#21 - Must Be True, Author’s Perspective

[Administrator]

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

The correct answer choice is (D)

Due to the general nature of this question, the method of elimination is likely to prove useful—any
answer choice that cannot be proven by the passage will be incorrect.

Answer choice (A): This is the Opposite answer. The author clearly states that no writer other than
Morrison had ever attempted to draw upon a musical genre as the structuring principle for an entire
novel (lines 11-14), proving answer choice (A) to be false.

Answer choice (B): Neither the theme, nor the plot, of Jazz are discussed in the passage. It would be
impossible to prove that the novel represents the milieu in which jazz musicians live and work, let
alone argue that it is the most successful representation of that milieu. This answer choice contains
both an exaggeration and a digression from the scope of the passage.

Answer choice (C): To claim that the voices of individual characters in Jazz are sometimes difficult
to distinguish would contradict much of the discussion in the second paragraph. In it, the author
describes the first-person narration of the central characters in Jazz as “set off by quotation marks,”
which helps protect “the mastery of the narrator over the narrative as a whole” (lines 25-27 and
30-31). A similar point is made about Duke Ellington’s compositional style, whereby the individual
voices of musicians are given the liberty to perform bold and inventive solos (lines 40-41).

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. The structural analogy between Jazz and
Duke Ellington’s compositional style is not simply a matter of shifting between first-person and
third-person narrators. For instance, the analogy also involves allowing individual characters to
relate their own stories within the fixed scope of the narrative, just like Duke Ellington allowed his
musicians to improvise “within the undeniable logic of the composer’s frame” (line 42). The analogy
between Jazz and Duke Ellington’s style clearly involves more than a particular narrative technique.

Answer choice (E): Morrison’s writing technique was never intended to disguise the structural
connections between her narrative and Duke Ellington’s jazz compositions. Such an objective was
neither suggested nor implied in the passage.

[alee]

Hi,

With regard to PT 66, Section 1, Q21, why is D correct?

D: The structural analogy between Jazz and Duke Ellington's compositional style involves more than simply the technique of shifting between 1st person and 3rd person narrators.

Is it because at lines 25-35, the author describes the SPECIFIC NATURE of these shifts, as the contrast between the generous/protective narrative voice being akin to an ensemble sound framing solo performance, and the use of quotation marks?

Cheers

[Adam Tyson]

Cheers, alee!

I think you'll find more support for answer D in lines 39-48. It's there that we see the author comparing Duke Ellington's style to Toni Morrison's and talking about the overall effect that they create, maintaining overall control of the narrative while allowing their (characters/musicians) opportunities to express their individual points of view within that framework. It's not just about shifting from one perspective to another - for both Ellington and Morrison, it's about creating and controlling that framework and then giving the players some freedom within it.

Hope that helps!

Adam

[avengingangel]

Hm, interesting, and thanks for the explanation. Although, I feel that "shifting from one perspective to another" and "creating and controlling that framework and then giving the players some freedom within it" are one in the same, both describing the characteristic structural uniqueness that their work shares/demonstrates. In other words, it is that "technique" of shifting between first-person and third-person narrators that wholly composes the structural analogy between the two... any way you could expand here? Is there anything else mentioned that contributes to the structural analogy?? Just want to make sure I actively identify / pick up on the right/important details as I'm working thru these RC passages. Thanks!!

[David Boyle]

Hm, interesting, and thanks for the explanation. Although, I feel that "shifting from one perspective to another" and "creating and controlling that framework and then giving the players some freedom within it" are one in the same, both describing the characteristic structural uniqueness that their work shares/demonstrates. In other words, it is that "technique" of shifting between first-person and third-person narrators that wholly composes the structural analogy between the two... any way you could expand here? Is there anything else mentioned that contributes to the structural analogy?? Just want to make sure I actively identify / pick up on the right/important details as I'm working thru these RC passages. Thanks!!

Hello,

As Adam said, the framework is important. Just shifting between first-person and third-person is not enough. Jazz involves some coordination and context.
Imagine a really bad musical performance. There is an orchestra playing some pleasant music. Then, as a "solo", one guy on the stage takes a rock out of a bag and hits it with a baseball bat a couple times, making a jarring sound that doesn't fit at all with what the orchestra did. Then the orchestra goes back to playing as it did. Does that sound coordinated to you?
By contrast, jazz tends to be a lot smoother. E.g., someone's saxophone solo will actually relate to and complement what the rest of the ensemble is doing.

David