#2 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[mariahenain]

Question 2 states the correct answer choice is D, and i'm having trouble seeing why that is instead of B.

[Francis O'Rourke]

The correct answer for this question was answer choice (D). Evidence for this position can be found in lines 17 - 22 and in lines 39 - 42. The author states that Mexican American novels are often simple in structure. She continues in this paragraph to list two common themes that are present in novels written by Mexican Americans. So far the author has brushed aside the structural content of the novels and detailed common themes.

In the third paragraph, the author describes the relationship between the Mexican and Mexican-American literary communities. The former views the latter as mere "regional" writing with narrow concerns, but the author defends Mexican-American writing by stating that it contains "thematic richness."

From these two parts of the passage, we can reasonably infer that the author believes that Mexican-American literature's thematic content is more noteworthy than it's narrative structure.

Answer choice (B) states that Mexican-American literature's use of both Spanish and English is evidence that the genre is transitional. This is a rather negative view to take about the artistic output of a cultural group, so you should be wary of this answer immediately. Looking back at the text, the author describes the merits of the bilingual nature in the first paragraph, and does not speak about it again.

If you chose answer choice (B) you might have fallen victim to the shell game: The author describes the cultural transition that Mexican American writers have experienced and written about while creating a new identity in the United States, but she does not describe the literature itself as transitional.

[puppytiff]

I've made the same mistake by choosing B instead of D. I'm still not sure why B is wrong. It calls the bilingual nature of the writing an evidence of brief transitional period but didn't call the literature itself transitional.

[James Finch]

Hi Tiff,

Let's start with what answer choice (B) is saying: the bilingual nature of the works of Mexican-American authors is "evidence of a brief transitional period." Transitional to what? Only writing in English? Ceasing to be Mexican-American and becoming simply American? None of these questions can be affirmatively answered by the passage, which immediately makes this answer choice suspect.

Moreover, lines 45-50 point at this being an opposite answer, as they hint that the bilingual nature of the works are a conscious attempt to avoid cultural assimilation, and instead a crucial part of maintaining (ie not transitioning) a cultural identity.

Hope this clears things up!

[lsatprep1215]

Hi I want to ask what is the problem with answer A? From line 47-50 "Many Mexican American writers assert that rather than working to be absorbed into U.S. society, they are engaged in the process of creating a new identity" and Start from line 58 till the end "What results is an intermediate cultural borderland in which nostalgia and reality are combined in the service of forging a new identity", it seems to me it supports what answer A said: "one of their goals is to create a literary establishment in the U.S".

[Jeremy Press]

Hi lsatprep1215,

The problem with answer choice A is that the term "literary establishment" does not mean the same thing as the "new identity" references you found in the fourth paragraph. From lines 27-33, the author thinks the "literary establishment" is a dominant group of writers who "bestow[] or deny[]" literary "reputation and success in Mexico." When lines 49-50, and 61, talk about "creating a new identity" and "forging a new identity," they're talking about creating a certain kind of character, or person, who "inhabit a social and cultural milieu which is neither that of Mexico nor that of the U.S." So we cannot equate the "new identity" character (from the fourth paragraph) with the "literary establishment" (from the third paragraph).

I hope this helps!

Jeremy