PrepTest 129, Section 4, Question 16
The following passages are adapted from critical essays(486 more words not shown)
Passage A(229 more words not shown)
Passage B(250 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ACather's fiction is(16 more words not shown)
- BMost commentators on(12 more words not shown)
- CCather intentionally avoided(14 more words not shown)
- DCather's impressionistic narratives(13 more words not shown)
- ECather rejected the(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted that B objects to judging Cather by the wrong standards. Her critics call features of her technique failures because they expect the structure and conventions of a realistic novel.
What we’re looking for
That prediction may need broader wording. What does the author recommend as a better way of approaching her fiction?
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This states the recommendation behind the criticism of the critics: focus on narrative rather than demand the formal characteristics of the realistic novel. It includes the first paragraph's proposed approach and explains why the second paragraph's complaints are misguided. Our initial prediction captured the problem; A captures the larger response to it.
- B
The author does say that critics mistake distinctive techniques for flaws. But “most commentators” goes beyond the evidence about her severest critics and others like them. It also leaves out the alternative critical approach that frames the discussion.
- C
Indirect psychological characterization is one relevant feature, not the whole point. B also discusses time, structure, focus, and endings in making the broader case for a different framework.
- D
Anticipating a later theory isn't the same as causing its development. B doesn't say Cather's work provided an important impetus for narratology.
- E
This narrows the discussion to portraying inner lives and loses the recommendation about critical method. It also doesn't explain the varied structural features B defends, such as unusual time and ambiguous conclusions.
More Main Point questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Main Point questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.