized a significant artistic achievement in creating the first African American   work of fiction   whose plot, themes, and setting are all drawn from the world of jazz.
 This one sounds good except for the fact that according to the passage "jazz" was not the first fiction

(B) Morrison's striking description of   a musical ensemble performance containing solo improvisations   constitutes an important artistic innovation and   makes Jazz an important model for other writers.  
 the point is that TM's work metaphorically resembled jazz in a way that its characters were given the same time to talk as in jazz singers were given time to sing. Plus nowhere it is mentioned that the novel is a model for other writers

(C) Although many African American writers have used music as a central metaphor in their works, Morrison's 1992 novel is unique and innovative for using jazz as its central metaphor.
 out of scope

(D) Building on the works of many African American writers and musical composers, Morrison has over the years developed an innovative jazzlike style of narration, which she used especially effectively in the novel Jazz.
 not the main point and we are not also given that the author evolved over time

(E)   In Jazz, Morrison has succeeded in creating an original and effective narrative strategy that is a literary analogue of Duke Ellington's style of musical composition.
 This is correct and good candidate for the main point even tough it could be mistaken for a partial scope answer. POE helped

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2. The author's discussion in the first paragraph proceeds in which one of the following ways?

Pre-thinking

Structure question

In P1 we are given a general statement about music and writing. Then we are given that an example of this relationship is represented by AAM and that TM wrote a unique novel based on this relationship.

(A) from a common claim about the arts, to a   denial   of this claim as applied to a particular artistic tradition, to a   hypothesis   about a particular individual
 Out of scope per the highlight terms

(B)   from a general remark about two art forms, to a similar observation about a particular artistic tradition, to a specific comment about a particular work that exemplifies the prior remarks
 This is very in line with pre-thinking

(C) from a description of a common claim about two art forms, to   some specific evidence that supports that claim  , to an   inference   regarding a particular individual to whom that claim applies
 Out of scope per the terms highlighted

(D) from an observation about   a   specific art form, to a more general claim about the   applicability   of that observation to other art forms, to a particular   counterexample   to the first observation
 out of scope per the terms highlighted

(E) from general   comments   about the arts, to a purported   counterexample   to the general comments as applied to a particular artistic tradition, to a description of a particular work that bears out the original comments
 out of scope per the terms highlighted

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3. The author's assertion in lines 10-16 would be most called into question if which one of the following were true?

Pre-thinking

Weaken question

The followings are the lines provided by the question stem:
 
"North American art. But while many African American
writers have used musicians and music as theme and
metaphor in their writing, none had attempted to draw
upon a musical genre as the structuring principle for
an entire novel until Toni Morrison did so in her 1992
(15) novel Jazz, a novel set in the Harlem section of
New York City in 1926."

We should treat this as a normal CR question. The only information given is that TM was the only one to write a novel entirely derived from a music genre.

Clearly we need to suggest that either  she was not the only one  or that  she did not entirely structure her novel based on a music genre

(A) Even a casual reading of Jazz makes it evident that the author has intentionally tried to simulate a style of jazz performance in the narration of the story.
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(B)   A small number of African American novelists writing earlier in the twentieth century sought to base the form of their work on the typical structure of blues music.
 in line with pre-thinking. This proves that TM was not the only one and the first to do such thing

(C) All novels about nonliterary arts and artists appear as if their authors have tried to make their narrative styles reminiscent of the arts in question.
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(D) Depending partly on whether or not it is read aloud, any novel can be found to be somewhat musical in nature.
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(E) A smaller number of African American writers than of non-African American writers in North America have written novels whose plots and characters  have to do with music .
 Not in line with pre-thinking

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4. The information in the passage most supports which one of the following statements regarding Ellington?

Pre-thinking

Inference question

An inference could be that what DE did with his music is very similar to what TM did in her novel. 
Also notice that "performed as if with quotation
marks around their improvisations and solos." resembles what is said in the previous paragraph about TM style.

Let's analyze the option choices

(A) Morrison has explicitly credited him with inspiring the style of narration that she developed in Jazz.
 cannot be inferred

(B) He prevented his musicians from performing lengthy solos in order to preserve the unity of his compositions.
 He did not prevent them.

(C) He is a minor character in Morrison's Jazz.
 cannot be inferred

(D)   He composed music that was originally intended to be performed by the specific musicians he conducted.
 "Duke Ellington
was the first to construct his compositions with his
individual musicians and their unique "voices" in
mind."

This seems reasonable and the only choice left after rejecting the other options on a solid base.

(E) Though he composed and conducted primarily jazz, he also composed some music of other genres.
 cannot be inferred

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5. The author's primary purpose in the passage is to

Pre-thinking

Main point question

Refer to main point and to paragraph summaries above

(A) analyze and commend   the variety of contributions   to the art of the novel made by a particular writer
 The author is not interested in the contributions

(B) contrast a particular African American writer's work with the work of African American practitioners of another art
 out of scope

(C)   describe a particular aspect of one work by a particular writer
 In line with pre-thinking. The particular aspect is that the novel is entirely based on a music genre. This is broad enough to be the main point

(D) demonstrate the ways in which two apparently   dissimilar   arts are, on a deeper analysis, actually quite similar
 From the beginning the author says that the two arts are connected.

(E) detail the thematic concerns in the work of a particular writer and identify the sources of those concerns
 thematic concerns are not discussed

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6. Each of the following excerpts from the passage exhibits the author's attitude toward the novel Jazz EXCEPT:

Pre-thinking

Detail question

(A)   " ... whose music is often considered its greatest artistic achievement and one of the greatest contributions to North American art" (lines 8-10)
 This is the author opinion about a topic, the AAM. Hence it does not portray the author attitude toward the novel itself

(B) "In Jazz, the connection to music is found not only in the novel's plot but,  more strikingly , in the way in which the story is told" (lines 17-19)
 this is the author option about the novel

(C) "The narration slips easily from the third-person omniscience of the narrator's disembodied voice ... " (lines 19-21)
 this are facts about the novel

(D) " ... Morrison has found a way, paradoxically, to create the sense of an ensemble of characters improvising within the fixed scope ... " (lines 49-51)
 facts about the novel

(E) "By simulating the style of a genius of music while exhibiting Morrison's own linguistic virtuosity ... " (lines 52-54)
 author opinion about the novel

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7. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to believe which one of the following?

Pre-thinking

Inference question

This is a broad question. Instead of pre-thinking all the possible inferences for time sake we will analyze the answer choices one by one

(A) In Jazz, Morrison has perfected a style of narration  that had been attempted  with little success by other North American writers in the twentieth century.
  In P1 the author clearly states that this approach was never attempted before.

(B) Because of its use of narrative techniques inspired by jazz, Morrison's novel represents the most successful representation  to date of the milieu in which jazz musicians live and work.
 Too extreme because of "the most successful"

(C) In Jazz, Morrison develops her narrative in such a way that the voices of individual characters are sometimes difficult to distinguish , in much the same way that individual musicians' voices merge in ensemble jazz playing.
 We do not have enough information to say that all that applies to the genre of jazz also applies in the novel

(D)   The structural analogy between Jazz and Duke Ellington's compositional style involves more than simply the technique of shifting between first-person and third-person narrators.
 This could be it. DE is said to give space to musicians and their solos but at the end all those solos are quotations. A similar reasoning is applied to TM. Hence we can infer this statement

(E) Morrison disguises the important structural connections between her narrative and Duke Ellington's jazz compositions by making the transitions between first- and third-person narrators appear easy.
 cannot be inferred

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8. The passage contains information that most helps to answer which one of the following questions?

Pre-thinking

Detail question

Let's analyze the answer choices

(A) Do any African American  visual  artists also attempt to  emulate  African American music in their work?
 we know that some AAWriters tried to base their composition partially on music. Emulate distorts the meaning

(B)   In what way is Jazz stylistically similar to other literary works by Morrison?
 This seems to be given in P2

(C) After the publication of Jazz, did critics quickly acknowledge the innovative nature of the narrative style that Morrison uses in that novel?
 No info about critics

(D) How many works by African American writers have been inspired by the music of Duke Ellington?
 how many works: not given

(E) What characteristic of Jazz is also present in the work of some other African American writers?
 Not given.

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It is a god day to be alive!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. The author's assertion in lines 10-16 would be most called into question if which one of the following were true?

Explanation

This question asks us to weaken the assertion that Toni Morrison is the first African American writer to use music as the structuring principle for an entire novel. The correct answer choice will show that some other African American writers made a similar attempt at an earlier time.

Answer choice (A):  Whether Toni Morrison intentionally simulated the style of jazz performance is entirely irrelevant to the author’s assertion. The author never argued that Morrison’s narration of the story is unintentional or accidental.

Answer choice (B):  This is the correct answer choice. If a number of earlier African American novelists sought to base the form of their work on the typical structure of blues music, this suggests that Toni Morrison was not unique in her attempt to use music as a structuring principle for their narration, weakening the author’s assertion that she was.

Answer choice (C):  This answer choice can easily be eliminated, because Morrison did not simply try to make her style reminiscent of jazz. In her novel, the narrative structure is a literary analogue to art, not simply an attempt to imitate it.

Answer choice (D):  Just because any novel can appear musical in nature has no bearing on the issue of whether Morrison was the first African American writer to use music as a narrative device and a structuring principle for the entire novel.

Answer choice (E):  This answer choice would only be attractive if you tried to weaken the first part of the author’s assertion—the observation that many African American writers have written novels whose plots involve music. This is not the conclusion of the argument. Additionally, it is still possible that many African American writers have written such novels, even if their number is smaller than the number of non-African American writers who have done the same.

The correct answer choice is (B)

Explanation Credit: PowerScore

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

Explanation

Answer choice (A):  While the author regards Jazz as a significant artistic achievement, there is no evidence that it is the first African American work whose plot, themes and setting are all drawn from the world of jazz. Many African American writers have used music as theme and metaphor in their writing  (lines 10-12) . Furthermore, the main point of the passage has more to do with Morrison’s narrative strategy, not its thematic elements or setting.

Answer choice (B):  Hopefully you were able to eliminate this answer choice relatively quickly, as it suggests a profound misunderstanding of the passage. The musical ensemble performance containing solo improvisations is how the author describes Ellington’s style of composition; it is not a description in Toni Morrison’s novel. In fact, we are never told what she describes in Jazz.

Answer choice (C):  This is a classic half-right, half-wrong answer choice. Morrison’s novel is unique and innovative not because it uses jazz as a metaphor, but because it draws upon jazz as a structuring principle for its style of narration.

Answer choice (D):  The passage presents no evidence that Morrison relied on the works of other African American writers, nor that she developed a jazzlike style of narration over the years. The evolution of Morrison’s literary style is never discussed.

Answer choice (E):  This is the correct answer choice. The author alludes to the unique narrative strategy of Jazz in the first two paragraphs, and argues that it is a  “literary rendering”  of Duke Ellington’s art of composition at the end of the third paragraph  (lines 44-48).

Answer: E

2. The author's discussion in the first paragraph proceeds in which one of the following ways?

Difficulty Level:   Medium

Explanation

Passage Organization questions exemplify the value of understanding passage structure. This particular question, however, requires that we identify the logical organization of the first paragraph only, and as such resembles a Method of Reasoning question. Due to the highly abstract nature of the terms used in each answer choice, you must think about argument structure, not content. Since there are so many ways to describe the same argument, do not expect to see your exact prephrase as the answer. One possible way to describe the first paragraph would be: the author remarks on the relationship between music and literature, evaluates its relevance to the African American artistic tradition, and provides a specific example of that relationship. This description is closest in meaning to  answer choice (B).

Answer choice (A):  This answer choice can be eliminated relatively quickly, because the observation about the African American artistic tradition only affirms the common claim about the arts; it is not a denial of that claim.

Answer choice (B):  This is the correct answer choice. The author begins with a general remark about two art forms (music and literature), makes a similar observation about a particular artistic tradition (the African American tradition), and comments on a particular work that exemplifies the prior remarks (Toni Morrison’s Jazz).

Answer choice (C):  Although the paragraph begins with a common claim about two art forms (literature and music), it provides no specific evidence to support that claim. The remark about the African American tradition is still a relatively general observation about the applicability of the common claim to a particular artistic tradition. Furthermore, although relevant to Toni Morrison, the observation that she drew upon the musical genre in Jazz cannot be properly described as an  “inference.”

Answer choice (D):  This answer choice is two-thirds correct. However, Toni Morrison’s Jazz is not a counterexample to the observation about literature and music. Quite the opposite, in fact, is true.

Answer choice (E):  This answer choice is incorrect, because the African American artistic tradition is not a counterexample to the comments about literature and music; it bears out those comments.

Answer: B

Explanation Credit: PowerScore

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Music and literature, rivals among the arts, have not coexisted

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Music and literature, rivals among the arts, have not coexisted

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