Reading comp PrepTest 122 · Section 3 · Question 10

Passage

Questions 7-13  .        Through the last half century, the techniques used  . by certain historians of African art for Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Trend in a profession; Criticism of it
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Trend - Historians of African art - Refine classification system - Tribal origin of sculpture
    • Critics - Oversimplification/falsification to say one style is limited to one tribe

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author argues for critics’ view - “Centers of style”
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Trade diffuses objects and styles
    • Not tribal, but “centers of style” that spread over areas
    • Family of artists trade to surrounding area - uniform style while incorporating elements of surrounding tribes
    • Confuses art historians

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Example of center of style/family - Ouri/Burkina Faso, Konate family
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Konate - Produces sculptures for 5 surrounding ethnic groups and tourist trade
    • 5 different styles (Example - Nuna vs. Ko masks), but also consistent in own style (proportion/composition/color/technique)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author recommendations
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Recommendation 1 - Start thinking about centers of style
    • Recommendation 2 (More important) - Stop trying to refine classification system and recognize artists work in different styles

Main Point: Because of the way centers of style and families of artists trade and distribute art through a region, historians of African art should be focused less on refining classification systems and more on understanding these centers of style and how sculptures are commissioned and distributed.

Key Lines?

Lines 1-4 - Trend in a profession

Lines 4-10 - Criticism of profession

Lines 11-19 - Argument for criticism (Author)

Lines 29-34 - Example of that argument

Lines 47-50 - Recommendation from Author

Lines 40-55 - Author’s “more important” recommendation

Meta-Structure?

Old Approach/New Approach - The passage kicks off with a description of the techniques used by historians of African art (Lines 1-4) before digging into criticism of that approach. The Author then implicitly sides with the critics by making an argument for their view in Paragraph 2. When an Author criticizes an approach, it’s likely that the passage is going to fall into an Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure, and the Author’s opinion of the new approach will serve as the main point. Here, that new approach is stated in Paragraph 4, where the Author recommends focusing less on refining classification systems based on “narrowly defined ethnic contexts” and instead focus on centers of style and distribution patterns for art. Since this is a Recommendation for a New Approach, it should serve as the central feature of our summarized main point, as it does above.

Generalization/Example - In Paragraph 2, the Author introduces the argument backing up the critics from Paragraph 1 (and thus implicitly siding with them). There, she states that trying to associate African sculptures based on certain characteristics to different tribes ignores how they’re created and distributed - created in centers of style and distributed to surrounding areas through trade. This generalization is then backed up in Paragraph 3 by the example of the Konate family in Ouri, Burkina Faso. When a passage so centrally features a generalization backed up by an example, that generalization should factor into the main point, as in our summary above.

Comparisons - Paragraph 3 includes a discussion of similarities and differences in Konate sculptures that are done for different clients in the surrounding region. While there are subtle differences in details (Lines 34-39) - so subtle that few people from outside the region can recognize them (Lines 44-46) - they all also have some consistent elements (listed in Lines 41-42).

List - There’s a limited list in Lines 41-42 of elements that are similar across all work done by the Konate sculptors. Since it’s so limited, we should expect at most a question about it.

Last Thoughts?

Noting the shift in perspective from the critics to the Author, who largely sides with the critics, will be key here to assessing the main point and answer choices. After all, if you attributed the substantial argument to the critics instead of the Author, that would throw the main point, Meta-Structures, and Author’s attitude off!

Question prompt

The author's primary purpose Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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 any primary Meta-Structures, then find an answer that captures the latter while referencing details of the former

Answer Anticipation

These primary purpose-style questions are where we derived our Meta-Structures from, so we should have already thought through the basis for this question.While reading through the passage and immediately after, we identified two primary Meta-Structures, with one supporting the other.The Author highlighted the approach used by a group to study something - art historians use a tribal classification system to study African sculpture (Lines 1-4). According to critics and the Author, however, this is a flawed system (Lines 4-10; 14-15). According to the Author, art historians “should ask” different questions in their study of this sculpture, which suggests a New Approach to the question. This is backed up by a Generalization about how African art is created and distributed - it’s done at centers of style that trade and distribute their work throughout a wider geographic region, often including several tribal and ethnic groups (Lines 15-21). This is illustrated by the example of the Konate family.So, to sum it up, the Author argues against an old approach to studying African sculpture and for a New Approach by supporting a Generalization as to why the old style is inaccurate (and the new style would be more accurate) with an Example. The former is more important for the correct answer here to capture than the latter since the latter supports the former, but we can be on the lookout for answers that reference both!

Answer choices

  1. A
    classify a set of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) If this were the primary purpose of the passage, then we’d need to know what classifications the Author considers to be appropriate. While she does reference what considerations should be made in such a classification system, she doesn’t propose a specific system or set of classifications, so this answer misses the mark.

  2. B
    provide evidence that the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) This is a tempting answer because it does sound as if it lines up with the Author’s viewpoint. However, the Author’s main point here is that one approach is flawed, while another is better. If the Author just pointed out that certain elements of a particular group of works have been misclassified, that doesn’t mean the classification system is wrong. This answer is more appropriate in a passage where the Author believes the classification system is right, but some of the applications of it are wrong. To use an example, think about a passage where TV critics lay out a system for determining if TV shows are good or bad. The Author could argue that the system is fine while providing evidence that some of the shows the critics claim are “good” have been misclassified. This answer would describe that passage while not being analogous to the argument made here!

  3. C
    explain the principles used Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) The Author criticizes the art historians' approach and recommends (“should”) a better one. This answer doesn’t capture this argument, instead using a neutral verb (“explain”) to describe the Author’s primary purpose. This answer more appropriately explains the role of Lines 1-4 than the whole passage!

  4. D
    reveal the underlying assumptions Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Another tempting answer, and it even references a “traditional approach,” lining up with our primary Meta-Structure! However, the Author clearly believes that the approach used by historians here is wrong, not just that it’s based on assumptions. While an approach based on assumptions can be wrong, it also might not be, as those assumptions might prove to be correct! For instance, we can point out the assumptions made in the theory of gravity while still believing it to be true!

  5. E
    argue that a particular Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) (Lines 50-53) This answer captures the Author’s criticism of the traditional approach well, which served as a central feature of her argument. While you should have hesitated for a second because it doesn’t seem to reference the recommendations from Paragraph 4, you should have looked back there to see if that assessment was correct. In doing so, you could see that the Author’s “more important” recommendation was to stop using a classification system based on tribal sub/styles - in other words, to abandon the old approach. This answer captures that “more important” recommendation, so it captures the primary purpose of the passage.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B 4%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 5%
  5. E Credited 85%

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