#5 - Must Be True, Purpose

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=10821)

The correct answer choice is (E)

This question asks for author’s primary concern in the passage: it is to discuss the value of the present biographical study of Lorenzo Tucker, as well as to provide some detail regarding the author’s approach to gathering and verifying biographical sources.

Answer choice (A): The author is not critical, and does not seek to correct historical traditions, so this choice should be ruled out of contention in response to this Must Be True question.

Answer choice (B): No alternative method of investigation is proposed, so this choice fails the Fact Test and cannot be the right answer to this question.

Answer choice (C): The passage does not provide a summary of main points of the book discussed, and while the author does believe the book to be historically valuable, assessing the value is not a primary concern of the passage either.

Answer choice (D): The passage does not reexamine a previous historical perspective or specify its weaknesses, so this choice cannot be the correct answer to this Must Be True question.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. As prephrased above, the author’s primary concern is to explain the author’s subject choice and approach to researching the project.

[uncleschaeflit]

Was down to (c) and (e). Didn't like either, but nixed (e) since the author never explains why he chose to study Lorenzo. Sure, he lists a bunch of things Lorenzo did, but there's countless figures who did a bunch of things. I'm supposed to infer that someone simply being accomplished and understudied led to the author's choice? Or am I missing some direct reference?

As for (c), I'm taking the "main points" to be all the accomplishments and the "value" to be the discussion re: reliability.

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi uncle,

For answer choice (C) we don't know the main point of the author's work. Will the author have a position on how this entertainer influenced future entertainers? Is there a reason this author thinks that the subject wasn't well studied? We aren't sure exactly what form this study will take. However, the author does try to explain why and how they engage in the study they do. They feel the subject was insufficiently studied, that they had an influence on film and entertainment that is poorly understood, and the methods the author uses to do his study (interview, microfiche, and so on). Therefore answer choice (E) is a better description of what the purpose of the passage is, while answer choice (C) isn't correctly describing what we see.

Hope that helps!