#19 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14304)

The correct answer choice is (C)

This general Purpose question should be relatively straightforward, as the VIEWSTAMP analysis
already provides a reasonable prephrase. The author’s main goal is to describe the unique narrative
strategy in Jazz, and explain why the novel is a literary analogue to a particular genre of music. Keep
in mind, however, that there are many ways of describing the purpose of a given passage: the degree
of generality can vary considerably, and some descriptions are much broader than others.

Answer choice (A): While the author does commend Toni Morrison for the innovative narrative style
she developed in Jazz, this answer choice overstates the scope of the passage. The discussion focuses
on a singular contribution made to the art of the novel, not on a variety of contributions.

Answer choice (B): This is the Opposite answer. The purpose of the passage is not to contrast Toni
Morrison’s work with that of African American jazz musicians, but to emphasize the similarity
between her narrative style and Duke Ellington’s art of composition.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. By discussing the narrative style of Toni
Morrison’s Jazz, the author describes a particular aspect of one work by a particular writer. The
description is general but accurate, as it can be proven with the information contained in the passage.

Answer choice (D): The author’s intention is not to demonstrate the inherent similarity between
literature and music, although the first paragraph alludes to such a similarity. The next three
paragraphs focus on a particular aspect of a literary work and its relationship to jazz, which is a
significant departure from the general claims made in the first.

Answer choice (E): The passage discusses neither the thematic concerns in Jazz, nor the sources of
these concerns.

[carnegie49]

Could someone please explain why B is incorrect as it seems to me to encapsulate the main point of the essay. Is it incorrect because the word "contrast" is used in the answer choice exclusively to mean differences and not similarities with the "the work of African American practitioners of another art", that art form being jazz?

Thanks!

[David Boyle]

Could someone please explain why B is incorrect as it seems to me to encapsulate the main point of the essay. Is it incorrect because the word "contrast" is used in the answer choice exclusively to mean differences and not similarities with the "the work of African American practitioners of another art", that art form being jazz?

Thanks!

Hello carnegie49,

Yes, "contrast" does not seem to go well with the question here, since it's the similarity that's important.

Hope this helps,
David

[Need2get180]

Why isn't answer choice E correct?

Is it because the writing style of the author can't really be considered a "thematic concern?"

[Adam Tyson]

Yup! It's not about thematic concerns, but about structure - how the novel was structured to resemble a work of jazz music. Good analysis, short and to the point. That's the way to do it!

[snowy]

Can someone reiterate why D is wrong? I did think it was broad and didn’t address all parts of the passage, but I thought that was okay since it’s a purpose question. I thought D tied together the first paragraph and the rest of the passage really well (since otherwise the two parts are pretty far apart), which I thought is the kind of thing purpose questions often look for. While the rest of the passage doesn’t talk about the art forms generally, I thought Ellington and Morrison’s Jazz were being used as examples - and thereby would still support D.

Where am I going wrong here?

[James Finch]

Hi Snowy,

The way I would Prephrase this question might help clarify why (C) is correct while (D) is not. The purpose here seems to me to describe and praise the way that Toni Morrison managed to evoke the subject of her novel, jazz, by structuring it in a way that treats the novel as analogous to the way jazz musicians look at music. This clarifies that the passage is primarily concerned with Morrison's structural and artistic inventiveness in being able to evoke the same feelings as jazz music does, but with the written word. This shows that the passage isn't being written to compare jazz music and novels, but to talk about a specific aspect of a specific novel about jazz.

One way to quickly test this understanding is to quickly compare the percentage of the passage that talks about jazz music with the portion that describes the novel specifically; jazz music is only talked about in one short paragraph, while the novel is the subject of the rest of the passage.

Hope this clears things up!