Self-study
This passage was adapted from an article published in 2003.
P1
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Intro to Topic ·
Wynton Marsalis, important jazz musician
Great musician and promoter of jazz.
Phenomenon ·
Marsalis and jazz face uncertain future
Critics are unhappy with "neotraditionalism." Not sure what that means but passage will probably explain later.
P2
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Phenomenon Details ·
Marsalis and jazz's decline
Marsalis stopped releasing CDs; no active contract with record companies; Columbia Records no longer investing in jazz musicians.
P3
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Critics Hypothesis ·
Marsalis' neotraditionalism is to blame for decline
Marsalis was looking backwards to jazz orthodoxy and inhibited innovation which resulted in stagnation. This is what was meant by "neotraditionalism."
P4
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Author’s Concession ·
Marsalis did emphasize past masters
Author’s Rebuttal ·
But Marsalis recombined traditional elements to push jazz forward
So it wasn't just neotraditionalism, as the critics claim.
Author's Hypothesis ·
Record labels are to blame
If past artists are so great, then just repackage their music and stop investing so much money in new talent.
P5
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Author’s Hypothesis ·
Record labels' profit motives are to blame
Marsalis and young talent saw past masters as role models. Critics thought they were idolizing past master. Record labels saw past masters as profit.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
2.
By stating that many people ████████ ████████ ██ ██████ █
Question Type
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
The author explains the meaning of “retro ideology” in the sentence before the one that uses the phrase: “Critics charge that, by leading jazz into the realm of unbending classicism and by sanctifying a canon of their own choosing, Marsalis and his adherents have codified the music into a stifling orthodoxy and inhibited the innovative impulses that have always advanced jazz.” The critics think Marsalis is too focused on what is orthodox in jazz, which stifles innovation. A “retro ideology” means something like, “an ideology that is too focused on the past.”
a
revived a discredited ███ ██ █████
This doesn’t fit, because the author doesn’t suggest any aspect of traditional jazz was “discredited.” There’s no indication anyone stopped practicing or using principles of traditional jazz.
b
merely recombined other ████████ █████
This doesn’t capture the idea that Marsalis was focused on jazz music of the past.
c
overemphasized strict adherence ██ █████████
This best captures the critics’ meaning in using “retro ideology.” They believe Marsalis led jazz into
d
reinvented and reinterpreted ███████████ █████
This isn’t what the critics think, but more like
e
seized on a ███ ██ ███████████ ███████ █████
This doesn’t capture the idea that Marsalis was focused on jazz music of the past. There’s no suggestion that past jazz music was “inauthentic.”