Lesson 2 HW - Passage #11, Q6

[Justandrea13]

I debated between (B) and (E) and spent a considerable amount of time on this question. I ultimately chose (B) because the 3rd paragraph says " Her devices to advance the story can be shameless and thin, and it is often impossible to see how her detective arrives at the truth; one is left to conclude that the detective solves crimes through intuition."

I interpreted to mean that since she does not provide the specifics to how the detective solves the crime, it's elusive and the crime solving process is a mystery, thus no transparency to advance the plot.

The connection to "straightforward assignment of a culpability of a crime" seemed weaker. The paragraph doesn't discuss how the novel goes through the process of revealing who is blame, rather, how the detective goes about solving the crime. Please explain.

Thank you!

[Hanin Abu Amara]

Hi Justandrea,

Thanks for your question! So the question stem is interesting since it isn't asking specifically about James but instead it is asking about traditional detective novels in a broader sense. We know that James isn't a traditional detective novel writer. The passage illustrates to us that she doesn't follow traditional conventions.

We want to eliminate every answer choice that describes something that occurs in James' novels. Which is precisely why B and E are both wrong. Since you can pinpoint those two as things that occur in the third paragraph.

Think of this as a complicated way to ask an except question. "All of the following occur in Jame's novels EXCEPT"

Hope that clarifies

[Justandrea13]

Ahh yes, I understand now. I misunderstood the question and that it asks for the author's view. Thank you!