Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards. The...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards. The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition of its quality. Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price's concertos and symphonies have been performed and recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
To provide examples of Price's importance as a composer
To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price's compositions
To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price's symphonies
To compare Price's scores with those of classical European composers
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards." |
|
| "The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition of its quality." |
|
| "Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions." |
|
| "In recent years, Price's concertos and symphonies have been performed and recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The text demonstrates Florence Price's significance as a composer through examples of her achievements and ongoing recognition.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Price's importance by presenting a major early achievement (award and prestigious performance), then shows her sustained compositional career and distinctive style, and concludes with evidence of her lasting impact through contemporary performances by major orchestras.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
- What's being asked? The main purpose of the entire text
- What type of answer do we need? The overall function or goal the author had in writing this passage
- Any limiting keywords? "Main purpose" indicates we need the primary, overarching intent
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our analysis, the passage gives us multiple examples of Price's significance: a major award win, performance by a prestigious orchestra, her continued compositional work, and recent recognition by major orchestras
- Each piece of information serves to highlight different aspects of why Price matters as a composer
- The passage doesn't argue for anything specific to happen, doesn't focus primarily on describing musical styles, and doesn't make comparisons with other composers
- Instead, it builds a case for Price's importance through concrete examples of recognition and achievement
- So the right answer should identify that the text aims to demonstrate or show Price's significance as a composer through specific examples
To provide examples of Price's importance as a composer
- This matches our passage perfectly - we see multiple examples of Price's importance: winning a major award, being performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, continuing her compositional career, and receiving recent recognition from major orchestras
- Each piece of information in the passage serves to illustrate a different aspect of why Price matters as a composer
- This aligns with our prethinking about the passage building a case for Price's significance through concrete examples
To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price's compositions
- The passage mentions recent performances but doesn't advocate or argue that more orchestras should perform her work
- The text is informational about what has happened, not persuasive about what should happen
To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price's symphonies
- While the passage mentions Price blended "traditional Black spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions," this is just one detail, not the main focus
- The passage doesn't describe what inspired her symphonies - it briefly mentions what styles she combined
- The majority of the passage focuses on her achievements and recognition, not musical influences
To compare Price's scores with those of classical European composers
- The passage mentions European Romantic traditions as something Price incorporated, but makes no comparisons between Price's scores and those of European composers
- There's no evaluation or contrast of different composers' work - just acknowledgment of Price's stylistic approach