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#26356
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=10965)

The correct answer choice is (A)

This Specific Reference/Purpose question asks us to identify the function of the second sentence in the passage. As with Question 14, this one requires a thorough contextual understanding of the statement in question. The second sentence describes Chavez’s efforts to boycott grapes in order to get California growers to sign union contracts. This helps us understand the historical milieu in which the Teatro Campesino originated, as well as the reasons behind its formation: to organize farm workers. This prephrase agrees with answer choice (A), which is correct.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. On the one hand, the farm workers’ boycott of grapes helps explain why the first actos were developed: to organize farm workers (lines 11-12). On the other hand, Valdez asked workers to illustrate what happened on the picket lines (lines 21-22), suggesting that the boycott described in the second sentence represents an important aspect of their subject matter.

Answer choice (B): The laborers’ unionizing efforts do not represent an obstacle that Valdez had to overcome; on the contrary, they were the motivation behind his decision to form the Teatro Campesino.

Answer choice (C): Whether or not the actos developed by Teatro Campesino were effective as political theater was never debated, and no objection to that view is presented in the passage.

Answer choice (D): Although the unionizing efforts described in the second paragraph do represent an important topic for scholars of Mexican American history (lines 1-5), the author never argues that focusing on this topic has been done at the expense of, or to the exclusion of, theater history.

Answer choice (E): This is a classic Shell Game answer. While theater historians have indeed treated Valdez as though he were individually responsible for inventing actos as a genre (lines 41-43), the unionizing efforts of farm laborers are completely unrelated to that view.
 legalrabbit
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#1711
Please help me with question #15. I don't see how the second sentence motivates actos AND is an important aspect of actos.

I actually debated between (D) and (E)...clearly, didn't understand this question at all.
 Nikki Siclunov
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#1746
The second sentence credits Chavez for initiating a worldwide boycott of grapes in an effort to get California growers to sign union contracts. The beginning of the second paragraph elaborates on the significance of this strike to the development of actos: by asking farm workers to talk about their working conditions, Valdez guided the group toward the creation of actos. Since the birth of actos coincided with the strike, and Valdez himself approached Chavez about using theater to organize farm workers (lines 8 - 10), the unionizing efforts of Chavez can be interpreted as a motivation of those who participated in the first actos.

Further, "actos" are skits in which the audience acted out their ridicule of the strikebreakers (lines 23 - 24). Therefore, the strike (and the unionizing efforts in general) represent an important aspect of the first actos' subject matter.
 legalrabbit
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#2020
Thanks for pointing out the lines. I just read this passage today with fresh eyes and (A) makes sense now. Thanks again :)

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