PrepTest 158, Section 1, Question 11
Native American stories often feature a character called(472 more words not shown)
Based on the passage, the(27 more words not shown)
- AIt has systematically(7 more words not shown)
- BIts use of(13 more words not shown)
- CIts reading of(13 more words not shown)
- DIt reflects an(10 more words not shown)
- EIt bases its(8 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The criticism in the opening applies “trickster” to the picaro. Our author objects because that label captures some common features but overlooks the different purposes of the stories.
What we’re looking for
So the criticism misses something important. That doesn't mean it has no basis at all, or that the critics are deliberately insulting Native American traditions. The right answer needs the author's actual objection, not just a negative tone.
Working the answers
- A
“Systematically denigrated” turns a problem with classification into a sweeping accusation of disparaging Native American traditions. The author doesn't make that accusation.
- B
“Nothing to do with” ignores the similarities explicitly listed in the opening: episodic adventures, moral flaws, and life on society's periphery. The objection is that those similarities don't tell the whole story.
- C
The issue isn't that the critics give conflicting readings of the two traditions. They apply one label too broadly and miss differences between the characters' functions. This answer describes a different problem.
- D
We aren't told what the critics were trying to accomplish with the term. And the author's assessment is that their usage obscures important distinctions, not that it achieves precision.
- ECorrect
A fuller understanding of trickster stories includes their moral teaching through the character's own failings. Overlooking that role makes the comparison to the satirical picaro seem more fitting than it is. That's the incomplete understanding the author identifies.
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