#7 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi LSAT,

The key is the word "literature" in answer choice (D). Passage B discusses biography and autobiography. That is different than historical novels or other literature. We can't choose answer choice (D) because we don't know how the author of Passage B would feel about lies in literature. It's a genre not discussed in that passage at all.

Hope that helps!

[kypolish]

I was thrown off of selecting (C) because of its use of "essential." Like flexbubbleboi, I also interpreted "all but inescapable" to mean that lying is escapable. With this double negative and confusing language, how are we supposed to correctly interpret the author's intentions? When reading this, I analyzed the sentence to try to understand the meaning so I could come to the right answer; however, doing so led me to the incorrect answer and I selected (E) after deciding between (C) (D) and (E). How do you know when you should and should not analyze the grammatical meaning of a sentence, especially considering there are often confusing double negatives in answer choices? Could someone also provide further explanation as to why D is incorrect?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

HI Kypolish,

It can be hard to parse some of these answer choices and all the language in the passage. Let's go through each of the choices slowly and carefully, and see where they match. For the answer choice to be correct, it has to be something that we know is a central idea in BOTH passages. If one does not address it, it cannot be correct.

Answer choice (C) is correct because both passages focus on falsehood in the relevant genres. In Passage A, the genre is historical novels. They depict past events, and the author of Passage A believes that purposeful lies are necessary to advance a story. We see the phrase "good narrative requires the telling of lies" in Passage A. In Passage B, the author acknowledges that some of his memory is false, however, he still includes it in the autobiography because they are essential to showing his emotions.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because Passage B does not discuss literature, but instead autobiography.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because Passage A does not discuss the ethics of lying, but instead discusses practical considerations. It only is concerned if the reader finds the lies alienating.

Hope that helps!

[lsatin2024]

Hello,

I have a general question regarding this question and the first question in the next passage of this test for a similar reason, which I can post there if need be. As Rachel even noted in her first response on this post, historical novels do not deal with real events (even if they are inspired by real time periods), and by definition, actually would not because novels are fictional in nature. However, getting the answer right requires ignoring this fact. Comparably, question 14 of the next passage includes the term "ocean" in its correct answer choice, yet there are no mentions of oceans in that passage, but only bays and bayous instead, which are certainly not oceans. Perhaps I am missing something, and these answers otherwise are better options than the rest, but these seem to be pretty obvious issues that the commonsense knowledge we are allowed to and are expected to bring into the test would identify. Additionally, for a test that has answers where one word could invalidate an answer choice and the test taker is expected to be precise with their reasoning, having these gaps can be frustrating. My question is do you have any advice on how to approach answers like these? I know this is late notice, but I have my first test in 4 days so any guidance would be appreciated! I feel good about it except for this question, and the PowerScore books certainly helped a lot!

Best.

[Dana D]

Hey Lsatin,

In regards to this question, the correct answer choice does not require you to ignore the fact that historical novels are not fiction. Both autobiographies and historical novels discuss real past events. Rachel's initial post said historical novels do not HAVE to include real events, and that is true, but sometimes they do. Something about a historical novel will be based in our real history - otherwise the book wouldn't fit in this genre! It would be fantasy or outright fiction. Something real has to be in historical fiction in order for you, the reader, to know it is about history - whether that is clues about the time era, real historical events referenced, or real historical figures in the story. You can bring the knowledge of historical fiction into the test and still accept the correct answer choice here.

Hope that helps!