With which one of the following statements regarding Elizabethan drama would the author be most likely to agree?
Julie-VJuly 10, 2019
Answer Explanations
Hi LSAT Max,
I didn't choose C at first, but looking back at the passage I think lines 19-22 would give the necessary support for this answer. Is it safe to assume that morality plays "being heavily influenced" (answer choice C) can be translated to "illuminates Elizabethan drama" (line 22)? I'd like to know if this was the right approach to the question as well as how the other answer choices can be eliminated. Thank you in advance!
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Great question. Your approach for this question is excellent. Lines 19-22 support (C). We know that Elizabethan dramas were influenced by the morality play from this portion of the passage, so (C) is correct.
Keep up the great work, and let us know if you have any other questions!
RaviJuly 10, 2019
@Julie-V,
Here's why we can eliminate the other answer choices.
(A) says, "The skill of Elizabethan dramatists has in recent years been overestimated."
The passage's author never evaluates the Elizabethan dramatists' skill levels, so we can get rid of (A).
(B) says, "The conventions that shaped Elizabethan drama are best exemplified by Webster’s drama."
We know that Webster isn't like his Elizabethan contemporaries, so (B) is off the mark. We can get rid of this choice.
(D) says, "Only by carefully examining the work of his Elizabethan contemporaries can Webster’s achievement as a dramatist be accurately measured."
The passage is about stating that the critics' assumption that Webster was influenced by morality plays is incorrect. The passage is not about measuring the extent of Webster's achievement. Plus, we know that Webster's work was different from his Elizabethan contemporaries, so careful examination of those contemporaries is definitely not needed to understand his work. Thus, (D) is out.
(E) says, "Elizabethan drama can best be described as influenced by a composite of Italian and classical sources."
The passage suggests to us that the Elizabethan dramas weren't generally influenced by Italian sources, whereas Webster was, so (E) is out.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions!
