Q7

[antarias90]

I can't seem to find any evidence as to why E is the best answer here. I originally put down D, but in reality, I was not satisfied with any of the answers.

Taking the test on February 9. Any prompt response much appreciated.

Thanks!

[ripan.hans]

I initially was confused by (D) too, mostly because of the language.

What (D) says is that the ability of corridos to serve as accounts, tell of events or local happenings was probably helped because they avoided using constraints of rhymed ballad forms.

Are the features or constraints of rhymed ballad forms in general discussed in the passage? No! The focus of the passage is the forms and conventions that are common to this particular type of ballad (the corrido).

If you were misled by the discussion in paragraph 3, notice that the "convention" (line 47) and "exigencies of rhyme" (50) mentioned don't pertain to all forms of rhymed ballads in general, just to what is typical of the corrido type (43).

Choice (E) is correct because the discussion of standard generic elements common to the corrido continues throughout the entire passage (lines 9, 15, 35-36). The despedida is just one such convention. Also, the passage mentions that the subject matter (events discussed) and imagery used in corridos is specific to the region (9, 11-12, 17; 25-27, 36).

So, based on this evidence, we can say that the Author would agree with (E), that even if a form survives without a despedida, there would still be ways we could positively identify a surviving ballad as being a corrido.

Hope this helps!

[tommywallach]

Hey Guys,

Great explanation already here, but I thought I'd jump in and give the full thang!

This is a very general question, so we have to do all the work within the answer choices (as opposed to predicting the answer in some way):

(A) While the passage does say that corrido makers don't use metaphor, it's clear that this is a purposeful stylistic choice. Thus nothing is "hindering the efforts of corrido makers to use metaphor." They simply don't want to use metaphors.

(B) The passage doesn't speak to how other ballad constructed, so we couldn't say the corrido is unique in any particular way (other than perhaps the despedida).

(C) We don't discuss ballads from Spain, other than to say the corridos have their "roots" in Spanish ballads. But we don't know about the imagery in Spanish ballads, so we don't know if there are similarities (it's unlikely, given that corridos are very much about their specific geography).

(D) As has been said, "reportorial" is a very problematic word here. Nowhere does it say that the point of corridos was reportorial (to tell about what happened in some kind of honest, journalistic way). Even if it did, it isn't said that they were able to report things better because they weren't constrained by rhymed ballad forms. It never even says they AREN'T constrained by rhymed ballad forms.

(E) The last sentence gives us this one: "In the despedida, perhaps the clearest marker of both the corrido's uniqueness and its generic continuity..." Because it is only "perhaps" the "clearest" marker, we know there are other markers, so it's likely that a corrido could be identifiable as such without a despedida.

Good luck!

-t

[Leilawhitlow04]

This was super helpful!


h

Hey Guys,

Great explanation already here, but I thought I'd jump in and give the full thang!

This is a very general question, so we have to do all the work within the answer choices (as opposed to predicting the answer in some way):

(A) While the passage does say that corrido makers don't use metaphor, it's clear that this is a purposeful stylistic choice. Thus nothing is "hindering the efforts of corrido makers to use metaphor." They simply don't want to use metaphors.

(B) The passage doesn't speak to how other ballad constructed, so we couldn't say the corrido is unique in any particular way (other than perhaps the despedida).

(C) We don't discuss ballads from Spain, other than to say the corridos have their "roots" in Spanish ballads. But we don't know about the imagery in Spanish ballads, so we don't know if there are similarities (it's unlikely, given that corridos are very much about their specific geography).

(D) As has been said, "reportorial" is a very problematic word here. Nowhere does it say that the point of corridos was reportorial (to tell about what happened in some kind of honest, journalistic way). Even if it did, it isn't said that they were able to report things better because they weren't constrained by rhymed ballad forms. It never even says they AREN'T constrained by rhymed ballad forms.

(E) The last sentence gives us this one: "In the despedida, perhaps the clearest marker of both the corrido's uniqueness and its generic continuity..." Because it is only "perhaps" the "clearest" marker, we know there are other markers, so it's likely that a corrido could be identifiable as such without a despedida.

Good luck!

-t

[mherma16]

I don't know if this helps, but I want to also add that the reason I did not choose D was because I remembered lines 49-51 where the author talks about the second line of the despedido "varying according to exigencies of rhyme" which I took to mean that they were not free from rhymes.

[can_I_ever_reach_a_170?]

I’ve read this passage more than once, and I still have one question.

Both Question numbers 6 and 7 were tricky for me.
After reading explanations for Question number 6 regarding that all complete corridos have some lines in common, I’m confused about Question number 7 E’s wording that a corrido “without a surviving despedida.”
I thought all complete corridos have a despedida and the first and third lines are “a set convention.”

I understand that people can still identify a corrido without a surviving d. as a corrido.
But I was lost when Answer choice E says a corrido “without a surviving despedida,” especially when corridos’ “some lines in common” are found in their despedida’s first and third lines.

I hope somebody understands where I’m confused and please help me!!
Thank you!

[ohthatpatrick]

When we're talking about historical artifacts, sometimes we acquire an entire copy of something (a complete, two-handled Ming vase), but sometimes we only acquire the surviving features (we found a Ming vase, but it only had one surviving handle)

Future historians might encounter the original copy of the US Constitution and find that only SOME of the articles were surviving (that doesn't mean that all the articles weren't originally there ... just that what has survived the weathering effects of time includes only a subset of what was originally there)

So if someone had written down a corrido in 1890, that paper might be torn / blurry / water damaged / acid-damaged , etc.

We might only be able to read the top half of the paper, so the despedida at the end did not "survive".
(E) is saying, without being able to read the final four lines of the corrido, would we still be able to recognize it as a corrido?

And we're saying, "Yes, you probably could, since corridos had other telltale features that we would be able to identify, besides the despedida".

Make sense?

[DPCTE4325]

The support Tommy references for E seems, to me, to support answer choice B.

“In the despedida, perhaps the clearest marker of both the corrido’s UNIQUENESS....”

So why isn’t B supported when it’s saying that the corrido is UNIQUE

Hey Guys,

Great explanation already here, but I thought I'd jump in and give the full thang!

This is a very general question, so we have to do all the work within the answer choices (as opposed to predicting the answer in some way):

(A) While the passage does say that corrido makers don't use metaphor, it's clear that this is a purposeful stylistic choice. Thus nothing is "hindering the efforts of corrido makers to use metaphor." They simply don't want to use metaphors.

(B) The passage doesn't speak to how other ballad constructed, so we couldn't say the corrido is unique in any particular way (other than perhaps the despedida).

(C) We don't discuss ballads from Spain, other than to say the corridos have their "roots" in Spanish ballads. But we don't know about the imagery in Spanish ballads, so we don't know if there are similarities (it's unlikely, given that corridos are very much about their specific geography).

(D) As has been said, "reportorial" is a very problematic word here. Nowhere does it say that the point of corridos was reportorial (to tell about what happened in some kind of honest, journalistic way). Even if it did, it isn't said that they were able to report things better because they weren't constrained by rhymed ballad forms. It never even says they AREN'T constrained by rhymed ballad forms.

(E) The last sentence gives us this one: "In the despedida, perhaps the clearest marker of both the corrido's uniqueness and its generic continuity..." Because it is only "perhaps" the "clearest" marker, we know there are other markers, so it's likely that a corrido could be identifiable as such without a despedida.

Good luck!

-t

[ohthatpatrick]

That line you're referencing says that
"The corrido is unique because of the despedida"

and (B) says
"the corrido is unique because if uses language familiar mainly to local audiences"

So as long as
despedida = language familiar mainly to local audiences
then we're good to go with (B).

But despedida doesn't mean that, so you'd have to find some other reference saying that it's also unique because it uses language that is mainly local. Despedida kinda means the opposite, since it's a bunch of preset lines that are "ready to travel" from one corrido to another, not dependent on local language.

[JeremyK460]

the word 'surviving' has to be taken in context

i disagree with using 'surviving' in the context of physical material (original writings of the constitution example)

'surviving' in this context means 'fixed' or 'eternal'

so a 'surviving despedida' means a closing statement that is FIXED or UNCHANGED

but the closing statement has some variable elements, says the last paragraph

which means that Elvis's despedida might be different from Bo Diddley's despedida

which suggests that Elvis's despedida isn't something of UNCHANGED elements...

and that i'd still be able to listen to Bo Diddley's song and be like "oh yeah this is totally a despedida"