Concert violinist Elena Rodriguez has long admired Johann Sebastian Bach's masterful approach to counterpoint. On her recent recording, Rodriguez pres...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Concert violinist Elena Rodriguez has long admired Johann Sebastian Bach's masterful approach to counterpoint. On her recent recording, Rodriguez presents a composition that functions as an homage to Bach, containing passages that represent an obvious _______ of his characteristic melodic patterns and harmonic structures: any classical music scholar would instantly identify the connection.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
imitation
dismissal
critique
summary
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Concert violinist Elena Rodriguez has long admired Johann Sebastian Bach's masterful approach to counterpoint.' |
|
| 'On her recent recording, Rodriguez presents a composition that functions as an homage to Bach,' |
|
| 'containing passages that represent an obvious ________ of his characteristic melodic patterns and harmonic structures:' |
|
| 'any classical music scholar would instantly identify the connection.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Visual Structure Map:
[CONTEXT: Rodriguez admires Bach] → [MAIN POINT: She created homage recording] → Contains passages that [MISSING WORD] Bach's style → Evidence: Scholars would instantly recognize connection
Main Point: Elena Rodriguez created a recording that pays tribute to Bach by incorporating his characteristic musical elements in an easily recognizable way.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Rodriguez's admiration for Bach, then describes her homage recording that contains passages clearly connected to Bach's style, with the obviousness of this connection confirmed by the fact that any scholar would instantly recognize it.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our analysis, we need a word that describes what Rodriguez's passages do with Bach's characteristic melodic patterns and harmonic structures
- The context tells us this is an homage (tribute) and that scholars would instantly identify the connection - meaning it's very obvious
- Since this is a tribute where the Bach connection is immediately recognizable, Rodriguez must be copying or reproducing Bach's style in some way
- The word should indicate she's recreating his patterns in her own work
- So the right answer should describe a clear reproduction or copying of Bach's musical elements that would be instantly recognizable to experts
imitation
- Imitation perfectly describes copying Bach's melodic and harmonic patterns
- Fits with homage - she's honoring Bach by imitating his style
- Explains why scholars would instantly identify the connection - imitations are recognizable
dismissal
- Dismissal means rejecting or ignoring something
- Contradicts homage - you don't honor someone by dismissing them
- Doesn't explain why scholars would recognize a connection
critique
- Critique means analyzing or judging, often negatively
- Doesn't fit with homage which is about honoring, not criticizing
summary
- Summary means a brief overview or condensed version
- Doesn't capture the idea of incorporating Bach's actual patterns into new compositions