Reading comp PrepTest 102 · Section 1 · Question 19

Passage

Questions 14-21  .        Even in the midst of its resurgence as a vital  . tradition, many sociologists have viewed Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Proponents of Pan-Indianism view (intertribal tendencies at powwows will lead to the dissolution of tribes)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definition of "Pan-Indian" theory: a belief of many sociologists that the intertribal aspects of the revived powwow are an indication that tribal culture is declining (first sentence)
    • "Pan-Indian" theory proponents' view:
      • They argue that growing intertribalism will result in the assimilation of Native Americans into Euroamerican society (second sentence)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to "Pan-Indian" theory proponents:
      • Greater frequency of travel and communication between reservations, greater urbanization, and increasing politicization in response to common grievances cause greater intertribal tendency (third sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "resurgence as a vital tradition" (first sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's rebuttal (intertribalism is increasing, but so is a revival of tribal traditions)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Intertribalism is increasing, as indicated by shared dance styles, outfits, and songs between reservations (first sentence)
      • But tribe-specific rituals are also being revived (second sentence)
      • Pan-Indianism doesn't account for everything taking place in Native American societies (last sentence)
    • Examples of tribe-specific rituals being revived, according to the author:
      • Lakota "Sun Dance," Society of the Kiowa, and the Hethuska Society of the Ponca (third and fourth sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "compelling evidence" (first sentence); "failed to note" (second sentence); "Obviously, a more complex societal shift is taking place" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author on mistaken assumption behind Pan-Indian theory (minority society immediately assimilates to majority society)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Pan-Indianism is predicated on the theory that, upon contact, minority culture will subordinate itself biologically, linguistically, and culturally, to majority culture (second sentence)
      • Native Americans disagree that this is happening (first sentence)
      • There is no evidence this is happening in Native American cultures (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "may be critical" (first sentence); "especially given that" (first sentence); "chafe most" (first sentence); "a priori assumption" (second sentence); "there is no evidence" (third sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's concession (intertribalism is a major aspect of Native American culture)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's concession:
      • Intertribal activities are a major part of Native American culture (first sentence)
      • It's important to note the intentional distinction that Native Americans make between intertribal and tribal activities (last sentence)
    • Examples of intertribal activities, according to the author:
      • The dances, prayers, and speeches at powwows that are intertribal are consciously distinguished from traditional ones (second and third sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "major facet" (first sentence); "of course, old news" (fourth sentence); "important to note" (last sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's reconciliation (tribalism and intertribalism serve complementary functions)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's reconciliation:
      • Tribalism and intertribalism are complementary, as tribalism reinforces tribal identity while intertribalism reinforces Native American identity across a pan-tribal front where it is threatened by majority culture (first and second sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "greatly altered" (first sentence); "remains a potent force" (first sentence); "basis for tribal identity" (first sentence); "reinforce native American identity along a broader front" (last sentence)

Main Point: Far from losing their tribal identity to Pan-Indianism, Native American cultures are experiencing a rise of tribalism, which strengthens tribal identity, and intertribalism, a complementary force that builds cross-tribe solidarity against outside influences.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 (P1, S2) - Pan-Indian theory introduced

P2, S2 - Author's rebuttal to Pan-Indian theory

P4, S1 - Intertribalism is a major force

P5, S1-2 - Reconciliation of tribalism and intertribalism

Meta-Structure?

Resolving a Debate: This passage tows the line between a Resolving a Debate and a Correcting the Record passage.* You could go with either, and your understanding of the passage would be solid. However, because the author's act of reconciliation was so apparent in how the author resolves the differences between tribalism and intertribalism in the last paragraph, we felt that Resolving a Debate was the best fit for this passage.

This passage presents two competing trends among the Native Americans: the rise of intertribal activities (and the accompanying belief among "Pan-Indian" theorists who think this portends the end of tribes) and the revitalization of tribal traditions (among Native Americans who chafe at the "Pan-Indian" theory). The author ultimately resolves this "debate," arguing that intertribalism and tribalism serve complementary roles in Native American culture. This reconciliation ultimately rebuts the fears of "Pan-Indian" theorists (which is why some people will see this as a Correcting the Record passage).

In a Resolving a Debate passage, the main point is generally the author's opinion on the debate. Often, the author summarizes their opinion in one or two sentences. Here, the author provides this summary in the last paragraph, so we can use that to assess the Main Point answer choices. But just to make sure our bases are covered, we also anticipated a version of the main point that incorporates the author's rebuttal of the "Pan-Indian" theory.

*You could also call this a Criticizing a Viewpoint, Rebutting Critics or even a Old Approach/New Approach passage instead of a Correcting the Record passage.

Last Thoughts?

This passage is heavy on the author’s attitude and relatively light on the minor Meta-Structures. Therefore, we should expect more Major Point, Tone, and Argument Structure questions than usual and fewer Minor Point and Application questions than usual.

Question prompt

With which one of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Question Type

Social Science

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

This is yet another question that asks us about the author's view but doesn't provide any insight into the topic of the correct answer or where the supporting information might show up in the passage. This means the correct answer is likely to relate back to the author's main point. As such, we'll need to rely on our big-picture understanding of the passage to answer this question. We should start by reminding ourselves of the main point (either by reviewing what we said after reading the passage or by rereading our answer to the main point question). We can also review any notes about the author's attitude or any text we highlighted because it expresses the author's opinion. After doing that, we can head to the answer choices, tabling those that don't line up with the main point. For those answer choices that conform to the author's main point, we'll use our notes and the passage to see if it's correct.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The resurgence of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Is this answer choice consistent with the author's main point or what we reviewed of the author's attitude?

    No. We can't find any reference to Native American customs' impact on "Euroamerican society" in the main point, our notes, or any of the author's tonal phrases. Therefore, we can eliminate — or at least table — this answer choice without checking the passage.

    If we had to check the passage to eliminate (A), we wouldn't find any suggestion that Native American customs have an influence of Euroamerican society. The author points out that Pan-Indianists believe Euroamerican society will eventually swallow Native American society (P1, S1-S3; P3, S2). But no one claims that Native American society has an influence over Euroamerican society through the powwow or any other practices.

  2. B
    Although native American draw Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Is this answer choice consistent with the author's main point or what we reviewed of the author's attitude?

    No. This contradicts the author's main point, which holds that tribalism and intertribalism function differently: tribalism enhances tribal identity while intertribalism enhances Native American identity against a broader front of majority cultural encroachment (P5, S1-2). So, the author would definitely not agree with this answer choice.

  3. C
    Without intertribal activities, it Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) Is this answer choice consistent with the author's main point or what we reviewed of the author's attitude?

    Yes, this is consistent with the author's main point — especially the part expressed in the passage's last sentence. There, the author says that intertribalism reinforces Native American culture along "a broader front, where this identity is directly threatened by outside influences" (P5, S2). Pan-Indian theorists predict the "complete assimilation of native Americans into Euroamerican society" (P1, S2), so it's implied that these "outside influences" are Euroamerican societal influences. So, we can infer the author believes that intertribal activities help Native Americans retain a sense of identity to oppose cultural encroachment by Euroamerican society.

    This answer choice says that, without intertribalism, it would be more difficult for Native Americans to maintain their distinctive culture in the face of Euroamerican influences. This is another way of saying what we've figured out from the passage's last sentence.

    So, we can be quite confident the author would agree with (C). However, because the author never explicitly states this claim, most test-takers would opt to review the last two answer choices before making their selection.

  4. D
    The powwow was recently Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Is this answer choice consistent with the author's main point or what we reviewed of the author's attitude?

    Our note for the second paragraph ("Author's rebuttal (intertribalism is increasing, but so is a revival of tribal traditions)") suggests that powwows may have been recently revived. The main point and our note for the fourth paragraph ("Author's reconciliation (tribalism and intertribalism serve complementary functions)") suggest that this revival could have been done to strengthen Native American identity. So, it makes sense that many test-takers are drawn to this answer choice.

    But before selecting it, we need to check the passage to verify that it's supported. After all, neither our notes nor the main point confirm that the author would agree with this choice. Upon review, we'll see that this answer choice is not supported. Although the author says the powwow has experienced a "resurgence" (P1, S1), the author never explains why. Although activities like powwows may strengthen Native American identity, that doesn't mean this is why powwows were brought back. So, we can't say the author would agree with this answer choice.

  5. E
    The degree of urbanization, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Is this answer choice consistent with the author's main point or what we reviewed of the author's attitude?

    Well, our main point confirms that the author disagrees with the Pan-Indian theorists. And our note for the third paragraph ("Author on mistaken assumption behind Pan-Indian theory (minority society immediately assimilates to majority society)") suggests that the author may agree with (E). It's no surprise that many test-takers select this answer choice.

    But before selecting it, we need to review the passage to confirm that it's supported. And reviewing the passage would confirm that (E) is not supported. Although the Pan-Indianists cite all of the elements in (E) as the chief causes of the growing intertribal tendencies of Native Americans (P1, S3), the author never claims that these tendencies have been exaggerated. In fact, the author says that "intertribal activities" like these are "a major facet of native American culture today" (P4, S1). That suggests the author might disagree with (E).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 13%
  3. C Credited 43%
  4. D 14%
  5. E 25%

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