#13 - Concept Reference, Strengthen

[Koffi]

I was between B and E I ended up choosing E because I saw it as a strengthen question but what is it exactly that makes E incorrect? I Thought that E would be correct because Lessing talks about the fact that his historic Innovation makes artistic greatness.

[Adam Tyson]

It is indeed a strengthen question, koffi, and we are supposed to help improve the claim that a painting can be aesthetically good (in other words, it's beautiful) without having artistic merit (which the author tells us involves more than just good looks, but innovation). So, we need an answer that demonstrates the principle that a painting can be beautiful (my paraphrase) but not artistic.

Answer B does just that, by telling us that some students painted beautiful reproductions of masterpieces, but their reproductions were not considered artistic. Beauty does not equal art, because these did not innovate but only copied, kind of like the forgery discussed in the passage!

Answer E tells us that what constitutes beauty changes over time and across cultures - beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes. It says nothing, however, about artistic merit or innovation, so it doesn't do anything to help the argument that aesthetic beauty is not the same as artistic merit. In order to strengthen that claim, we need to deal with both aspects of the claim, both aesthetics and artistry. Without making that connection stronger, answer E doesn't strengthen anything, and so B is the better answer and the one you should select.

I hope you see the merit in my answer!