Nietzsche

[conquistador]

Nietzsche wrote the rough draft of "The Case of Wagner" in Turin, during the month of May 1888; he completed it in Sils Maria towards the end of June of the same year, and it was published in the following autumn. "Nietzsche contra Wagner" was written about the middle of December 1888; but, although it was printed and corrected before the New Year, it was not published until long afterwards owing to Nietzsche's complete breakdown in the first days of 1889.

In reading these two essays we are apt to be deceived, by their virulent and forcible tone, into believing that the whole matter is a mere cover for hidden fire,a mere blind of aesthetic discussion concealing a deep and implacable personal feud which demands and will have vengeance. In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, many people still hold this view of the two little works before us; and, as the actual facts are not accessible to every one, and rumors are more easily believed than verified, the error of supposing that these pamphlets were dictated by personal animosity, and even by Nietzsche's envy of Wagner in his glory, seems to be a pretty common one.

Another very general error is to suppose that the point at issue here is not one concerning music at all, but concerning religion. It is taken for granted that the aspirations, the particular quality, the influence, and the method of an art like music, are matters quite distinct from the values and the conditions prevailing in the culture with which it is in harmony, and that however many Christian elements may be discovered in Wagnerian texts, Nietzsche had no right to raise aesthetic objections because he happened to entertain the extraordinary view that these Christian elements had also found their way into Wagnerian music.
To both of these views there is but one reply: they are absolutely false.

Each of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT
A. The works of Nietzsche mentioned in the passage had a negative tone
B. According to some people Nietzsche envied Wagner
C. Nietzsche criticized Wagner for including religion in his texts
D. Wagner's literary works were not entirely devoid of Christian elements
E. A lot of people have,over the years, disagreed with the negative perception of Nietzsche created by his two works on Wagner

[VivianKerr]

In order to fully understand any GMAT passage, I recommend breaking down the Topic, Scope, Function of every paragraph, Author's POV, and Purpose AS YOU READ. That way, by the time you get to the questions, you have a full grasp of what the passage is about, and you've already drawn many of necessary inferences needed for Inference questions such as these.

Here's how I'd break down the passage:

Topic: N's work
Scope: history of it
1st paragraph: to provide the story of its origin
2nd paragraph: to present a common incorrect interp. (N is bitter towards Wagner)
3rd paragraph: to describe a 2nd common error (religion)
POV: N's work is misinterpreted
Purpose: to describe 2 misinterpretations and refute them

Now that we understand the passage, let's rephrase the question:

What CANNOT be inferred?

4/5 answer choices WILL be correct inferences. Let's make a first pass through, and try to identify possible good inferences. The only way to do this is to try and pull 1-2 details of support for each sentence:


A. The works of Nietzsche mentioned in the passage had a negative tone

The tone is described as "virulent and forceful." The word "virulent" is certainly negative. This IS supported by the passage, and thus not our correct answer.

B. According to some people Nietzsche envied Wagner

The passage mentions that some people believe N's work was "concealing a deep and implacable personal feud," and caused "by Nietzsche's envy of Wagner in his glory." This is supported by the passage, and cannot be our correct answer.

C. Nietzsche criticized Wagner for including religion in his texts

There is nothing in the passage to indicate N criticized W for including religion. If anything, the passage describes N's writing as an "aesthetic discussion" in the second paragraph, and then again in the final paragraph describes it as raising "aesthetic objections." This is NOT supported from the passage, so this must be the correct answer.

D. Wagner's literary works were not entirely devoid of Christian elements

The phrase, "however many Christian elements may be discovered in Wagnerian texts" implies there ARE in fact, at least some Christian elements in Wagner's works. This is supported by the passage, and thus cannot be our answer.

E. A lot of people have, over the years, disagreed with the negative perception of Nietzsche created by his two works on Wagner

The passage states that, "In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, many people still hold this view." The fact that there is "all that has been said to the contrary" implies at least a significant quantity of people who do not agree with the "rumors" of N's envy.

The answer is C.