#10 - SR, Must Be True, Function

[DAthenour]

I eventually chose the correct answer here, but I was very torn between D and B and would like to clarify why D is correct and why B is incorrect. I understand that Shakespeare, Marlow, and Sidney are currently credited with the high culture of Renaissance, often at the expense of the writings in Latin. But doesn't this in a way imply that they are "unfairly credited in revolutionizing Western thought" -- when the author mentions that it is truly theology, science, and law that revolutionized Western thought (20) ? Aren't these works that don't receive recognition because they are in Latin?

If I am correct in that interpretation, then why wouldn't answer choice B also resonate with the author?

Thanks so much for your help!

[James Finch]

Hi DA,

The difference between answer choices (B) and (D) lies in the context of the claims made about them by the passage. The passage itself only goes so far as to state that Shakespeare, Marlowe and Sidney have been studied and credited with representing the culture of Renaissance England because they wrote in English, and authors writing in Latin have been ignored by academics, despite their importance in the culture of the time.

(B) makes a very strong negative claim about both the authors writing in English and the credit that they've been given by academics. However, neither of these elements are present in the passage itself; nowhere does it argue that the English-language authors are overrated, just that the Latin-language ones have been neglected, nor does it credit the three authors mentioned in the question with "revolutionizing Western thought," instead reserving that description for "works
of theology and science, law and medicine." So (B) is wrong because it makes claims that aren't supported by the passage itself.

(D) gives a restatement of the inference we can draw from the first sentence, that Shakepeare, Marlowe and Sidney "do not alone represent the high culture of Renaissance England." We can draw from that they have traditionally been credited with being the main cultural forces of the period, and thus (D) is supported by the passage, while (B) is not.

Hope this clears things up!

[DAthenour]

That is very helpful thank you for clarifying!

[Tajadas]

I chose C because I read "do not alone represent the high culture of Renaissance England" and thought "if the author is saying these writers do not do this, than the examples must be those that people commonly think do do this.

What's wrong with my reasoning?

[parisielvirac]

I agree, why can't C be the right answer?
Can some one give a clear explanation on why (B) (C) and (E) are wrong, and how we picked up the wrong context clues?
Please, I am very stuck on this one.
Thanks, Cat

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Cat and Tajadas,

Let's talk about these wrong answers!

The question stem directs us to the first paragraph for our discussion of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Sidney, so we want to start there. The author notes that they all wrote in English, and they don't represent all of the Renaissance, meaning there are other works out there that represent the Renaissance. These authors are examples of the culture, but not the ONLY examples of the culture. In fact, the author tells us, some of the best achievements of the Renaissance were in Latin.

To prephrase, I would say that the author uses those examples as Renaissance authors we are likely to be at least somewhat familiar with, given that they wrote in English, and uses them to contrast with a set of works we are less likely to know, as they are in Latin.

It looks like neither of you were tempted by answer choice (A), so I'll skip over that one.

Turning to answer choice (B), there's no statement by the author that it was unfair that Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Sidney have been credited with revolutionary work, but just that there are other works out there too that were also revolutionary.

Similarly, with answer choice (C), we have no indication that the authors are treated as a unified whole. In fact, the passage highlights the ways in which the authors differ, using different methods and forms of writing such as prose. The "autonomous and coherent whole" language is actually referring to a completely different set of text in a whole different paragraph.

Answer choice (D), which is out correct answer, matches our prephrase. They are used as examples that are likely to be known of traditional Renaissance works.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because we don't know that any of those authors had Latin writings available. The discussion of Latin writings was separate from the introduction of the authors cited in the question stem.

Hope that helps!