#3 - Global Reference, Strengthen, Author's Perspective

[shelly]

what does "be less negative about "mean? why don't choose A,B,C,E?

[Francis O'Rourke]

I would translate the question to mean, the following: The author generally expresses a negative view of the current state of jazz. Which of the following facts would change the author's opinion? That is, what would make the author more positive about the state of affairs, or which one would weaken the author's argument that jazz is in a bad state?

Let me know if this helps you understand why the other four choices would not weaken the author's position.

The author is generally pessimistic because record companies seem to have settled on reissuing old records instead of developing new talent and promoting non-innovative music. If answer choice (D) were true, then this would refute one of the author's main points of criticism of Marsalis's and the record industry's effect on jazz today.

[mjb514]

I chose B because the second paragraph describes how Marsalis stopped releasing music. Soon after record labels began to reduce their association with jazz and began to put out old recordings. The first sentence of the third paragraph states, "For this grim state of affairs in jazz, Marsalis, the public face of the music and the EVIDENT MASTER OF ITS DESTINY..." I took this as Marsalis is the key component to the state of affairs, and if he were to release new music things would recover. I do not know where D is supported in the passage.

[Robert Carroll]

mjb,

If you finish the quotation, you'll see that in that sentence, the author is not claiming that Marsalis is responsible. The author is claiming that critics have accused Marsalis of this. The author may not agree with that. In fact, the author doesn't agree. It says in line 40 "Marsalis...never advocated mere revivalism." Where does the author think the responsibility lies? Line 45: "Record executives came away with a different message..."

In short, the author acknowledges that some people place the blame on Marsalis, but the author thinks the blame really lies with the record executives. This shows why answer choice (B) is not correct from the author's perspective, and why answer choice (D) is.

Robert Carroll