The author of passage A would be most likely to regard the discussion in passage B regarding "a third kind of opera" ...

Naryan-Shukle on May 26, 2022

Hi @denleybishop,

Comparative passages, as with all reading comp, relies heavily on your thorough understanding of the material. Here's how I go through this.

Passage A: Ok, basically this dude is saying that mixing art forms is cool, but it doesn't always work. For example, in opera, music has to be dominant, since it's the more expressive art form. Ok, bold statements but let's roll with it.

Passage B: There are 3 types of operas. Type 1 = music is dominant, other stuff secondary. Type 2 = everything is equally important. Type 3 (theoretical) = other stuff is dominant, music secondary. But no matter which type, if you wanna judge an opera, you need to judge it as a whole. Cool.

Clearly, these two have some differing opinions. This question asks us "what would person A think of the Type 3 opera?"

Well, author A is a big fan girl for music. They think it's the most expressive art form, and should take the lead. So they probably wouldn't like Type 3 opera. They would say it relegates music to the back without cause, and that music should be the most important thing. Let's go see the answers.

(A): This distorts A's argument. They DO say that both art forms lose from being combined, but they lose PURITY, not that they would be BETTER separate. Careful with those equivocations. This is like saying "chocolate and peanut butter are more pure separate." That doesn't mean you hate Reese's PB Cups.

(B): Boom. Exactly what author A would say. They think music is some master race of art forms, and so would absolutely agree with this. "Yeah whatever your costumes and makeup and acting is cool, but it's all nothing compared to the music." In their eyes the opera's quality is decided primarily on the music.

At this point you should move on, but in case you missed B, let's keep going.

(C): What? Totally OPPOSITE of what author A says. Not only do they think the art forms are divisible, they think they are more pure when divided.

(D): The word "invariably" is a massive red flag. Remember, we're training to be lawyers, and this statement is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Really? EVERY SINGLE song in the history of the human race is quantifiably better when it is put to poetry? This is what absolute statements should sound like in your head. Terms like "invariably" are fatal in the legal world.

(E): This may or may not be true, but we have absolutely no idea if author A would believe this. We just don't have any idea what they think about "the requirements" of opera.

Hope this helps!