Self-study
It has been a staple of drama to feature an innocent young protagonist, eager to make a mark on the world, who is stymied by an indifferent or hostile society. █████ ███ ███████████ ██ ████ █████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ████████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ ████ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██████ █████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Drama playwrights were motivated to have audiences empathize with their protagonists when those protagonists were obstructed by society. In view of these motivations, why do historians think that such plays are non-serious, unrealistic, or unreliable portrayals of those societies?
Objective
The correct answer will support the historians’ viewpoint. It will offer some reason why a playwright’s desire to garner empathy for her protagonist would lead that playwright to portray society in a way that historians find unreliable.
18.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████████ ██████
a
The historians believe ████ ███████████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ █████ ██████████
How critical a playwright might be of any given society says nothing about whether that playwright portrays society in a reliable way. Because (A) does not address how playwrights portray society or the reliability of those portrayals, it cannot be the right answer.
b
The historians believe ████ ███████████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ███████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ███████
This explains why historians regard dramas as unreliable portrayals of a society. They believe that drama playwrights exaggerate society’s weaknesses. If society’s weaknesses are overstated, then that portrayal of society is at least somewhat less realistic or reliable.
c
The historians believe ████ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ██████ ███████████ █████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ████████
This doesn’t provide a reason for historians to not regard dramas as serious revelations. If anything, this just magnifies the core question—if historians believe plays provide useful info about society, why are they so skeptical of dramas?
d
The historians believe ████ █████ █████ ███████ ███████ ███████████ ██ ████ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ █████ █████ ████ █████
This doesn’t provide a reason for historians to not regard dramas as serious revelations. If anything, this just magnifies the core question—if historians believe plays often contain serious revelations, why are they so skeptical of dramas?
e
The historians believe ████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████ ██████ █ ███████ ██████████ ███████ ████ ████████
We don’t know how popular the types of plays discussed in the stimulus were, so (E) cannot help explain the historians’ viewpoint on those plays.