#8 - Storytelling appears to be a universal aspect of both

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (C)

Unlike many Must Be True question stimuli, this stimulus contains an argument, which is structured
as follows:

• Premise: Comparative study of traditional narratives from widely separated epochs and
  diverse cultures reveals common themes and story types.
  
  Conclusion: Storytelling appears to be a universal aspect of both past and present cultures.

Even though there are no clear conclusion indicators to help us identify the conclusion, the second
sentence in the stimulus describes the findings of a study, which typically function as evidence (or
premises) for the conclusion of the argument. Furthermore, you should notice that the first sentence
contains a broad statement, the specific support for which was presented in the second sentence.

The question stem asks us to identify a statement most supported by the evidence from the study
of traditional narratives. When prephrasing an answer to this question, ask yourself what did you
read in the stimulus, and what conclusion can you draw from the information regarding traditional
narratives? Since the author already provided us with a conclusion, the correct answer is likely to be
a variation on the same theme. It is also important to know exactly what the author said, and not to
generalize. Some of the incorrect answer choices will prey upon those who did not read the stimulus
closely and present information that is likely to be true, but is not necessarily provable by referring to
the stimulus.

Note that there is a difference between knowing what the author said, and remembering the
information in the stimulus verbatim. Although many Must Be True questions do test you on the
details, there is no need to remember, for instance, the specific examples of common themes or
common story types. As with Reading Comprehension questions, remembering such minutiae is
not as important as understanding the structure of the argument. As you attack the answer choices,
you can always return to the stimulus and quickly re-read the details to confirm your perceptions.
Furthermore, the question stem asks us to identify an inference based on the evidence regarding
traditional narratives, which is fairly general. The correct answer will likely be a more general,conclusionary statement that is not focused on the details that comprise such evidence.

Answer choice (A): The author never suggested that storytellers borrow themes from other cultures,
merely that such themes are shared across cultures and epochs. Clearly, if storytellers borrowed
themes from other cultures, this would be one possible cause for such similarities. However, since
many other factors can explain the findings of the study, this answer cannot be definitively proven by
referring to the facts stated in the stimulus.

Answer choice (B): Just because the author understands that narrative is a universal aspect of
human culture does not mean that the storytellers were conscious of that fact. This answer choice
is attractive because it restates the conclusion of the author’s argument, but contains a shift in the
perspective from the author’s to the storytellers’. Since such shifts appear frequently in incorrect
answers to Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions, avoiding them requires
careful reading of the stimulus and the answer choices.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. Since the study of narratives revealed
common themes and story types from a wide variety of cultures and epochs, clearly there are certain
concerns and interests that arise in all cultures.

Note the relatively abstract, general nature of this answer. It does not specify, for instance, why such
concerns and interests arise in all cultures—there can be multiple explanations for that phenomenon.
Also, this answer choice does not claim that all human concerns and interests arise in all of the
world’s cultures. Instead, only “certain” concerns and interests do. Words such as “certain” and
“some” provide a convenient way for test makers to qualify the scope of the correct Must Be True
answer so as to make it provable by the facts stated in the stimulus.

Answer choice (D): The stimulus contains no evidence for inferring the relative importance of
storytelling in ancient cultures versus modern cultures. Just because storytelling appears to be
universal in both types of cultures does not mean that it was equally important.

Answer choice (E): No mention was made of the “best way” to understand a culture, only that
cultures share certain common attributes. This Exaggerated Answer takes information from the
stimulus and attempts to make a broader statement that is not supported by the stimulus. Note also
that answers that use the phrase “best way” (or any synonymous phrase) are almost always incorrect
on LSAT questions.

[rachue]

Thanks for the detailed answer. Though I see that C is better than the others, I still don't understand completely why C is solid. I guess if I can see that C is better, that follows what the questions is asking, which choice "most supports"... still, I don't feel confident in C's wording.

Never in the second sentence about the study does it say that these certain human concerns and interests arise in ALL of the world's cultures, which would be necessary for C to be correct. It just says that there are similarities among "diverse cultures"... this could mean just 4 or 5 different cultures, on different continents, but not necessarily ALL of the world's cultures.

Am I flawed in my reasoning? Is there something I am still misunderstanding? Shouldn't the correct answer read more like "Certain human concerns and interests arise in MANY of the world's cultures"?

[Nikki Siclunov]

Note that in the first sentence, the author clearly states that "storytelling appears to be a universal aspect of both past and present cultures." Then he goes on to provide examples of certain human concerns and interests shared by diverse cultures and from widely separated epochs. Taken together, these two sentences do provide support for the inference that certain human concerns arise in all of the world's cultures. Furthermore, you are being asked to identify which of the following answers is most supported by the evidence cited above. By comparison, (C) is a much better answer than the other four, as none one of them is even remotely supported by the stimulus.

[rachue]

Ok, that does help. Thanks.

[lanereuden]

Okay but I did not consider the first sentence and the line about “ diverse cultures” together...
So in light of the fact I did not consider and probably will not remember to consider such things together moving forward, can I assume that for most strongly supported, as opposed to MBT, that I can make certain leaps with the language, e.g. “most” xyz strongly supports “ all” xyz?

[Claire Horan]

Hi Lanereuden,

No leaps are really required. I think what the earlier posters are getting at is that you need to focus on which answer is the BEST answer. In the other part of your question, you say you probably won't remember to read different parts of the stimulus together. Don't sell yourself short! You can learn to integrate different parts of a stimulus to better understand it as a whole—it just requires practice. And, since that kind of integration is an important skill on the LSAT, it's worth practicing!

[Katya W]

Hi, I didn’t think C fit the bill because the stimulus doesn’t define if the traditional narratives are concerns or interests. For all we know the stories could all be happy unicorn rainbow stories. That was what led me to ultimately believe C was wrong. I think making the assumption that the stories discuss both interests and concerns is not necessary.

What are the thoughts about that? Should I have assumed that because, generally, stories contain good and bad events and storylines, that the stories in the stimulus also do?

[Paul Marsh]

Hi Katya! It seems like you might be defining "concern" as something that is worrisome, but in the context of the stimulus "concern" just means "a matter of interest" (which is one of its common definitions). So another way to write (C) would be something like, "There are certain things that in all cultures are of some interest."

The second sentence of the stimulus says that different cultures from across epochs all have stories regarding "creation, tribal origins..." etc. Creation and tribal origins can be classified as "matters of interest", since those are things that certain people are interested in. Thus the stimulus supports the idea that certain human concerns and interests (e.g. the question of "where did we come from?") arise in all of the world's cultures.

You do not need to assume "that because, generally, stories contain good and bad events and storylines, that the stories in the stimulus also do". For Must be True questions like this, we don't want to assume anything beyond what is in the stimulus. But what is in the stimulus here is enough to support answer choice (C). Even if the stories are all "happy unicorn rainbow stories" - we know from the stimulus that some of those happy unicorn stories are creation myths. Since the stimulus supports the notion that the question of our creation is something that has interested people throughout all cultures, (C) is a good answer.

Hope that helps!

[cornflakes]

Hi Powerscore,

I was able to arrive at C through essentially eliminating the other 4 answers due to more obvious flaws. Before settling on C and moving forward, I encountered the same conundrum regarding "arise in ALL cultures" that a few students had. Looking back at the explanation provided, I do not agree with the assessment that we can combine the two sentences of the stimulus to arrive at the logical inference that the comparative study is discussing "all of the world's cultures" for this question due to the limitation imposed by the wording of the question stem. Here's why.

The question stem asks us to select an answer that is "most supported" by the "evidence cited above from the study of traditional narratives." By wording the the question in such a way, they are asking for an answer that is most substantiated by the premises offered - in this case the comparative study itself. While we are given the information about storytelling being "a universal aspect of past and present cultures", this information is the CONCLUSION of the argument. The question stem does not allow us to rely on the conclusion - it explicitly asks us to choose what we can derive from the evidence. Therefore, while I would agree with the idea that both sentences combined offer enough to logically infer that the information applies to "all world cultures", the comparative study alone does not do so.

Hence, the I believe C is right for the second reason provided - that we are looking for an answer that is "most supported." The comparative study supports that "certain human concerns and interests arise in a diverse array of cultures and widely separated epochs." Does this tell us definitively that these certain things arise in all of the world's cultures? Absolutely not. Does it most support the idea that these certain things COULD arise in all the worlds cultures, in comparison to the other answer choices provided? Absolutely. So, in my opinion, is not so much that we need to figure out a way to assume to this broad array must mean all cultures - its more so just taking it for what it is and analyzing it against the other choices that are given, which are substantiated little, if any, by the comparative study.

Would be interested to know what others think of my thought process here.

[Adam Tyson]

Agreed. The stimulus is insufficient to prove that all cultures past and present have storytelling, but it is the best supported answer of the bunch because the study apparently supports the claim that it appears to be so.