#14 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose

[lilmissunshine]

Hello,

I picked (C) initially but then changed to (D). I thought "scholarly debate" matched with line 2-3 but "different scholarly interpretations" fits better with the whole passage. Could you explain it for me? Thanks a lot!

[Vaidehi Joshi]

Good to see that your gut instinct led you to (C).
Although it is not always the case with every passage, here, we can find a good clue as to the "purpose" question in the very first line:

Tragic dramas written in Greece during the fifth century B.C. engender considerable scholarly debate over the relative influence of individual autonomy and the power of the gods on the drama’s action.

We can confirm that this is indeed a good summary of the passage as we read the rest of it, which conforms to elaborating the different scholarly perspectives. The author is pretty hands-off/neutral with the different views he presents, in that he doesn't seem to favor or endorse any one particular scholar's view. This clues us in that the answer choice is going to be equally general and neutral, rather than suggesting that one view is good/others are bad, or taking any particular side of the debate.
This is why (D) is wrong--because it suggests that the author is not really neutral, but is taking a stance one which scholars are more correct in their views (i.e., "pointing out the relative merits of different scholarly interpretations of Greek tragedy," which is the language of (D))

[Sydneymkim]

how do we know that this is "ongoing" though? it mentioned "considerable" but the only reason why I didn't choose C was that I wasn't sure if it was "ongoing".

Instead, I chose E because I thought that at the end of the day, the passage did overall talk about autonomy and motivation.

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Sydney,

When you answer primary purpose questions, you want to be focused on the main point of the passage as a whole. The main point of the passage will help inform your primary purpose. The main point in this passage is that there are different ways to think about the balance between human autonomy and divine control. The problem with answer choice (E) is that the passage generally isn't about philosophy in general, it's focused on the way to interpret Greek tragedy. Answer choice (C) on the other hand covers the structure and function of the passage. It's about the different ways that different scholars have interpreted Greek tragedy.

Hope that helps!