Reading comp PrepTest 152 · Section 3 · Question 9

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Bordwell's definition of the classical era of filmmaking
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Definition of "classical era," according to Bordwell:
    • Films include a straightforward plot and realistic stories, and films avoid devices that draw attention to themselves (second through last sentence)
  • Examples of straightforward narrative considerations
    • Following well-defined characters through chronological sequences of events (second sentence)
  • Examples of technical elements of filmmaking:
    • Camera movement, lighting, editing, and sound (third sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Author: 1930s musicals don't seem to fit this definition
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Contrast drawn between musicals and "classical era" films
    • Musicals interrupt the plot to present musical performances only somewhat related to the plot (first sentence)
    • Filmmaking techniques do not tell the story, but manipulate images into intricate patterns (fifth sentence)
  • Example of a musical performance:
    • Berkeley film in with aerial views of city life that do not advance the plot but instead illustrate the song being sung (second through fourth sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "anomalous" (first sentence), "natural enough" (third sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Bordwell's view (musicals fit the classical definition because they're realistic within the genre) and the author's rebuttal
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Bordwell's view:
    • Musical conventions lead viewers to expect a different structure from other genres (second sentence)
    • As a result, audiences accept musical's self-contained performances as "realistic" within the genre's conventions (second sentence)
  • Author's rebuttal:
    • Bordwell's view doesn't address the fact that performances still draw attention to themselves (third sentence)
    • Even viewers aware of the genre will notice the break in the narrative's reality (fourth sentence)
    • Bordwell overlooks that most viewers do not view films to determine their genre, and scholars like him should consider how viewers process films before making claims about the "realism" of certain film styles (fifth through last sentence)

Main Point: Bordwell misunderstands how viewers perceive and understand film styles in his attempt to claim that 1930 musicals are "realistic" under his classical definition of filmmaking.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 (P1, S2) - Bordwell's characterization of classical filmmaking

P2, S1 - Exception to Bordwell's definition

P3, S2 - Bordwell's attempt to reconcile exception

P4, S5-6 - Author's critique of Bordwell's reconciliation

Criticizing a Viewpoint: The Meta-Structure that best describes this passage's structure is Criticizing a Viewpoint.* However, it takes the passage quite some time to get to the criticism. First, we learn how Bordwell characterizes the "classical era of filmmaking" from 1917 to 1960. Then, we discover that the song-based flights of fancy in musicals from the 1930s don't fit Bordwell's characterization of this classical era as realistic and plot-driven. Eventually, we get Bordwell's attempt to reconcile musicals with his characterization of classical filmmaking. And, finally, we get the author's criticism of Bordwell's reconciliation. The author criticizes Bordwell for assuming that viewers base their understanding of a film's realism on an a priori understanding of genre conventions when, in fact, viewers process images and learn film conventions from the movies (P3, S5-6). The whole passage was a lot of wind-up getting to the author's criticism, but the criticism was the point of the passage — hence, the Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structure.

When a passage uses a Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structure, the author's criticism is the main point. The author summarizes their criticism in the last two sentences, but we thought it best to simplify the author's position: "Bordwell misunderstands how viewers perceive and understand film styles in his attempt to claim that 1930 musicals are "realistic" under his classical definition of filmmaking."

*Some may argue that this is a Correcting the Record or Rebutting Critics, Meta-Structure — understandably so, since there's considerable overlap between these Meta-Structures and the Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structure. We didn't go with the Correcting the Record designation because the author doesn't provide an alternative view to Bordwell's. The author just criticizes Bordwell's argument about 1930s musicals and the classical era of filmmaking. We also didn't go with Rebutting Critics because Bordwell wasn't criticizing anything. Alternatively, some test-takers may see the question at the end of the second paragraph and wonder if this is a Question/Answer passage. Such a designation is OK, as long as you note the author refrains from answering the question posed. The author doesn't say whether musicals fit within the classical definition of filmmaking. The author simply criticizes Bordwell's attempt to pigeonhole musicals into the classical definition.

Example: In discussing why musicals from the 1930s defy Bordwell's characterization of classical era filmmaking, the author utilizes an example. The author discusses the musicals of Busby Berkeley, which featured intricate — and, according to the author, indulgent (P3, S3) — musical numbers that do little to advance the plot. In fact, the author uses Berkeley's musicals as an example twice. First, to illustrate how musicals' performances do not conform to Bordwell's characterization of classical filmmaking as realistic and plot-driven (P2, S2-5). Later, the author again uses Berkeley's musicals to show how Bordwell's reconciliation fails to address how indulgent and over-the-top some musical numbers were (P3, S3-4). We can expect to get at least one question about Berkeley's musicals — either about a feature of those musicals or what point the musicals illustrated in the author's argument.

We haven't mentioned the question at the end of the second paragraph. Often, these rhetorical questions can really help us understand the point of the passage. The author asks whether the musical, particularly its combination of scenes that advance the plot and musical sequences that do not, can fit within Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking.

When a question is posed, track the answers and the author's opinion on those answers. We get one answer from Bordwell — yes, because knowledge of musical conventions prepares viewers to accept the musical sequences as "realistic" for the genre. Then we get the author's critique of that answer. But it's also important to note that the author never answers the question. The author never says that musicals don't fit the classical definition of filmmaking. The author simply criticizes Bordwell's answer. That's how we know this is a Criticizing a Viewpoint passage instead of, say, a Question/Answer or Correcting the Record passage.