#7 - A truly visual art form—for example, painting—is one in which time plays no essential role.

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[Aspiring-Logicl-Rsnr]

Hi PowerScore!

I got this question right because all the wrong answers are obviously wrong. But I had a hard time 100% confirming A.

Here's what I see the argument saying:

Truly visual art form = time plays no essential role.
"In contrast," most art forms are essentially temporal.
Essentially temporal: "that is, they require performance."

So. In order to say that truly visual art forms don't require performance, we have to—I think—do two things.

First, we must let the "that is" function as a full equation between "essentially temporal" and "require performance." By full equation, I mean: "that is" must make each term refer only to the same exact thing. If all essentially temporal art requires performance but only some art that requires performance is essentially temporal, the conclusion in A collapses—there could be other art (including visual art!) that requires performance. Reading "that is" in this way brings us here:

Truly visual art form = time plays no essential role.
"In contrast," most art forms require performance.

Second, we must read "in contrast" as asserting that the things that are contrasted are direct opposites regarding the quality that is contrasted. That brings us here:

Truly visual art form = does not require performance.

Am I thinking about this correctly? Is this a pretty standard way to read "that is" and "in contrast" on the LSAT? Thank you!!

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Aspiring,

It looks like you've got the general idea, although your analysis may be missing a few parts.

The stimulus begins by basically saying that "time plays no essential role" in truly visual art forms.

The second sentence in the stimulus explains what is meant by "time plays no essential role." This means that "there is no fixed order" to viewing the art and "no fixed amount of time" required.

The stimulus then contrasts these truly visual art forms with most other art forms, which are "essentially temporal" and "require performance, which means they must be experienced in a fixed order and over a roughly fixed amount of time."

This last statement equates "performance" to "experienced in a fixed order and over a roughly fixed amount of time," which would basically be the opposite of "time plays no essential role."

Putting everything together allows the inference that appears in Answer A.