#3 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14138)

The correct answer choice is (E)

To situate the passage in a proper context, you need to evaluate its tone as well as content. Such
general Author Perspective questions should be relatively straightforward, as the VIEWSTAMP
analysis already provides a reasonable prephrase of the author’s tone and purpose.

Answer choice (A): A brochure for contemporary tourists to the Lower Rio Grande Border is
unlikely to contain direct quotations from corridos or focus on their cultural significance. The tone of
the passage is too scholarly for a brochure.

Answer choice (B): The passage would add little value to a study focusing on the music of
eighteenth-century Spain. The ballad’s influence on Spanish music is never discussed.

Answer choice (C): The passage is unlikely to be drawn from an editorial in a contemporary
newspaper from that region, because we expect editorials to focus on current issues or events. We
also expect editorials to be somewhat polemic, which this passage is not.

Answer choice (D): No mention is made of any famous natives of the Lower Rio Grande Border.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. As mentioned earlier, the passage exhibits
scholarly curiosity towards the corrido. The author’s tone is descriptive rather than prescriptive,
suggesting that the passage is likely to be found in a book or a journal article that is similar in topic,
but perhaps somewhat broader in scope. A book describing various North American folk song forms
agrees with that prephrase.

[Strongam]

I was able to narrow down the answer choices to C and E for this question. However, I decided to go with C because the passage did not suggest that the Author was considering "various types of North American folk song forms." The question here makes me feel like in order for answer E to be drawn, the passage would need to suggest this somewhere. Usually this is the case and there is a compare contrast, listing of style types, or some other indication that this passage is not the entire work of the Author.

I am not too familiar with the qualities needed for a passage to be classified an editorial and so it seems unfair for that knowledge to be needed in order to eliminate C as a contender (not within LSAC's assumed knowledge expectation). Perhaps there is another reason to eliminate C? If so please let me know! Thanks!

[James Finch]

Hi Strongam,

This question is most easily answered by process of elimination. The content of the passage is largely historical and neutral in tone, similar to what would be found in scholarly as opposed to journalistic work. This essentially limits the plausible answers to scholarly books or articles, presumably in some form of specialist press.

Editorials, by contrast, are far more argumentative and, as said above, polemical. They exist to advocate for a position, usually a political or moral one, that is relevant at a current moment. If this passage argued that corridos were superior or more pure forms of music than a more contemporary genre, then it could plausibly be an editorial, maybe in a niche periodical. But the scholarly, neutral tone and historical nature of the argument made make this passage implausible as an editorial.

Hope this clears things up!

[snowy]

In addition to the editorial issue stated above, can C also be ruled out because it’s likely that the readers of the Border newspaper would already know about corridos, so there wouldn’t be a point to publishing this whole piece on it?

[Erik Shum]

Hi Snowy,

I would caution against making assumptions about the readers of a "contemporary newspaper" from that region. You may be familiar with the readership of such a newspaper but, using myself as an example, I certainly am not. The LSAT does not rely upon test takers to bring with them any particular knowledge of the kind. If knowledge of a regional newspaper's readership, or knowledge of how familiar people are with corridos, was helpful in arriving at the correct answer, then this LSAT question would be biased, presumably, in favour of those living in the southwestern USA or bordering areas of Mexico, or perhaps those who speak Spanish. The LSAT goes to incredible lengths to eliminate bias.

Keep in mind the LSAT's purpose when tackling these questions. Understanding the purpose of the LSAT gives you another perspective when analyzing a tough question and is a great skill to have once you are in law school!