- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8950
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:00 am
#73286
Complete Question Explanation
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (E).
The author tells us that Caravaggio is considered by many to be an early Baroque painter, because his paintings featured realism and a novel use of light and shadow, and because he clearly influenced Baroque painting. He then brings up a totally new idea, that Mather defines Baroque painting as having elements of opulence, heroic sweep, and extravagance, and then concludes that we cannot accept both of these claims. In other words, at least one of them must be wrong, and accepting one requires rejecting the other.
To justify this conclusion we need an answer that puts the majority position in direct conflict with Mather's position. Something will tell us that if the majority is correct, Mather must be wrong, and vice versa. The answer must be fairly strong if it is going to prove such a strong, certain conclusion. There is no room for uncertainty!
Answer choice (A): What is typical is not absolute - there can be exceptions. This answer is not strong enough to prove the author's conclusion, and in fact has no effect on it at all. It tells us nothing about Baroque painting, the majority opinion, Mather, or Caravaggio, and so it is a loser.
Answer choice (B): This answer supports some elements of the majority claim, in that it allows the majority to be correct about Caravaggio being both realistic and doing novel things with light and shadow. But it does nothing to create a conflict between the majority and Mather, and is far too weak an answer to justify the conclusion here.
Answer choice (C): It is irrelevant what was or was not widely used. We need an answer that makes clear that you cannot accept what the majority said about Caravaggio and also what Mather said about Baroque painting, and this answer deals with neither of those claims.
Answer choice (D): What "usually" happens is not strong enough to prove that it happened in the case of Caravaggio, and so cannot justify a conclusion about him. This answer might strengthen the claim that the majority and Mather are in conflict, but it falls far short of proving anything.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If Caravaggio's paintings have none of those elements that Mather thinks are required of Baroque painting, then either the majority is right (Caravaggio is Baroque) and Mather must therefore be wrong (you don't need those things in order to be Baroque), or else Mather is right (those things are required for all Baroque painting) and therefore the majority is wrong (Caravaggio cannot, in that case, be considered Baroque). This makes it impossible for both the majority and Mather to be correct, and justifies the conclusion that at least one of those claims must be rejected.
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (E).
The author tells us that Caravaggio is considered by many to be an early Baroque painter, because his paintings featured realism and a novel use of light and shadow, and because he clearly influenced Baroque painting. He then brings up a totally new idea, that Mather defines Baroque painting as having elements of opulence, heroic sweep, and extravagance, and then concludes that we cannot accept both of these claims. In other words, at least one of them must be wrong, and accepting one requires rejecting the other.
To justify this conclusion we need an answer that puts the majority position in direct conflict with Mather's position. Something will tell us that if the majority is correct, Mather must be wrong, and vice versa. The answer must be fairly strong if it is going to prove such a strong, certain conclusion. There is no room for uncertainty!
Answer choice (A): What is typical is not absolute - there can be exceptions. This answer is not strong enough to prove the author's conclusion, and in fact has no effect on it at all. It tells us nothing about Baroque painting, the majority opinion, Mather, or Caravaggio, and so it is a loser.
Answer choice (B): This answer supports some elements of the majority claim, in that it allows the majority to be correct about Caravaggio being both realistic and doing novel things with light and shadow. But it does nothing to create a conflict between the majority and Mather, and is far too weak an answer to justify the conclusion here.
Answer choice (C): It is irrelevant what was or was not widely used. We need an answer that makes clear that you cannot accept what the majority said about Caravaggio and also what Mather said about Baroque painting, and this answer deals with neither of those claims.
Answer choice (D): What "usually" happens is not strong enough to prove that it happened in the case of Caravaggio, and so cannot justify a conclusion about him. This answer might strengthen the claim that the majority and Mather are in conflict, but it falls far short of proving anything.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If Caravaggio's paintings have none of those elements that Mather thinks are required of Baroque painting, then either the majority is right (Caravaggio is Baroque) and Mather must therefore be wrong (you don't need those things in order to be Baroque), or else Mather is right (those things are required for all Baroque painting) and therefore the majority is wrong (Caravaggio cannot, in that case, be considered Baroque). This makes it impossible for both the majority and Mather to be correct, and justifies the conclusion that at least one of those claims must be rejected.
