Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

Gabriela-Diaz on May 12, 2020

Sorry Why is A a better answer than B? B also seems correct

shafieiava on May 19, 2020

I would also appreciate an explanation of A v. B here! My thinking while reviewing is that B captures the context of the argument well (mainly as explained in paragraph 1) but that is not the main point of the argument-- it's only to set up the larger argument the author is making about the details of how films are screened. Am I veering in the correct direction here?Thanks in advance.

MargueriteHS on July 22, 2020

Thirded! I thought B seemed more accurate. Would love an explanation.

BrentS on July 27, 2020

Fourthed! I chose B and would love to understand this.

ankita96 on August 1, 2020

Hi,
I would also like an explanation to why A is better than A

cfraser109 on August 9, 2020

Hello! I am incredibly confused as to why A is better than B also!

The passage says for exhibiting works of art:

"In all cases the aim is to select a series of works with something in common."

and then says about the world of cinema in general:

"But I would argue that the philosophy of "collecting the similar" is often inappropriate for screening early film, especially nonfiction, because it means showing several films of the same type one after the other in the same sitting, which would never have been the practice at the time the films were made.

The mention of nonfiction reads more as an example where the larger conclusion applies most strongly. The passage is about how showing films together that have something in common makes the experience inauthentic because they were meant to be shown in a context that allows them to balance and react to other films. It emphasizes that this is especially true of nonfiction films, however, it goes on to discuss the relationship between different types of films and the reason they were grouped together when they were originally shown and why it is inauthentic not to show them that way. The final paragraph seems to sum everything up and doesn't have any mention of nonfiction film....

please help!

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on October 29, 2020

Hi I am not an instructor but I believe A is better than B for the following reason.

B states "The practices that are best suited to exhibiting works in an artistic medium like painting are not well suited for exhibiting cinematic works."
This is only a portion of the passage, namely paragraph 1 and 2. Paragraph 3 contains no information about B as paragraph 3 dedicates its entirety to the passage’s central argument. That is, paragraph 3 shows that the way a film is exhibited plays a crucial role in giving contemporary audience a truly authentic movie viewing experience. Thus, B is not the main idea of the passage as paragraph 3 contains no information that supports B.

A reads "Screenings that consist entirely of early nonfiction films are poorly conceived because they ignore the context of the films' original screening." Paragraph 1 and 2 build up the argument by introducing the idea that how an item is displayed in a series plays a crucial role in how audience perceives it, and that nonfiction movies cannot be displayed simply the way art show does. Paragraph 3 is the gist of the passage’s argument. That is, film archive must pay attention to not only restoring film’s authenticity but also how it is exhibited to the audience in order to simulate a truly authentic viewing experience for contemporary audience. Thus, A is better than B because it is the gist of the whole passage’s argument.

Thank you very much. Please feel free to correct me.

DavidClimber on March 31, 2021

I think I have found the ultimate reason why A is separated from B.
We cannot assume that the practice is equal to the philosophy behind it.
By criticising the philosophy in the start of the paragraph 2 I realize that we must be careful that the author is not only mostly talking about the case against the screening putting similar films together, but also he was not critiquing the practice. The practice is much broader than the philosophy itself.

DavidClimber on March 31, 2021

I think I have found the ultimate reason why A is separated from B.
We cannot assume that the practice is equal to the philosophy behind it.
By criticising the philosophy in the start of the paragraph 2 I realize that we must be careful that the author is not only mostly talking about the case against the screening putting similar films together, but also he was not critiquing the practice. The practice is much broader than the philosophy itself.

Emil-Kunkin on September 25, 2022

Hi, I think the simplest reason it is not B is the fact that this passage is only about one particular manner of exhibiting one art form. We have no clue about other "practices that are best suited to exhibiting works in an artistic medium like painting." Maybe most of them actually work for cinema? While the idea of collecting the similar is clearly not appropriate, B is far, far too general.