#1 - Global Reference, Main Point

[jessamynlockard]

Hi,
I'm having trouble understanding why the answer is E rather than A.

[James Finch]

Hi Jessamyn,

The correct answer choice is in fact (A). Were you wondering why (A) was correct and not (E)? If so, the elements of retained, but not nostalgic heritage and the creation of a new multicultural identity present in (A) are supported by the passage, especially paragraphs 2 and 3. (E), on the other hand, describes Lum's poetry as "unsuccessful," which should be a dead giveaway that it is not the right answer in a diversity passage; while there may be mild criticism of the subject or their work, diversity passages are always generally positive in tone.

Hope this clears things up!

[heartofsunshine]

Hi there! I'm hoping you can clarify why C is wrong. I was between C and A and they have many similarities. Perhaps C is not a broad enough scope? Thanks!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi heartofsunshine,

There are a couple problems with answer choice C:

First, it's not quite correct to say that Lum generally "rejects the popular literary traditions of Hawaiian writers." Notice in the first paragraph (which describes some of those traditions), the author acknowledges that Lum "does explore themes of family, identity, history, and literary tradition," which indicates that Lum has taken something from other Hawaiian writers.

Second, answer choice C misses a key element of the passage that the author highlights already in paragraph 1: it's not just that Lum is (in a negative sense) "rejecting" what came before him. Lum is also (in a positive sense) "attempting to discover and retain a local sensibility." For the author, that "local sensibility" (i.e., the importance of Hawaii itself) is an important positive contribution of Lum's writing, as you can see in (for example) lines 23, 27-29, 34-35, 43, and 46. Thus, answer choice C doesn't fully capture the main point, whereas answer choice A includes that positive reference to the "search for a new local identity."

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[LSAT4Life]

Hi, I have a couple of questions.

For one, is (B) incorrect because it's only mentions one aspect that the passage touches on and therefore cannot be the main point? Since AC (B) mentions "in part," I think it's a giveaway that AC (B) is a wrong answer.

Additionally, I didn't initially pick (A) because of the mention of a "search for a new local entity." The end of passage talk about how the experience is "different" but I didn't think it necessarily meant a search for new identify. Can you point me to parts of the passage where "a new identify" is stated or strong implied?

[Beatrice Brown]

Hi LSAT4Life! Thanks for your great questions, and happy to help

Answer choice (B) is actually incorrect for a different reason. Answer choice (B) contends that Lum's poetry expresses a conflict between two things: 1) a desire to participate in a community with shared values/traditions; and 2) "a desire for individual success." Lum's poetry does express a conflct between "heritage and local culture" (as explained in the last paragraph of the passage), but "desire for individual success" is actually discussed as an attribute of US culture in the last paragraph of the passage. Although Lum considers the conflict between his heritage and local culture in his poetry and this desire for individual success is part of his local culture, this would be an indirect connection between the passage's main point and the main point as described in answer choice (B). For a main point question, we want direct support from the passage when we select the correct answer choice. This more tenuous connection leads answer choice (B) to be incorrect.

I do want to point out, though, that a frequent type of incorrect answer choice for main point questions is one that mentions an aspect of the passage but is too narrow in scope to capture the main point, as you mentioned in your question. So great job being on the lookout for this type of incorrect answer choice!

Let's turn to why answer choice (A) is the correct answer choice. The beginning of the first paragraph of the passage explains that Asian American poetry from Hawaii usually falls into two categories: 1) poetry that portrays a "model multicultural paradise," or 2) poetry that exemplifies traditional Asian American literary themes. The author then goes on to state that Lum's poetry is unique because it "demands to be understood on its own terms." The rest of the passage goes on to characterize Lum's poetry, discussing in the second and third paragraphs how he portrays the conflict between his heritage and local culture.

The first thing we want to look for in a correct answer choice is that it characterizes the fact that the author is trying to show why Lum's poetry is unique. Answer choice (A) does so, whereas answer choice (B) does not. Answer choice (A) also correctly describes what makes his poetry unique.

In terms of the phrase "search for a new local identity," several lines in the second and third paragraphs support this assertion. In the second paragraph, for example, the author discusses how the speaker in one of Lum's poems realizes the need for a "new identity" that is "sensitive to its new environment." This assertion is also supported by the first line of the third paragraph ("complex relationships between heritage and local culture in determining one's identity") and the last line of the third paragraph ("in ways that allow for a healthy new sense of identity to be formed").

I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any other questions!

[lsater180]

Hello team,

I was wondering why "D" cannot be a better answer than "A."

I initially chose A but decided to change it to D during BR because I was tripped over by words like "author's" heritage and "poet's" search which, as readers, we cannot be so sure of.

On the other hand, D seemed like a decent answer choice to me as it didn't seem to have any troubling words or phrases, and the last sentence of the first paragraph, especially lines 18-20, aligns with it as well.

Is D wrong because it simply does not capture the author's main point? If so, how can we explain the specific word choices of A? For example in the second paragraph, line 25 mentions "the speaker" which is not necessarily the same as the author of the poem. Paragraph 3 also mentions "one's identity" in line 43 which makes it difficult for us to equate the speaker of Lum's poems to the author/the poet (Lum).

[lsater180]

Hello team,

I was wondering why "D" cannot be a better answer than "A."

I initially chose A but decided to change it to D during BR because I was tripped over by words like "author's" heritage and "poet's" search which, as readers, we cannot be so sure of.

On the other hand, D seemed like a decent answer choice to me as it didn't seem to have any troubling words or phrases, and the last sentence of the first paragraph, especially lines 18-20, aligns with it as well.

Is D wrong because it simply does not capture the author's main point? If so, how can we explain the specific word choices of A? For example in the second paragraph, line 25 mentions "the speaker" which is not necessarily the same as the author of the poem. Paragraph 3 also mentions "one's identity" in line 43 which makes it difficult for us to equate the speaker of Lum's poems to the author/the poet (Lum).

++ additionally I feel like A only talked about the last paragraph where heritage vs new identity is explicitly mentioned, while the second paragraph isn't about "heritage" per say? (I agree with the new identity being the main topic for paragraph 2 as well but heritage not so sure unless heritage includes things like past, homeland, etc)

[lsater180]

Hello team, I've been struggling with this question for the last few days Can I get help on this?

Hello team,

I was wondering why "D" cannot be a better answer than "A."

I initially chose A but decided to change it to D during BR because I was tripped over by words like "author's" heritage and "poet's" search which, as readers, we cannot be so sure of.

On the other hand, D seemed like a decent answer choice to me as it didn't seem to have any troubling words or phrases, and the last sentence of the first paragraph, especially lines 18-20, aligns with it as well.

Is D wrong because it simply does not capture the author's main point? If so, how can we explain the specific word choices of A? For example in the second paragraph, line 25 mentions "the speaker" which is not necessarily the same as the author of the poem. Paragraph 3 also mentions "one's identity" in line 43 which makes it difficult for us to equate the speaker of Lum's poems to the author/the poet (Lum).

++ additionally I feel like A only talked about the last paragraph where heritage vs new identity is explicitly mentioned, while the second paragraph isn't about "heritage" per say? (I agree with the new identity being the main topic for paragraph 2 as well but heritage not so sure unless heritage includes things like past, homeland, etc)

[Jeff Wren]

Hi lsater,

Answer D is wrong for a few reasons.

First, perhaps most importantly, the key relation of Lum's poetry to that of other Asian American poets is how his poetry differs from theirs, not how it is similar to theirs.

This is discussed in the first paragraph. The paragraph begins by describing what is typical or "generally characterizable" (lines 2-3) of Asian American poetry from Hawaii. The paragraph then mentions how Lum's poetry is "striking for its demand to be understood on its own terms" (lines 8-9). What is striking is how Lum's poetry is different from/unusual for other Asian American poetry from Hawaii. The paragraph then describes features of Lum's poetry to contrast it to other Asian American poetry from Hawaii. In other words, the passage shows how Lum's poetry is different/unique.

Answer A perfectly captures this difference, stating that Lum's poetry "departs from other Asian American poetry from Hawaii" (my emphasis).

Answer D, on the other hand, not only misses this critical contrast between Lum and other Asian American poetry from Hawaii, it actually focuses on a similarity between Lum and other Asian American poets from Hawaii. While it is mentioned in the passage (as you correctly pointed out) that the cultural experience of Asian Americans in Hawaii is different than the cultural experience of mainland Asian Americans, this is not the focus/main point of the passage. It is just a detail.

I'd also like to address a comment that you made about Answer A, as you may have misunderstood the use of the word "author." Just to be clear, the "author's heritage" in Answer A is not referring to the author of the passage (of whom we know nothing about as far as heritage, for example). It is referring to Lum, the author of the poetry, who we do know is of Chinese American heritage as discussed in the passage. The subject of the sentence in Answer A is "the poetry of Lum" so "its author's heritage" refers to the author of the poetry of Lum, i.e. Lum himself.