#1 - Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14202)

The correct answer choice is (B)

This question asks for the author’s main point. As discussed above, the main point of the passage is
to discuss the U.S. Latina authors who changed the traditional autobiography genre as they expressed
their life stories in the 1980s.

Answer choice (A): The passage does not mention whether the Latina authors discussed had
formerly written mostly poetry and fiction. Further, the author of the passage points out that the
genre as they found it was not perfectly suited to their needs--that is why they changed the very
boundaries of the genre. Since this choice cannot be confirmed by the information presented and
cannot be the passage’s main point.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As prephrased above, the main point of
the passage is to discuss the Latina authors who, in the late 1980’s, changed the boundaries of the
autobiography (setting aside standard conventions), so that the genre would better suit the expression
of their own histories.

Answer choice (C): The author does discuss the diversity of styles found among three
nontraditional Latina autobiographies that were published in the 1980s, but recent traditional Latina
autobiographies are not discussed. This is not the main point of the passage and should thus be ruled
out of contention.

Answer choice (D): The main point of the passage is not that the Latina writers have experimented
with autobiographies to show that narratives can be combined with other genres in a single work;
rather, the point is that three writers in the 1980s were revolutionaries who redefined the genre of the
autobiography.

Answer choice (E): This choice refers to the third paragraph of the passage, where the author
mentions one critic who specializes in the genre of the autobiography, and points to Moraga’s
non-chronological presentation as an important point of distinction between men’s and women’s
traditional autobiographies. This is not, however, the main point of the passage, so it cannot be the
right answer to this Main Point question.

[German.Steel]

What an atrociously weak answer (B) is. This passage was dripping with attitude, and the best they could muster for their main point correct answer was (B), which is about as milquetoast and uninspiring as it's possible to be, containing none of the tone of the passage. I'm very glad that in recent years, they've mostly cut it out with this type of "all the answers are trash, choose the least hideous one" question!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi German.Steel!

I can offer some suggestions in light of your comments.

First, this is a main point question, rather than a tone question. It's certainly possible, of course, that the tone of a passage will be helpful in ascertaining the passage's main point. But if you found that the answer choices didn't contain the tone of the passage, that's not necessarily a point against them on a main point question.

Second, if you're able to winnow down answers correctly to the "least hideous one," then a right answer is a right answer! That is to say, given the time constraint of the test, you might not have time to verify or fully understand why the correct answer choice is correct. For example, in logical reasoning sections, parallel the conclusion questions can often be quite time consuming because of the amount of text, but tools like the Double the Conclusion technique can often result in one quickly eliminating four of the answer choices. In that situation, when pressed for time, it's less important that one fully understands why the correct answer choice is correct.

Lastly, to address why answer choice (B) is correct, it might seem milquetoast because it's stated in general terms. But that's not necessarily a reason against it. The passage covers three authors and indicates ways in which each departs from standard conventions of writing autobiographies. This is captured by answer (B). To cover everything in the passage (wrong answers on main point questions will often mention only part of a passage but not encompass all of it), it's often necessary to state the overall main point in general terms.

[xunalex]

HI There；

I would probably miss Answer B since I thought B is too narrow for the main point question. I would support that those latin writers did experimental works other than only amendements of expression of their personal stories.

Thanks a lot.

Alex