Question

Jorge: You won’t be able to write well about the rock music of the 1960s since you were just an infant then. Rock music of the 1960s was created by and for people who were then in their teens and early twenties.

Ruth: Your reasoning is absurd. There are living writers who write well about ancient Roman culture, even though those writers are obviously not a part of ancient Roman culture. Why should my youth alone prevent me from writing well about the music of a period as recent as the 1960s?

Which one of the following most accurately represents what is at issue between Jorge and Ruth?

(A) whether only those people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can be qualified to write about the rock music of that period
(B) whether people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can write well about the rock music of that period
(C) whether only people who are past their early twenties can write well about ancient cultures
(D) whether people who are not now in their teens or early twenties can write well about the rock music of the 1960s
(E) whether Ruth’s ideas about the rock music of the 1960s are likely to appeal to people who were in their teens or early twenties during that period

Answer 1

Jorge and Ruth are debating whether direct experience is necessary to write knowledgeably about a historical music genre, like 1960s rock music, with Ruth asserting that learned understanding is sufficient.

Step-by-step explanation:

The issue at hand between Jorge and Ruth concerns whether a person can write authoritatively about a historical period or culture without directly experiencing it. Jorge suggests that Ruth can't effectively write about 1960s rock music because she was not part of the demographic that primarily created and consumed it at the time—being teens and young adults of that era. Ruth counters this by arguing that effective writing and understanding of any historical or cultural subject are not constrained by one's personal experience, much like writers today who aren't part of ancient Roman culture can still write competently about it.

Thus, the contention revolves around the qualifications needed to write proficiently about historical music genres. The debate focuses on the direct experience versus learned understanding. The correct representation of the issue, in this case, is whether only those people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can be qualified to write about the rock music of that period, aligning with option (A).