Reading comp PrepTest 150 · Section 4 · Question 5

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Background on Marsalis's peak and his/jazz's uncertain future
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • At Wynton Marsalis's peak, he was a major influencer and advocate for jazz music, but now he faces a critical backlash for his "neotraditionalism," and he and the jazz music genre face an uncertain future (second through last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "extraordinary gifts" (first sentence), "pursuasive advocacy" (first sentence); "importance" (first sentence); "virtually unqualified admiration" (second sentence) "unsurpassed influence" (second sentence) "But…" (last sentence), "the biggest name in jazz" (last sentence), "uncertain" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Elaborates on Marsalis's/jazz's uncertain future
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Examples showing how Marsalis and jazz face uncertain futures, according to author:
    • Marsalis has not released any new music since 1999 (second sentence)
    • Marsalis no longer has a record contract with any company (third sentence)
    • Record companies are not signing or promoting contemporary jazz artists (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "prestigious" (third sentence); "essentially gave up" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Critics: Marsalis is to blame since he emphasized classicism and discouraged innovation
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Cause-and-effect relaionship, according to critics:
    • Marsalis' emphasis on tradition has stifled innovation in jazz the genre, which has partially caused some of the problems facing jazz (first through last sentence)
  • Example to support critics' point of view:
    • Quote from Columbia music executive (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "grim state of affairs" (first sentence); "evident master" (first sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Author's rebuttal: Marsalis encouraged innovation, but record companies took the wrong lesson
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Marsalis never just replicated tradition — he explored how traditional elements could be reimagined in new contexts (second sentence)
  • Record executives' view:
    • Marsalis showed how great and timeless old jazz artists were, so record companies should exclusively release older jazz recordings instead of investing in new jazz artists (third through last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "Indeed" (first sentence); "great emphasis" (first sentence); "Still" (second sentence); "never advocated mere revivalism" (second sentence); "individualistic expression" (second sentence); "push it forward" (second sentence)

Paragraph 5

• Paragraph note
  • Author's explanation of the current state of jazz
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Marsalis's promotion of jazz masters led record companies to see the jazz masters as "brand names," which led the companies to re-release jazz albums from these masters rather than fund new talent (first and last sentence)
  • Comparison of responses to Marsalis's promotion of jazz masters, according to the author:
    • Young jazz musicians viewed jazz masters as role models, critics viewed this promotion as excessive worship, and record companies realized the jazz masters are profitable brand names (first sentence)
  • Comparison of market incentives for record companies, according to the author:
    • It's far more profitable to re-release old albums than to find, record, and promote new artists (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "brand names" (first sentence); "the ultimate prize" (first sentence), "irresistible" (last sentence), "far more profitable" (second sentence)

Main Point: By championing an appreciation for jazz traditions amongst his followers, Wynton Marsalis has ironically helped record companies realize that they should exclusively re-release old jazz albums rather than promote modern artists.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 3 (P1, S3)- Introduces phenomenon

P3, S1 - Critics' explanation

P3, S3 - Example supporting critics' point of view

P4, S2-3 - Author's explanation

Phenomenon/Explanation: We think the Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure best fits this passage's structure*. In this passage, the author introduces a phenomenon and offers two related explanations for that phenomenon. In the first paragraph, the author introduces the phenomenon — that jazz music now faces an uncertain future. After providing the specifics of this "grim state of affairs" in the second paragraph, the third paragraph describes some critics' explanation for jazz's decline. The critics allege that Wynton Marsalis, a popular jazz trumpeter and jazz history advocate, is to blame for jazz's downfall (P3, S1). The author provides their own account in the fourth paragraph. The author argues that the critics are only partially correct. The author notes that Marsalis never wanted to stifle jazz's innovation; however, his promotion of jazz masters led record companies to realize that it's more profitable to re-release jazz masters' recordings than to find and promote new artists (P4, S2 - P5, S2).

In a Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure, the main point is generally the explanation that the author presents or endorses. Here, the author presents their explanation in the fourth and fifth paragraphs. Because the author did not summarize the main point in one sentence, we did so for the author: "By championing an appreciation for jazz traditions amongst his followers, Wynton Marsalis has ironically helped record companies realize that they should exclusively re-release old jazz albums rather than promote modern artists."

*Since the author ultimately disagrees with the critics' explanation, you might see this as a Criticizing a Viewpoint, Rebutting Critics, or Correcting the Record passage. We don't think the author spends enough time criticizing/rebutting/correcting the critics to apply any of these Meta-Structures. Alternatively, there's an argument that this is an Importance of Subject passage. Despite our quibbles, any one of these designations would likely lead you to a solid understanding of this passage's structure. Let's keep in mind that the Meta-Structures are tools to help us think about and describe the passage's structure. We don't need to be 100% correct in which Meta-Structure we choose to develop a strong structural understanding.

There's plenty of author's attitude here (which shouldn't surprise us, given the humanities subject matter). Tracking the author's attitude is one of our primary jobs as we read Reading Comprehension passages. Doing so will help us understand the Meta-Structure and the main point and even predict where the author's argument will go. When we can trace this much attitude, we should also expect an abnormally high percentage of the questions to relate to the author's beliefs.