The term "blues" is conventionally used to refer to a state of sadness or melancholy, but to conclude from this that the musical genre of the same name is merely an expression of unrelieved sorrow is to miss its deeper meaning. ███
Intro to Topic ·Blues (musical genre) is more than sorrow
By boasting, the singer is able to transcend the negative experience of being poor.
Passage Style
Single position
10.
The primary purpose of the ██████ █████████ ██ ██
Question Type
Purpose of paragraph
Structure
In P2, the author describes similarities between blues and spirituals to support the broader point that blues and spirituals may arise from African American culture.
a
uncover the shared ██████ ██ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██████████
This best captures the purpose of P2 as explained above.
91%
b
examine the process ██ █████ ███████ ██ ████████
Although the author mentions ecstasy, this is just one point within P2. The overall purpose of P2 is not merely to examine the process of ecstasy.
3%
c
identify the musical ██████████ ██ ███ █████
The purpose isn’t to identify the precursors of blues — the author focuses on both spirituals and blues and the influences on both kinds of music.
1%
d
explore the sacred ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ █████
This ignores the fact that P2 is also about spirituals.
4%
e
trace the early ███████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ████ █████████
In P2, the author focuses on blues and spirituals. Although the author mentions African American folk tradition in connection with commentary on blues and spirituals, she doesn’t describe any changes over time in the folk tradition.
2%
Difficulty
91% of people who answer get this correct
This is a slightly challenging question.
It is somewhat easier than other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%120
134
75%148
Analysis
Purpose of paragraph
Purpose of paragraph
Stems that ask us to describe the purpose of a paragraph within the passage's broader structure, often in abstract language (e.g. "to offer evidence in support of the contention that...").
An umbrella tag marking questions that test our understanding of the passage's overall structure (e.g. Main point, Purpose of paragraph, Meaning in context, Describe organization).
