PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 8
Passage A The path a historical novelist has(486 more words not shown)
Passage A(209 more words not shown)
Passage B(285 more words not shown)
Passage A, unlike passage B,(6 more words not shown)
- Aexamining one particular(3 more words not shown)
- Bcriticizing the views(2 more words not shown)
- Cdescribing the author’s(5 more words not shown)
- Dciting a venerated(8 more words not shown)
- Esuggesting that the(6 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Keep the direction straight: we need something A does that B doesn't. A ends with Shakespeare, whose deliberate changes to history illustrate successful invention. B draws on the writer's own experience of remembering a life inaccurately.
Working the answers
- A
Shakespeare is an example, but A doesn't examine one of his works in depth. It briefly describes his practice of changing facts and combining characters. The words “in depth” ask for more than we receive.
- B
A distinguishes useful invention from mistakes and excessive distortion, but doesn't present and criticize opponents' views. A contrast between kinds of inaccuracy isn't automatically a debate with an opponent.
- C
This describes B. Its writer begins with personal experience of unreliable memories. A doesn't describe its writer's own work or memories, so the direction is reversed.
- DCorrect
A calls Shakespeare “a good model” and points to the meaningful, memorable drama his distortions create. That uses an admired writer's success to support the argument. B relies on personal experience without invoking a comparably established literary figure.
- E
Again, this points toward B, whose writer calls the position “unethical.” A discusses mistakes and inventions in terms of their effects on a story; it doesn't advance its argument by making that ethical criticism.
More Organization questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Organization questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.