#21 - Musicologist: Ludwig van Beethoven began losing

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

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

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

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

[ChicaRosa]

I don't understand why E is correct and not C?

I thought it was C because of the last sentence of the stimulus.

Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

The key problem with answer C, Chica, is that it focuses on Beethoven himself and not on his music. He might very well have been just as introspective, maybe even more so, had he not lost his hearing, but what effect would that have had on his music? That's the real question, and that's why E is the better choice.

Answer B is out because while his music got more introspective, we don't know that it got to be of better overall quality.

Answer D is out because we don't know that the change was gradual. For all we know, he just suddenly starting being much more introspective when he woke up on his 65th birthday!

Take another look and let us know if we can be of any further help!

[flaneur]

For me, I eliminated E pretty quickly, as nowhere in the stimulus is it suggested that hearing loss is the sole cause of music becoming introspective. One could easily find an alternative reason like age resulting in introspective musical composition. I understand that the rest of the answer choices are wrong, but how is the speculation in E supported by the stimulus? Is it because E is the only one that is qualified by "probably"?

[James Finch]

Hi Flaneur,

Beethoven's complete hearing loss is the only cause given in the stimulus for the "introspective quality" of his later music, with the lack of introspection in his earlier works given as evidence for this. So following the logic in the stimulus, we can presume that had Beethoven not lost his hearing, his later music would not have been introspective, and therefore different from what it actually is. As Adam explained, this is the only answer choice supported by the stimulus, as all of the others deal with shifts in scope from the argument made in the stimulus.

Hope this clears things up!

[AAron24!]

Hi,
I chose answer D because the stimulus wrote that his hearing loss continued at a gradual pace, therefore making his music more introspective gradually. Although I understand how E is correct, Im just a bit confused on how C is wrong? Thanks

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Aaron!

The stimulus tells us that Beethoven lost his hearing gradually, but it doesn't tell us that his music became introspective gradually. We know that his later music was more introspective than his earlier music. But that doesn't necessarily mean that there was a gradual transition between his less introspective and his more introspective music. For all we know all of the music he wrote before the age of 50 was not introspective at all and then as soon as he turned 50--BAM!--suddenly all of his music was super introspective.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey