The term blues is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness

Question

The term “blues” is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness or melancholy, but to conclude from this that the musical genre of the same name is merely an expression of unrelieved sorrow is to miss its deeper meaning. Despite its frequent focus on such themes as suffering and self-pity, and despite the censure that it has sometimes received from church communities, the blues, understood more fully, actually has much in common with the traditional religious music known as spirituals. Each genre, in its own way, aims to bring about what could be called a spiritual transformation: spirituals produce a religious experience and the blues elicits an analogous response. In fact the blues has even been characterized as a form of “secular spiritual.” The implication of this apparently contradictory terminology is clear: the blues shares an essential aspect of spirituals. Indeed, the blues and spirituals may well arise from  a common reservoir of experience , tapping into an aesthetic that underlies many aspects of African American culture.

Critics have noted that African American folk tradition, in its earliest manifestations, does not sharply differentiate reality into sacred and secular strains or into irreconcilable dichotomies between good and evil, misery and joy. This is consistent with the apparently dual aspect of the blues and spirituals. Spirituals, like the blues, often express longing or sorrow, but these plaintive tones are indicative of neither genre’s full scope: both aim at transforming their participants’ spirits to elation and exaltation. In this regard, both musical forms may be linked to traditional African American culture in North America and to its ancestral cultures in West Africa, in whose traditional religions worshippers play an active role in invoking the divine—in creating the psychological conditions that are conducive to religious experience. These conditions are often referred to as “ecstasy,” which is to be understood here with its etymological connotation of  standing out from oneself , or rather from one’s background psychological state and from one’s centered concept of self.

Working in this tradition, blues songs serve to transcend negative experiences by invoking the negative so that it can be transformed through the virtuosity and ecstatic mastery of the performer. This process produces a double-edged irony that is often evident in blues lyrics themselves; consider, for example the lines “If the blues was money, I’d be a millionaire,” in which the singer reconfigures the experience of sorrow into a paradoxical asset through a kind of boasting bravado. One critic has observed that the impulse behind the blues is the desire to keep painful experiences alive in the performer and audience not just for their own sake, but also in order to coax from these experiences a lyricism that is both tragic and comic.    1 
 1. Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

(A) The emphasis on spiritual transcendence takes the blues out of the realm of folk art and into the realm of organized religion.
(B) Little of the transcendent aspect of the blues is retained in its more modern, electronically amplified, urban forms.
(C) Other forms of African American folk art rely heavily on uses of irony similar to those observed in the blues.
(D) The distinctive musical structure of blues songs is the primary means of producing tensions between sadness and transcendence.
(E) The blues may be of psychological benefit to its listeners.

2 
 2. Each of the following is indicated by the passage as a shared aspect of the blues and spirituals EXCEPT:

(A) expressions of sorrow or longing
(B) a striving to bring about a kind of spiritual transformation
(C) a possible link to ancestral West African cultures
(D) the goal of producing exalted emotions
(E) the use of traditional religious terminology in their lyrics

3 
 3. Which one of the following most accurately expresses what the author intends “a common reservoir of experience” ( Highlighted ) to refer to?

(A) a set of experiences that members of differing cultures frequently undergo and that similarly affects the music of those cultures
(B) set of ordinary experiences that underlies the development of all musical forms
(C) a set of experiences that contributed to the development of both the blues and spirituals
(D) a set of musically relevant experiences that serves to differentiate reality into irreconcilable dichotomies
(E) a set of experiences arising from the folk music of a community and belonging to the community at large

4 
 4. The primary purpose of the second paragraph is to

(A) uncover the shared origin of both the blues and spirituals
(B) examine the process by which ecstasy is produced
(C) identify the musical precursors of the blues
(D) explore the sacred and secular strains of the blues
(E) trace the early development of African American folk tradition

5 
 5. The reference to “standing out from oneself” ( Highlighted ) primarily serves to

(A) distinguish the standard from the nonstandard, and thus incorrect, use of a word
(B) specify a particular sense of a word that the author intends the word to convey
(C) point out a word that incorrectly characterizes experiences arising from blues performance
(D) identify a way in which religious participation differs from blues performance
(E) indicate the intensity that a good blues artist brings to a performance

6 
 6. Which one of the following is most closely analogous to the author’s account of the connections among the blues, spirituals, and certain West African religious practices?

(A) Two species of cacti, which are largely dissimilar, have very similar flowers; this has been proven to be due to the one’s evolution from a third species, whose flowers are nonetheless quite different from theirs.
(B) Two species of ferns, which are closely similar in most respects, have a subtly different arrangement of stem structures; nevertheless, they may well be related to a third, older species, which has yet a different arrangement of stem structures.
(C) Two types of trees, which botanists have long believed to be unrelated, should be reclassified in light of the essential similarities of their flower structures and their recently discovered relationship to another species, from which they both evolved.
(D) Two species of grass, which may have some subtle similarities, are both very similar to a third species, and thus it can be inferred that the third species evolved from one of the two species.
(E) Two species of shrubs, which seem superficially unalike, have a significantly similar leaf structure; this may be due to their relation to a third, older species, which is similar to both of them.

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 34   
 Difficulty Level:   650

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 106 Date: 16-Mar-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

arora1 · Accepted Answer

All correct in nearly 11 mins, with 6.5 mins in reading. Below is my POE

1. Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

(A) The emphasis on spiritual transcendence takes the blues out of the realm of folk art and into the realm of organized religion.-  Nopes. It is similar to the African american folk tradition. The passage does not say that blues go out of the realm of folk art. 
(B) Little of the transcendent aspect of the blues is retained in its more modern, electronically amplified, urban forms.-  No comparison with blues modern form 
(C) Other forms of African American folk art rely heavily on uses of irony similar to those observed in the blues.-  We do not know of other forms 
(D) The distinctive musical structure of blues songs is the primary means of producing tensions between sadness and transcendence.-  The passage does not state that if it is the primary, non primary or mildly primary mean. :p Nor can this be inferred from anywhere 
(E) The blues may be of psychological benefit to its listeners.- Answer   I could not find a better option than this

2. Each of the following is indicated by the passage as a shared aspect of the blues and spirituals EXCEPT:
 
Quoting relevant portions of passage 2 for this question
(A) expressions of sorrow or longing-  Spirituals, like the blues, often express longing or sorrow, 
(B) a striving to bring about a kind of spiritual transformation  both aim at transforming their participants’ spirits to elation and exaltation 
(C) a possible link to ancestral West African cultures Passage 1:  Indeed, the blues and spirituals may well arise from a common reservoir of experience,tapping into an aesthetic that underlies many aspects ofAfrican American culture. 
(D) the goal of producing exalted emotions   “ecstasy,” which is to be understood here with its etymological connotation of standing out from oneself, or rather from one’s background psychological state and from one’s centered concept of self. 
(E) the use of traditional religious terminology in their lyrics-  Answer

3. Which one of the following most accurately expresses what the author intends “a common reservoir of experience” (line 18) to refer to?

(A) a set of experiences that members of differing cultures frequently undergo and that similarly affects the music of those cultures Too generic 
(B) set of ordinary experiences that underlies the development of all musical forms To broad. Talks about all musical forms 
(C) a set of experiences that contributed to the development of both the blues and spirituals Answer. To the point and accurate 
(D) a set of musically relevant experiences that serves to differentiate reality into irreconcilable dichotomies We are rather told that African American folk tradition does not distinguish clearly. The boundaries are blurred  
(E) a set of experiences arising from the folk music of a community and belonging to the community at large Community at large?

4. The primary purpose of the second paragraph is to

(A) uncover the shared origin of both the blues and spirituals Answer. Pretty easy to choose 
(B) examine the process by which ecstasy is produced Only the last 2 sentences talk about this. But that any way applies to both blues and spirituals making option 1 better 
(C) identify the musical precursors of the blues Again this is too specific. Option 1 is better 
(D) explore the sacred and secular strains of the blues Sacred and Secular strains? Not really mentioned in passage 
(E) trace the early development of African American folk tradition The paragraph does not aim to trace the developemnt

5. The reference to “standing out from oneself” in line 39 primarily serves to

(A) distinguish the standard from the nonstandard, and thus incorrect, use of a word Word is used correctly 
(B) specify a particular sense of a word that the author intends the word to convey Answer. The author aims to stress and clarify what he aims to convey 
(C) point out a word that incorrectly characterizes experiences arising from blues performance incorrectly word made the option wrong  
(D) identify a way in which religious participation differs from blues performance They are similar. 
(E) indicate the intensity that a good blues artist brings to a performance Aah. I was choosing this option but on rereading the sentence "which is to be understood here " i chose option 2

6. Which one of the following is most closely analogous to the author’s account of the connections among the blues, spirituals, and certain West African religious practices? 
Here we must find an option in which category 1 is similar to category 2, and both categories are similar to category 3. Also, category 1 and category 2 arise or evolve from category 3
(A) Two species of cacti, which are largely  dissimilar , have very similar flowers; this has been proven to be due to the one’s evolution from a third species, whose flowers are nonetheless quite different from theirs.
(B) Two species of ferns, which are closely similar in most respects, have a subtly different arrangement of stem structures; nevertheless, they may well be related to a third, older species, which has yet a  different  arrangement of stem structures.
(C) Two types of trees, which botanists have long believed to be  unrelated,  should be reclassified in light of the essential similarities of their flower structures and their recently discovered relationship to another species, from which they both evolved.
(D) Two species of grass, which may have some subtle similarities, are both very similar to a third species, and thus it can be inferred that the third species  evolved from one of the two species. 
(E) Two species of shrubs, which seem superficially unalike, have a significantly similar leaf structure; this may be due to their relation to a third, older species, which is similar to both of them. Answer

AmarRajput · Answer

5/5 left ques no 1
all question requires good POE
How I grasped important Info

The term “blues” is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness or melancholy, but to conclude from this that the musical genre of the same name is merely an expression of unrelieved sorrow is to miss its deeper meaning. Despite its frequent focus on such themes as suffering and self-pity, and despite the censure that it has sometimes received from church communities, the blues, understood more fully, actually has much in common with the traditional religious music known as spirituals. Each genre, in its own way, aims to bring about what could be called a spiritual transformation: spirituals produce a religious experience and the blues elicits an analogous response. In fact the blues has even been characterized as a form of “secular spiritual.” The implication of this apparently contradictory terminology is clear: the blues shares an essential aspect of spirituals. Indeed, the blues and spirituals may well arise from a common reservoir of experience, tapping into an aesthetic that underlies many aspects of African American culture.

Critics have noted that African American folk tradition, in its earliest manifestations, does not sharply differentiate reality into sacred and secular strains or into irreconcilable dichotomies between good and evil, misery and joy. This is consistent with the apparently dual aspect of the blues and spirituals. Spirituals, like the blues, often express longing or sorrow, but these plaintive tones are indicative of neither genre’s full scope: both aim at transforming their participants’ spirits to elation and exaltation. In this regard, both musical forms may be linked to traditional African American culture in North America and to its ancestral cultures in West Africa, in whose traditional religions worshippers play an active role in invoking the divine—in creating the psychological conditions that are conducive to religious experience. These conditions are often referred to as “ecstasy,” which is to be understood here with its etymological connotation of standing out from oneself, or rather from one’s background psychological state and from one’s centered concept of self.

Working in this tradition, blues songs serve to transcend negative experiences by invoking the negative so that it can be transformed through the virtuosity and ecstatic mastery of the performer. This process produces a double-edged irony that is often evident in blues lyrics themselves; consider, for example the lines “If the blues was money, I’d be a millionaire,” in which the singer reconfigures the experience of sorrow into a paradoxical asset through a kind of boasting bravado. One critic has observed that the impulse behind the blues is the desire to keep painful experiences alive in the performer and audience not just for their own sake, but also in order to coax from these experiences a lyricism that is both tragic and comic.

Bingo

nazii · Answer

Can someone pls explain how for question 1, we reach to E answer choice?  
where in the passage we see such reference?!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

No help given, so no way to predict anything. We must simply check the choices in whatever order. The blues is analogous to a religious experience  (lines 12-13: spirituals produce a religious experience and the blues elicits an analogous response.) , but it’s still undeniably secular  (line 14: characterized as a form of “secular spiritual.” )  and so (A)’s claim of transcendence into  “organized religion”  is inappropriate.

The author never mentions modern, plugged-in, urban blues,  (B) , so while it’s fun to speculate on what he’d think of it, we’re given no evidence either way.

Other folk art forms,  (C) , appear only in a side reference in  lines 19-20: tapping into an aesthetic that underlies many aspects of African American culture. Critics have noted that African American folk tradition, in its earliest manifestations, does not sharply differentiate reality into sacred and secular strains or into irreconcilable dichotomies between good and evil, misery and joy. This is consistent with the apparently dual aspect of the blues and spirituals.   which isn’t enough to justify  (C) , especially since  “irony”  doesn’t come in until  26 lines  later.

Paragraph 4 ’s enthusiastic discussion of ironic blues lyrics gives the lie to  (D) ’s assertion that the musical structure is  “primary”  at creating tension. However, there are several references to the psychologically beneficial effects of the blues— lines 35-36: in creating the psychological conditions that are conducive to religious experience. ,  42-45: Working in this tradition, blues songs serve to transcend negative experiences by invoking the negative so that it can be transformed through the virtuosity and ecstatic mastery of the performer. , and  51-56: One critic has observed that the impulse behind the blues is the desire to keep painful experiences alive in the performer and audience not just for their own sake, but also in order to coax from these experiences a lyricism that is both tragic and comic. —that bolster the author’s agreement with  (E).

Answer: E

HarshaBujji · Answer

Passage Summary :

The passage discusses the deeper meaning of the blues musical genre beyond just expressing sadness or melancholy. Despite focusing on themes of suffering and self-pity, the blues aims to elicit a spiritual transformation in the listener, much like the traditional religious music known as spirituals. The two genres share a common cultural aesthetic and may arise from a common reservoir of experience. The passage suggests that the African American folk tradition does not sharply differentiate reality into sacred and secular strains, and that both spirituals and blues aim to transform the listener's spirit to elation and exaltation. Blues songs invoke negative experiences to transform them through the virtuosity and ecstatic mastery of the performer, producing a double-edged irony often evident in blues lyrics.

ashutosh_73 · Answer

Hi  Sajjad1994 , how do we add the line nos in the text? Can i edit the text? If you can, please add the line nos here..

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Adding the line numbers is not essay and effective anymore. After updating the GC font size, all of the previously posted passages distorted w.r to the line numbers. I have highlighted the related terms in the passage and also added the related text in the quoted explanation.

ducchi1301 · Answer

2. Each of the following is indicated by the passage as a shared aspect of the blues and spirituals EXCEPT:

(A) expressions of sorrow or longing 
 (B) a striving to bring about a kind of spiritual transformation 
 (C) a possible link to ancestral West African cultures 
 (D) the goal of producing exalted emotions 
  (E) the use of traditional religious terminology in their lyrics (This answer is correct, as there's no indication that religious terminology is applied in the lyrics of both genre's songs.)

Sneha2021 · Answer

KarishmaB   GMATNinja

3. Which one of the following most accurately expresses what the author intends “a common reservoir of experience” (Highlighted) to refer to?
(E) a set of experiences arising from the folk music of a community and belonging to the community at large

Both blues and spiritual did arise from the folk music of a African american community. WHY E INCORRECT?

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 3 
 
The passage does say that the blues and spirituals arose from a common set of experiences, but it does not say that those experiences arose from folk music.

The beginning of the second paragraph does tell us that the dual aspect of blues and spirituals is consistent with early folk  tradition  (not necessarily folk music), but that doesn't necessarily mean that the experiences influencing blues and spirituals arose from folk music. All it means is that blues and spirituals have something in common with the early folk tradition (the dual aspect).

(C) is a better choice: blues and spirituals arose from a common set of experiences, but the passage doesn't really talk about the origin of the experiences themselves.

I hope that helps!

prragya · Answer

GMATNinja  In Question 1, Option E can not directly be inferred, then what makes it a better answer than the other options like D?

GMATNinja · Answer

We're told that blues (and spirituals) both aim "to bring about what could be called a spiritual transformation" and "at transforming their participants’ spirits to elation and exaltation." The passage also links blues back to religion in West Africa. Specifically, to the process of:

Piecing that together, we can certainly infer that experiencing "ecstasy" or "elation" or "exaltation" by listening to the blues could help remove a person from his/her psychological state. If blues can help in transcending the negative (transcending the suffering, the self-pity, the longing, the sorrow), then it's not a stretch to say that blues may be of psychological benefit to its listeners.

As for (D), there is nothing in the passage about the  structure  of blues songs, and we certainly don't know whether that structure is distinctive or if it is the primary means of producing tensions between sadness and transcendence.

In short, there is no evidence supporting (D) while there is significant evidence supporting (E), so (E) is the better option.

The term blues is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The term blues is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness

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