#6 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Organization

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (E).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice.

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[Tami Taylor]

Hi PowerScore,

Can you help me understand why (E) is the correct answer and why neither (A) nor (B) is correct? I first chose (B) and then, on second attempt, I chose (A) because this paragraph is all about contrasting concepts that Kahlo weaves together in her paintings, making statements both her personal life and Mexican history/politics. Is the "generalization" that (E) is referring to mentioned in the last sentence of the previous paragraph: "Kahlo's form of Mexicanidad, a romantic nationalism..."

Thank you!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Tami!

The topic of the third paragraph is how Kahlo weaved together her personal life with political ideals but that doesn't describe the organization of the paragraph. When we're being asked about the organization of a paragraph, it's about how the information is presented, but we don't want to get too caught up in what exactly the information is. We want to focus on how the author is presenting the information to us.

The organization of the paragraph is not to contrast opposing ideas (the author is not just describing how two ideas are different) nor is it to reconcile conflicting concepts (the author does not explain how two conflicting concepts co-exist). Rather, the paragraph is describing how Kahlo incorporates different ideas into her paintings.

To do this, the author makes a generalization in the first half of the paragraph: "In her paintings, Kahlo repeatedly employed Aztec symbols...that were traditionally related to the emanation of life from death and light from darkness. These images of destruction coupled with creation speak not only to Kahlo’s personal battle for life, but also to the Mexican struggle to emerge as a nation." Then, the author gives us a specific example of a painting that illustrates Kahlo's use of Aztec symbols to depict these personal and political themes ("Self Portrait on the Border between Mexico and the United States (1932), for example...").

Thus, answer choice (E) best describes the organization of the paragraph and is correct.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[Tami Taylor]

Hi Kelsey,

Thank you for this! I honestly was not clued in on the "organization" part of the question system. So would you say ACs (A) and (B) are there to throw you off and get you to focus on content/substance of paragraph versus its organization?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Tami,

I'd say yes. Answer choice (A) may have been tempting because it talks about opposition, and the paragraph does mention opposing themes. Same thing with the idea of conflicting concepts in answer choice (B). But the verbs are all wrong for both answer choices. The structure of the paragraph is not to contrast different ideas or themes, but to give an extended example of how Kahlo blended these ideas in her work.

Often, answer choices will be tempting because they'll make you think of something you might associate with the passage. The best defense is a good offense. Make sure you prephrase to have a good idea of what you are looking for before reading the answer choices.

Hope that helps!

[Tami Taylor]

Thanks a lot, Rachael -- this definitely helps!

[sdb606]

To do this, the author makes a generalization in the first half of the paragraph: "In her paintings, Kahlo repeatedly employed Aztec symbols...that were traditionally related to the emanation of life from death and light from darkness. These images of destruction coupled with creation speak not only to Kahlo’s personal battle for life, but also to the Mexican struggle to emerge as a nation."

How is this a generalization? I think of a generalization as the result of a process that takes in specific details and spits out a broader concept governing the details. For E to be correct, it would have to say, "support for a general assertion" or something like that. I eliminated E because I couldn't find the concept the author was generalizing.

What is a better way to think of "generalization" because I see this word come up periodically in answer choices.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi sdb606!

You're thinking of "generalization" in a narrow logical/scientific context. But as the LSAT typically uses it, a "generalization" is just a general statement, meaning something that is not specific. You can think of it as a "general assertion."

Though, in a way, if you wanted to, you can still make the generalization in this passage fit your own interpretation of a "generalization." The author is not explaining their process for reaching that generalization. But how would the author discover that Kahlo repeatedly employed Aztec symbols, etc.? By examining the specific details of her work and then coming to a broad generalization governing those details.

So, to recap: Don't overthink the precise definition of "generalization." As the LSAT uses it, it is simply a general statement, as opposed to a specific instance.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[LeslyLSATinLA]

Hi Kelsey!
Thank you so much for explaining this! I had chosen D, which is wrong. Now I am going back to read the third paragraph and I see the "for example" statement in the passage. What attracted me to letter D was that it said "explication".

[ashpine17]

why is C a problem? i thought there were themes being introduced here in this paragarph