#7- Must Be True

[LAM]

Question 7, Passage B tone???

I am usually decent at RC but I need help with a basic point that I totally missed. I chose B - not because I thought it was overtly correct but because it seemed better than the alternatives. The reason I thought this was because I missed the fact that the author of Passage B thought writing narrative would be good for legal writing. I don't see support for this at all. I read his posture to be cautious of narrative at best. At most, he inferred that it could put the heart back into legal ANALYSIS, which does not need to include writing. Also, he states that while narrative might find its way into curriculum, probably won't change the style of writing. How does anybody in their right mind infer from this that the author is taking a POSITIVE stance on narrative writing??? If anything, he is neutral in his stance on it's effects in WRITING. For this reason, I also got #10 wrong (not because I misread the q stem which seems to be a frequent problem - in fact the q stem didn't confuse me at all) - I got 10 wrong because I did NOT think the author of B was making any evaluative claims about narrative in the law profession. Again, he seems totally non-committed to a view point regarding the issue. Please help!

[Charlie Melman]

Hi LAM,

Answer choice (D) is correct because it says that both authors think legal writing could benefit from more narrative; not that they think it would benefit. You're right that the author of Passage B takes a somewhat cautious tone, but she certainly implies that injecting more narrative into legal writing could have benefits, even if those benefits might not materialize.

Support for this relatively weak statement comes from two sentences: "Perhaps the currently fashionable call for attention to narrative in legal education could have an effect on this," and "Still, even mere awareness of the value of narrative could perhaps serve as an important corrective."

I hope this helps!

[LAM]

Thanks Charlie. Yes that did help - it's a very subtle difference. Thanks for pointing out the specific parts of the paragraph - that helped shed some light.

[ClaudiaK32]

I do not understand why answer A is incorrect because both passages touch on what teaching methods are most effective in developing writing skills

[jrc3813]

I do not understand why answer A is incorrect because both passages touch on what teaching methods are most effective in developing writing skills

I chose A initially but I think I realized why it's wrong. The passages don't actually say what the most effective teaching methods are or could be. They're only talking about limitations of current education and possible corrective measures. Passage A is more strong in this belief and thinks that more storytelling is needed but doesn't really say that this is the most effective method. And passage B is more reserved and thinks focusing more on narrative COULD have an effect or could be an "important corrective."

But both passages do think to varying degrees that more attention to storytelling could benefit writing in a particular field.

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi Claudia and jrc,

jrc is spot-on with this one. Thanks for the great explanation, and good work! Claudia, let us know if that answers your question or if you need more explanation.