Reading comp PrepTest 101 · Section 4 · Question 6

Passage

Questions 1-8  .        Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James are  . discussed by critics, there is a Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Debate on the quality of James' crime novels
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • The first side of the debate:
      • Critics who over-exaggerate James's merits as a writer (first sentence)
    • The second side of the debate:
      • Critics who find James's writing overly pretentious (first sentence)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • The general dichotomy between slightly dull "highbrow" novels and enjoyable "lowbrow" literature is at the root of the debate surrounding James's detective novels (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “exaggerate” (first sentence); "familiar, false opposition” (second sentence); "somehow" (second sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Elaborates on both sides of the debate
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • The first side of the debate (James's work is "high literature" ):
      • James uses meticulous character constructions, elaborate settings, and lots of abstractions (first sentence)
    • The second side of the debate (James's work is overly pretentious):
      • James creates tiresome works that abandon the conventions of the detective genre (second sentence)
    • Examples to support the second viewpoint:
      • Harriet Waugh and Philip Oakes' critiques (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "inverted snobbery" (second sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author: Recognizes the merits of each side of the debate
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • James's descriptive writing and characterization add "dignity and weight" to her works (first through third sentences)
      • But these narrative devices strongly distract from the plot and aren't always successfully deployed (fourth through fifth sentences)
    • Comparison of James's interests, according to the author:
      • James dedicates more attention to describing the patinas and aromas of a country kitchen than the plot (fourth sentence)
      • James is less interested in the detective elements of her novels than in describing her characters (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "certainly capable of strikingly good writing" (first sentence); "convincing histories and passions" (second sentence); "part of the pleasure of her books" (third sentence); "dignity and weight" (third sentence); "equally true" (fourth sentence); "frequently interfere" (fourth sentence); "can be shameless and thin" (fifth sentence), "often impossible" (fifth sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author: James may be losing interest in the detective novel and should abandon it
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Since James seems to feel increasingly constrained by the conventions of the detective genre, she should perhaps switch to general fiction writing (first through last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "However…" (first sentence) "there is no reason why" (first sentence); "conscious rebellion" (third sentence); "fashionable" (fourth sentence), "reprehensible" (fourth sentence), "perhaps the time has come" (last sentence)

Main Point: Because P.D. James's narrative style is constrained by the traditional conventions of the detective genre, she should migrate to writing general fiction.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - Introduction of both sides of the debate

P2, S1 - Rationale for the first side of the debate

P2, S1 - Rationale for the second side of the debate

P3, S3-4 - Author's stance

P4, S5:- Author's recommendation

Meta-Structure?

Resolving a Debate: In this passage, the author describes two opposing viewpoints before expressing their own opinion on the matter. The debate at hand involves P. D. James's unique approach to the detective genre. In the first paragraph, the author introduces the rival opinions: those who strongly believe in James's merits as an author of crime fiction and those who think that she strays too far from the genre's conventions (P1, S1). In the second paragraph, the author elaborates on each side's rationale for their points of view. Finally, in the third and fourth paragraphs, the author offers their opinion, suggesting a compromise between the two previously discussed points of view. This explanation — and subsequent resolution — of two opposing viewpoints strongly suggests a Resolving a Debate Meta-Structure.

In a Resolving a Debate Meta-Structure, the main point will be the author's opinion or mediation/reconciliation of the debate. The author helpfully offers the reconciliation in the fourth paragraph. We summarized this resolution as follows, "Because P.D. James's narrative style is constrained by the traditional conventions of the detective genre, she should migrate to writing general fiction."

Examples: The author uses examples at two different points in the passage to illustrate a specific viewpoint:

  • The author mentions the critics Harriet Waugh and Philip Oakes (P2, S3). These examples demonstrate the view that James's detective novels are overly pretentious and stray from the genre's conventions.
  • The author references the "patinas and aromas of a country kitchen [that] receive more loving attention than does the plot itself" and that James often makes it impossible to see how the detective arrives at the truth in her novels (P3, S4-5). These examples support the author's claim that James's descriptive, philosophical style interferes with the story in detective fiction.

As is the case with all our minor Meta-Structures, we should have these highlighted or underlined to help us locate them in the likely event that we get a question about them.

Last Thoughts?

Question prompt

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the main point, and use notes or highlighted/underlined text in the passage to recall the author's attitude, and find the answer that best reflects your understanding of the main point/author's attitude

Answer Anticipation

For Author's Attitude questions, the answer choices tend to fall into one of two categories: two-word answer choices or opinion + detail answer choices. The former generally capture only the direction (positive/negative/neutral) and strength of the author's opinion. The latter generally capture the direction and strength in one word, then fills in some details in the passage. This one falls into the opinion + detail camp.In this case, we can use our notes or what we highlighted/underlined to identify where the author expressed their opinion on traditional detective fiction. Where did the author express their opinion on this matter? Our note for the fourth paragraph is, "Author: James may be losing interest in the detective novel and should abandon it." We noted that the author opines about James's dissatisfaction with the conventions of the traditional detective novel in the fourth paragraph. So, the relevant text is probably in this paragraph.In that paragraph, the author says that James lost interest in following some conventions of the detective genre (P4, S2). As evidence, the author says that James made the solution to the crime ambiguous and distributed guilt to the murderer, victim, and bystanders (P4, S3). The author says that these are "rebellions" against detective-novel conventions (P4, S3), implying that a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person. So, the correct answer will probably reflect this idea.

Answer choices

  1. A
    concern for the weaknesses Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this say the author thinks a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person?

    No. For this reason, expert test-takers would eliminate this answer choice. They certainly wouldn't review the passage to see if they missed a reference to traditional detective novels' "concern for the weakness and doubts of the characters."

    Besides, we wouldn't find any support for this if we reviewed the entire passage. The author notes James's complex characters at several points in the passage (P2, S1; P3, S2). Presumably, James has concern for her characters' weaknesses and doubts. However, that doesn't mean that traditional detective novels typically express this concern.

  2. B
    transparent devices to advance Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this say the author thinks a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person?

    Nope. For that reason, experienced test-takers would eliminate (B). They wouldn't waste time reviewing the passage to see if they missed a reference to traditional detective novels' "transparent devices to advance the plot."

    Still, many test-takers select (B). This is probably because the author suggests that James's plot devices "can be shameless and thin" (P3, S5). This does imply that James's novels include transparent devices that advance the plot. However, the author does not think that James's novels exemplify the traditional detective novel. In fact, the author argues that her books betray her discomfort with the conventions of the prototypical detective novel. If James's novels are atypical, it's more likely that the classic detective novel does not feature transparent plot devices.

  3. C
    the attribution of intuition Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this say the author thinks a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person?

    Negative. Decisive test-takers would quickly cross (C) off without re-reading the passage to see if the author made any claims about intuitive detectives in traditional detective novels.

    If we had to review the passage to verify that (C) is incorrect, we'd see that James's detectives rely on intuition to solve crimes (P3, S5). Therefore, (C) is wrong for the same reason as (B). Even if James's novels feature intuitive detectives, that doesn't mean the archetypical detective novel features them. In fact, since the author and some critics suggest that James's detective novels are anomalous (P2, S2; P4, S2), it's far more likely that detectives in traditional detective novels do not rely as heavily on their intuition as they do in James's fiction.

  4. D
    the straightforward assignment of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Does this say the author thinks a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person?

    At last, yes! The "straightforward assignment of culpability" refers to the unambiguous attribution of guilt we anticipated. So, as long as we're familiar with the word "culpability" (responsibility, specifically in the context of criminal law), we could select (D) and move on to the next question.

    (If we're not familiar with the word "culpability," we could at least recognize that "straightforward assignment" matches "unambiguous" and "attribution" from our anticipation. We could acknowledge that (D) is probably correct and then assess (E). If we can confidently eliminate (E), we'd be able to select (D) with more certainty. We'd then dutifully look up the definition of "culpability" and try to commit it to memory. A more robust vocabulary will only help us on the LSAT and law school.)

  5. E
    attention to the concepts Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this say the author thinks a traditional detective novel has an unambiguous ending that attributes the guilt to just one person?

    Nope. Shrewd test-takers would eliminate (E) without reviewing the passage to see if the author said if traditional detective novels pay attention to morality and responsibility.

    If we felt the need to check the passage, we'd see that (once again) this answer choice attributes a feature of James's detective fiction to standard detective fiction. Some critics praise James's novels for the attention they pay to "morality" (P2, S1), and the author describes her recent novel's unique distribution of responsibility for a crime to multiple parties (P4, S3). However, the passage distinguishes James's novels from quintessential crime novels (P2, S2; P4, S2). So, it's far more likely that classic detective stories do not pay as much attention to morality or responsibility as James does.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 24%
  3. C 4%
  4. D Credited 64%
  5. E 3%

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Discussion

  • Why A? 1 reply

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