PT29.S4.Q22 - critic: most chorale preludes

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  danielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 4181 karma

  Must be False questions are tricky, if only for the fact that they're rare and force you to find the four ACs that could be true in order to find the one that must be false.
  
  I think "A" almost touches on what could not be true given what's provided in the stimulus.
  
  The stimulus states that master artists never create in order to express their feelings. Bach is a master artist; therefore, he must never create art to express his own feelings. We can then infer that the agonizing prelude fixed on the passing of the old year, with its dashed hope and lost opportunities, was not created by Bach to express his feelings.
  
  The key here is to differentiate between what a master artist may feel and what a master artist wanted to express in a creation of some piece of art. In other words, while Bach most certainly cannot have wanted to create the agonizing prelude for the purpose of expressing like feelings, he may very well have created the agonizing prelude for different reasons, all the while happening to have the same attitude towards the old year that the agonizing prelude conveys. Try asking yourself, "Could Bach have created the agonizing prelude for the purpose of appealing to, say, the known audience at that time?" Obviously yes, since the stimulus never indicates that master artists cannot create art for a purpose other than expressing their feelings. At this point, we know the reason behind the creation of the prelude. If he were to have by sheer coincidence the same attitude towards the old year, would that matter? We're to focus on the reason behind the creation of a work of art, not on what an artist's attitude feelings may be that happen to coincide with the mood of said work of art without having any impact on the creation of it.
  
  Phew! I got a little lengthy with this one, as is typical.
  
  I think another questionable assumption in "A" is the idea of a false dichotomy - that there are two choices presented as the only two choices, when in fact, there could be other attitudes towards the old year. Even if the stimulus stated that master artists can never share feelings similar to the attitudes conveyed in their art, not feeling like the close of a year was a time for optimism and joyous celebration doesn't necessarily mean that he had to feel agonized about it. He very well could have been indifferent towards the new year, thus not fitting into either category. I know that's how I have always felt!
  
  The second reason I provided is not all that relevant, unless you misread the stimulus. The real issue with "A" is the fact that you can have like feelings of an art piece's mood without having ever created that piece to convey your like feelings.
  
  Hope this helps!
• Lsatbreakingnews Alum Member

  August 2016 edited August 2016 392 karma

  This is perfect for me thanks so much for the write up. The two reasons you give together certainly help me see why this answer should be struck out. Thanks a bunch