#16 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[ayz]

Hi - although I understand how C applies to the later half of the last paragraph (starting with the examples) in line 48, I am having trouble seeing it as the primary purpose of the this paragraph. I ended up choosing A because the first line of the paragraph and throughout it, the author seems to be trying to detail how these wampum belts evolved from the previous religious uses into the political communication uses. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

[Francis O'Rourke]

Hi Ayz,

If answer choice (A) is correct, then we would be able to explain how wampum belts evolved from other forms of wampum from this third paragraph. Looking back at the passage, I see that the author explains why wampum belts arose—to encode the provisions of the constitution—but I have no idea how they arose. Since the author spent no time explaining how this happened, it must not be the purpose of the paragraph.

In fact the sentence in which the author introduces wampum belts explains that wampum belts are given as evidence of something else: "this is evident in the invention of wampum belts to encode..." What were wampum belts evidence of? the sentence before tells us about a change in the use of wampum to a "system of ... symbols designed primarily for political purposes." That is much closer to the true purpose of the passage, and it is very close to answer choice (C).

[Chris_GRZ]

I can see why C) could be correct but I have trouble understanding why D) could not be the answer as the formation of the Haudenosaune Confederacy’s constitution is pointed out throughout the last paragraph unless its because the is to narrow in scope of an answer?

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Chris!

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because that last paragraph doesn't actually "outline the Haudenosaune Confederacy's constitution." The last paragraph tells us about how wampum took on a role of political symbolism as it was used for encoding the constitution. But it doesn't tell us anything about what was contained within the actual constitution. Careful reading is important here--answer choice (D) says that it "outlines the constitution as it was encoded" not that it outlines how the constitution was encoded. It's a subtle but key distinction.

Hope this helps!

Best
Kelsey

[BradLSAT]

Can you please explain why answer E is incorrect?

The specific reference question asks "The last paragraph of the passage serves primarily to..."

Answer choice E states: give evidence of wampum’s effectiveness as a means of ensuring compliance with the law of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

The last passage seems to give evidence that wampum was effective as a means of ensuring compliance with the law of the Haudenosaune Confederacy in the following lines:

"It is thought that string wampum was used to send simple political messages ... It was, however, the formation of the Haudenosaune Confederacy from a group of warring tribes ... that supplied the major impetus for making wampum a deliberate system of ... symbols designed primarily for political purposes."

"This is evident in the invention of wampum belts to encode the provisions of the Haudenosaune Confederacy’s constitution."

"Thus, the belts served to record, store, and make publicly available items of governmental business. it served to effectively frame and enforce the law of the confederacy for hundreds of years."

What confuses me is that the last passage gives several examples of the use of wampum which, according to the paragraph, served to effectively frame and enforce the law of the confederacy for hundreds of years. When compared with the answer choice "give evidence of wampum’s effectiveness as a means of ensuring compliance with the law of the Haudenosaune Confederacy." It seems to be exactly summarizing what the last paragraph is setting out to accomplish. "ensure compliance with the law" seems the same as "effectively frame and enforce the law" What am I missing? Thank you.

[Robert Carroll]

Brad,

The only quotation that actually talks about ensuring compliance is that last quote, from the last sentence, with its discussion of enforcement. Everything else you quoted is about how wampum functioned in communicating certain ideas. So this is simply a case where answer choice (E) is far too specific, talking about only one function among many. The primary purpose of the last paragraph is all of those functions, not merely the one called out in answer choice (E).

Robert Carroll