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  3. Collectors prize the ancient life-size clay statues of human figures made on Kali Island but have long wondered how Kalinese art

Collectors prize the ancient life-size clay statues of human figures made on Kali Island but have long wondered how Kalinese art

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问题 Collectors prize the ancient life-size clay statues of human figures made on Kali Island but have long wondered how Kalinese artists were able to depict bodies with such realistic precision. Since archaeologists have recently discovered molds of human heads and hands on Kali, we can now conclude that the ancient Kalinese artists used molds of actual bodies, not sculpting tools and techniques, to create these statues. This discovery explains why Kalinese miniature statues were abstract and entirely different in style: molds could be used only for life-size sculptures. It also explains why few ancient Kalinese sculpting tools have been found. In light of this discovery, collectors predict that the life-size sculptures will decrease in value while the miniatures increase in value.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
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答案The prediction that life size sculptures will decrease in value relative to more abstract miniatures rests upon dubious inferences within its supporting argument. These inferences invite questions whose answers will assist in evaluating the argument, its relationship to the market for Kalinese sculpture, and hence the prediction of relative price movements. One such inference appears to suggest that if the body sculptures are made via molds as opposed to the miniatures being made free-form by hand, then collectors will cease to value the body sculptures because they represent works of diminished artistic skill. For this to be true, we must first agree with the conclusion that the discovery of hand and head molds in fact means that the body sculptures are made entirely by molds. To evaluate this claim, we would ask if perhaps the molds could have in fact been used in artistic studies, for guidance, and then the body sculptures afterwards made by hand in observation of the models. If this were known to be the case, we would expect no impact on collector demand, as the underlying skill level of the sculptures would stand unchanged. Alternatively, we would ask where the molds are for the rest of the bodies. Without molds of back muscles, feet, limbs, and so on, could we truly conclude the entire statue to be a copy rather than an original creation? And if indeed the head and hand molds did produce parts of the statues, could we be sure that sculptors’skilled hands did not in fact join these aspects together to create a unified whole, exhibiting an adroit artistry worthy of appreciation and valuation? Furthermore, we also wonder why the miniatures, by contrast, are abstract in nature. Could they in fact have been produced by different sculptors, perhaps belonging to a discrete guild or to a different age? If so, such revelations would differentiate the two art forms making their relative valuation less easily anticipated. We thus note that the prediction that the value of the miniatures will increase due to new information about the body-sculptures appears to rest on an inference that the two art forms are analogous. If instead they are made by different artists, in different eras, or of different materials, we would hesitate to assume such a relationship, and ask why, if they do not share an origin, would any decrease in the value of one form lead to an inverse change in its correlate? Finally, and in a similar vein, we would ask why the Kalinese body-sculptures are prized in the first place. Could it be that they are prized because of their physical beauty, or due to the unique materials employed, like pied clay? Pied clay is shot through with various elements and colors. If in fact these sculptures’ high valuation follows not from the perceived sculpting skill of the artisan but from the attractiveness or distinctiveness of the human forms themselves, or the high value of the material(could they in fact be made of clay infused with gold?), then we could anticipate a much more modest devaluation, if any, due to revelations about the technique or materials involved in their creation. In fact, were they to be made of gold, amid current climates of international financial insecurity and imminent inflationary pressure, we might well conclude that the most relevant questions by which to assess the argument’s prediction would hinge on the financial context. For example, inquiries about the degree of monetary expansion planned by the Federal Reserve for the next fiscal year and the solvency of the Spanish Central Bank, rather than some remotely-supported questioning of sculpting technique on a far-off island of a bygone era, might be more relevant.
解析 This outstanding response clearly addresses the specific task directions while presenting an insightful, cogent, and well-articulated examination of the argument. Throughout, the compelling analysis is supported by persuasive, fully developed, and nuanced discussion. For example, in questioning the logic of the argument regarding the relative value of the life-size statues vis-a-vis the miniatures—"Could[the miniatures]in fact have been produced by different sculptors, perhaps belonging to a discrete guild or to a different age?"—the writer concludes that the answers to the questions consistently undermine the arguments prediction: "If so, such revelations would differentiate the two art forms making their relative valuation less easily anticipated." Support is always thorough and compelling as in paragraph three when the writer asks, "If instead[the sculptures]are made by different artists, in different eras, or of different materials, we would hesitate to assume such[an analogous]relationship, and ask why, if they do not share an origin, would any decrease in the value of one form lead to an inverse change in its correlate?" Language is fluent and precise, exemplifying the superior facility typical of responses that receive a score of 6, for example, "adroit artistry," "relative valuation less easily anticipated," "current climates of international financial insecurity and imminent inflationary pressure." Organization is both clear and skillful with ideas cohesively linked not only by more obvious transitions("Furthermore," "Finally")but also through embedded transitions("Alternatively," "If so," "In fact, were they to be made of gold... we might well conclude..."). Because of its compelling and insightful development and fluent and precise language, this response fits all of the requirements for a 6.
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