Reading comp PrepTest 144 · Section 1 · Question 4

Passage

 .       "Never was anything as incoherent, shrill, chaotic  . and ear-splitting produced in music. The most piercing  . dissonances clash Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Humanities

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A quote
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Some music was . . . really bad
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • Details on the quote are given, along with a comparison
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Quote - 1806, about a Beethoven piece
    • Similar to reactions to Schoenberg
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • A similarity between the composers, and more on Beethoven
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Similarity - Altered language, expressive range of music
    • Beethoven - Wasn't appreciated right away; required repeated listenings (phonograph)
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • A similarity, with more on Schoenberg
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Similar - Constantly changing/evolving
    • Schoenberg - Went through 3 styles (first late-Romantic - shifting harmonies)
    • Similar - First style and Brahms
Paragraph 5
  • Paragraph note
    • Schoenberg's second style is discussed (no tonal basis)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Second style - Unstable harmonies to no tonality
    • Why? Inevitable future, and needed to for expression
Paragraph 6
  • Paragraph note
    • Schoenberg's third style (12-tone technique); All styles compared
  • Brought stability to nontonal music
  • Similarities in all - Schoenberg had technical mastery
  • Growth - More condensed, violent in contrast, harder to follow
Paragraph 7
  • Paragraph note
    • Schoenberg's importance
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Important because of what he said, not how he made music
    • 12-tone system previewed by Mozart - not most important
    • Essential element - Captured disquieting emotions for first time (disturbing)
Main Point:
Schoenberg was similar in some ways to earlier composers, and he wasn't immediately appreciated, but through his evolving career, he developed new technical and emotional approaches to music that make him essential

Key Lines:
Lines 6-10 - Two composers are compared as initially unpopular
Lines 11-13 - The importance of the two composers is noted
Lines 20-23 - The composer who serves as the main topic of the passage is described
Lines 23-25 - The structure of the following paragraphs is noted
Lines 47-53 - Schoenberg's importance is described

Meta-Structure:
Importance of an Artist - Focusing on an artist and how they changed the form in which they worked is a common passage structure. When it's the case, it's important to have a solid grasp on the different styles presented—especially what was different about the artist in question. Additionally, it's important to know exactly why the Author believes the artist in question was so important.

Here, we know that Schoenberg's styles are looked at from Lines 25-45, so we should have noted a brief description of each step on his evolution. We also know that the last paragraph describes the Author's view on his importance. We can head to the questions feeling pretty comfortable that we can quickly locate any information we need to.

Last Thoughts:
Note that the passage shifts from comparing Schoenberg to Beethoven to comparing him to Mozart. It would be easy to lump Beethoven and Mozart together if you just read them as "other composer," but there might be a question that tries to trip us up on that front.

Question prompt

All of the following Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    They worked for a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Bizarro Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Head straight to the answers and use what we know about where Beethoven shows up in the passage to find and eliminate four of them

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Four of these answers are included in the passage, and one isn't. Instead of trying to anticipate all four by heading to the passage, we should start with the answers and compare them back against the passage.

    We can spend a second to identify where Beethoven is discussed—Lines 1-23—but that's too wide a range to try to re-read and remember.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 23-25) The passage explicitly states that Schoenberg worked in this style during the first step in his evolution. And this does happen in a paragraph that starts with "Like Beethoven . . . " (Line 20). However, the Author has transitioned away from the comparison at this point, talking about Schoenberg's music outside of Beethoven's (starting in Line 23, where it talks about Schoenberg, not both Schoenberg and Beethoven). This answer is therefore correct in this Bizarro Must be True question.

    Key Takeaway:
    Comparisons are important on the LSAT, so you should always note where they show up so you can easily find them later.
  2. B
    Their music has been Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 1; Lines 6-10) The Kotzebue quote characterized music as incoherent, shrill, and chaotic, and the Author says that it was made of Beethoven but aptly characterizes the reaction to Schoenberg. As such, both composers are described using this language, so we can rule this answer out.
  3. C
    Their compositions stirred controversy.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 11-12) This answer shows up at the beginning of Paragraph 3, which we noted featured a similarity between the composers.
  4. D
    They worked in changing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 20-21) This answer shows up at the beginning of Paragraph 4, which we noted featured a similarity between the composers.
  5. E
    They altered the language Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 11-13) This answer builds off of the controversy mentioned in (C), so we can eliminate it, as well.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 80%
  2. B 13%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 3%

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