ShmoopTube

00:03

Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by Humming. Stop it. Please. We can't take anymore.

00:27

The speaker would agree with all of the following statements EXCEPT... what?

00:32

And here are the potential answers...

00:39

First of all, we have to notice that this question features a big, bad "EXCEPT."

00:43

So 4 out of 5 dentists would agree with the speaker...

00:46

...the 5th will be sleeping on the couch tonight. No way to go about this other than to read

00:50

the answer choices one by one, and do our best to interpret the text...

00:53

Starting with A -- "art is very rarely a lucrative or even practical pursuit."

01:00

Whatever our personal feelings on the subject, and no matter how much we may think our local

01:04

street performer is a genius who is one day going to bring us all together in peace and harmony...

01:11

...our speaker states pretty clearly in paragraph 4 that he believes this to be true.

01:15

So it's not the "EXCEPT" we're looking for... "Only individuals with particular personalities

01:21

are drawn to artistic endeavors..."

01:23

Ah... here's our answer. In the beginning, the speaker says that we're all born with

01:27

artistic tendencies...

01:29

...so it can't be personality-specific.

01:33

Just to be sure, let's look over the remaining options...

01:35

C -- "The desire to create art is an innate, though often latent human quality."

01:41

Well yeah... that would go along with the whole "born with artistic tendencies" thing...

01:46

D -- "The legacy of an art form can last for centuries."

01:49

Yeah, he implies this, too. Just because art isn't practical doesn't mean it can't be responsible

01:54

for the creation of a legacy... and one with some staying power...

01:58

Finally, E -- "art can be an expression of a range of feelings, not merely positive ones."

02:05

Anyone who's ever talked to an artist can tell you that. They're not generally the most...

02:09

upbeat of individuals, generally speaking.

02:11

But yeah -- our speaker holds a similar opinion.

02:13

So our answer is B.

02:15

Artfully done.

Full Transcript