#12 - Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=10828)

The correct answer choice is (E)

This choice asks for the likely meaning of the “potent Western literary convention” mentioned on line 50, referring to the shaping of Nisa’s life into a story with a recognizable shape (unlike real lives).

Answer choice (A): Personal revelation is not the convention referenced on line 50, so this choice cannot be the right answer.

Answer choice (B): Dramatic emphasis is not the same as shaping Nisa’s experiences into a story with recognizable shape, so this choice should be ruled out of contention.

Answer choice (C): The author’s shaping of Nisa’s life into a story with recognizable shape is not described by “expository comparison,” so this cannot be the right answer choice.

Answer choice (D): This would be accurate if Shostak had described Nisa’s life metaphorically, but the author makes no mention of such an approach, and this choice does not match the prephrase above, so this cannot be the right answer to this Must Be True question.

Answer choice (E):This is the correct answer choice. The author shapes Nisa’s life into a nice story—in other words, the use of novelistic storytelling.

[moshei24]

Is this one (E) because casting Nisa in the shape of a "life" refers to shaping her in the form of a story, hence, novelistic storytelling? Can you clarify this, please?

[Steve Stein]

That's a good bit of it. The author provides that Nina's autobiography is a distinct narrative in a particular voice, but it is manifestly the product of a collaboration. Nina is cast in the shape of a life, despite the fact that, as the author points out, real lives don't generally arrange themselves into such nice stories.

I hope that's helpful! let me know--thanks!

~Steve

[moshei24]

So it's the reference to Nisa's autobiography being a distinct narrative in a particular voice combined with the fact that the author says that real lives generally don't arrange themselves as such nice stories that makes it clear that casting Nisa in the shape of life refers to novelisitc storytelling?

I think I'm still a bit confused on this one. Sorry!

[moshei24]

Oh, wait. Is it because the author points out that Nisa's life arranges itself very nicely as a story, so when the author says that Nisa was cast into the shape of a life, the author is referring to how nicely her life arranged itself for novelistic storytelling?

[Steve Stein]

You got it..."Real lives, in fact, do not easily arrange themselves as stories..."

~Steve

[moshei24]

Aha, but in this case they do. Gotcha. Thanks!

[KwakuS]

Hello,

Thank you for all of your responses so far. For this question, the Western literary convention is casting Nisa in the shape of a life. How are we supposed to identify that? I was thrown off by the discussion of how the passage talked about the author's dialog with Nisa at the end, which made me think that the literary convention was something along the lines of the author having a dialog with the main character. What was the clue to the actual literary convention?

[atierney]

Hello,

In terms of identifying the literary convention here, I think you would probably need to take the passage in context, especially with respect to what the entire fourth paragraph is doing. So remember, in the first paragraph, the author (of the passage) mentions how there are three interwoven strands, and, relevant for this question, the third of which being the "story" blurs the distinction between ethnographer and subject (the !Kung women). The fourth paragraph expounds this third strand and how the dialogue between the author (Marjorie Shostak) and the the lives of the women, otherwise shapeless, is used to form a "life" that has a certain narrative structure, i.e. tells a "shaped story." And this is why the answer is novelistic storytelling.

Important to note here, Marjorie Shostak is an ethnographer and not a novelist, and the book recounts her experiences with !Kung, and so it's her ability to use the dialogue she had with them to shape a story that exemplifies her employing "potent" literary convention of the novel.


Now, generally speaking, you're usually looking for context clues primarily in the preceding and subsequent couple of lines for SR questions; however, it's always important to keep the Main Point, Structure, and Tone (from ViewSTAMP) in mind when answering each RC question.

Let me know if you have further questions.

[KwakuS]

Hello,

Thank you for your response. That is helpful. In terms of analyzing this question, do you think it would be ok to look at the sentences around the phrase for a clue? So, it says that she "casts Nisa in the shape of a life". Later on the prompt says that the real lives do not often arrange themselves as stories, but thanks to the author's dialogue with Nisa, a story emerges. Could one use that analysis to clue in to novelistic storytelling?