#7 - Main Point

[Albertlyu]

Can anyone please explain why A instead of D?

thanks.

Albert

[JocelynL]

I chose D on this one too

[desiboy96]

I'm going to take a crack at explaining why it is A over D. Hopefully someone from PS can correct me if I'm wrong.

Going into this question, the central point the point the author, through the use of a critic, points out is that using the techniques historians currently use in classifying African art to specific tribes based on the artwork's style, is problematic.

A is correct as it not only captures the aforementioned idea, but it also brings in the theme of African Centers of style which is what the author primarily uses to articulate their ideas.

D is incorrect because of the phrase "Style versus TECHNIQUE". Unless I completely missed it, the author while the author does write about style, they do not mention technique in the passage nor is style compared to technique(s).

Hope this helped

[JocelynL]

Thank you! This is my reasoning for why I chose D.

(line 1) "The techniques used by certain historians of African art by judging the precise tribal origins of African sculptures on the basis of style have been greatly refined"
(line 14) "Styles cannot be narrowly defined as belonging to a particular area", and line (26-28) "historians who attempt to assign particular objects on the basis of style"

In my interpretation from the above, they use style as a "technique" for classifying African art, however style shouldn't be used as a means of classifying. Its the difference between what style actually means, vs what they attempt to use it to mean.

[Adam Tyson]

Great explanation from desiboy96 - thank you!

Another problem with answer D is that while the author talks about the style of the art, the passage does not dicusss the technique of the artists. Technique is only discussed in relation to the historians. So the passage is not about contrasting style with technique. Also, answer D is far too negative. Is this passage really a "Case Against Historians of African Art"? I think that takes the author's criticism a bit too far. The passage indicates that SOME historians are oversimplifying things, and in the last paragraph the author suggests a different approach or mindset that might be better, but that is not a complete condemnation of all historians of African art as answer D implies.

Answer A does a better job of capturing the full scope of the passage, as well as its tone and purpose.

[Albertlyu]

thank you all for your explanation!