#16 - Global Reference, Main Point

[ataraxia10]

Hello, I chose D over A. I figured "purely on narrative" is too forceful that's not supported by the passage. Please explain how A is superior to D.

[Adam Tyson]

I'll start by describing what's wrong with answer D, ataraxia10, and that is that there is no evidence in the passage that Cather's work "served as an important impetus" for what came later in the 1960's. That's a causal claim - she helped to bring about that new approach to literary criticism. Did she? Or was she just a little ahead of her time, and it would have happened with or without her earlier work?

Further, is the idea that she was ahead of her time (and, perhaps, influenced the later development of narratology) really what Passage B was all about? I don't think so. That was a small part of the overall passage, but not the Main Point.

So if not that, then what? That's where your prephrase has to come in. What did you determine the correct answer should do, or say, or contain, before you looked at any of the answer choices? My prephrase was "Cather focused on narrative rather than on the traditional realistic novel structure, and some critics didn't get it." That made A a strong contender. No answer was any better, so A is, in my view, the best one, and that makes it a winner! That's how you need to approach these questions, with a solid prephrase and a willingness to keep answers that are perhaps imperfect as contenders until you find a better one.

[ataraxia10]

Hi Adam, thank you very much for the helpful tip and explanation.

[Min Jeong Kim]

Why is AC B incorrect? Why is AC A is better than AC B?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Min,

Answers are often wrong for more than one reason, and Answer B is also wrong for more than one reason.

The easiest way to eliminate Answer B is to focus on the word "most" in the answer and check this against what was stated in the passage. In other words, did the passage actually state that "most commentators on Cather's novels" have made this mistake? The word "most" is very strong, so unless that word (or something equivalent) is explicitly mentioned in the passage, this answer will be exaggerated and incorrect.

Going back to the passage, I don't see the idea of most commentators mentioned anywhere in Passage B. In lines 31-32, Cather notes that "many [reviewers] vehemently assert that it is not a novel." The word "many" is not equivalent to the word "most." A lot of people treat these two words as equivalent, but this is incorrect, and the LSAT often tests this distinction.

Later in Passage B, Cather's "severest critics" (line 48) are mentioned and then "these critics and others like them" (lines 54-55). None of these indicate "most commentators."

However, even if Answer B had used "many" or "some" rather than "most," it still wouldn't capture the main point of Passage B. While it's true that some critics have treated Cather's narrative techniques as flaws, as stated in lines 54-56, the reason why that is mistaken is that Cather's works should be viewed from a narrative focus rather than by standard elements of the novel, as Answer A states. In other words, the main point of Passage B is about how Cather's works should be properly evaluated and understood, and the fact that some critics were mistaken supports this main point.