Reading comp PrepTest 122 · Section 3 · Question 7

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

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

Credited answer: A

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Reiterate the main point as we summarized it after reading through the passage, then find the answer that captures the topic and suggests this main point

Answer Anticipation

For these title-based Main Point questions, we want to review two things. First, the main point as we summarized it. Second, the central topic of the passage, which should be reflected in the main point. In focusing on the central topic, we should be able to identify what the title should reference - and, implicitly, what it shouldn’t. The latter is important as many wrong answers in this question type deal with topics that were raised in the passage but weren’t central to the argument.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.But how did the Author get there? She brought up “centers of style” as an alternative focus for studying African sculpture, focusing on one family that is involved in trading with various groups - the Konate of Burkina Faso, in Paragraph 2. Since this example supporting a generalization about “centers of style” serves as the proof for the Author’s main point and is a central topic in the passage, it will likely factor into the answer here.

Answer choices

  1. A
    African Centers of Style: Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) This answer addresses the main topic of the passage as well as hinting at the main point. The Author uses the information about “centers of style” to call into question the Old Approach being used by art historians to study African art. She ends up concluding that this approach isn’t the most appropriate or accurate one, making recommendations on how to shift focus to something more accurate, which is certainly an implication of “centers of style” on that old approach. This answer is therefore correct.

  2. B
    African Art Redefined: The Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 33-34) Mention of the Konate creating sculptures for the tourist trade is a minor point in the passage, so this answer is too limited to capture the passage as a whole.

  3. C
    Characteristics of African Sculpture: Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Line 42) This answer reflects the list of similarities between all the sculptures done by the Konate, but that wasn’t a focus of the passage. This answer also misses the difference in these sculptures based on the groups for which they were being created.

  4. D
    Style Versus Technique: The Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 47-49) While the Author argues that historians of African art should shift how they approach classifying/studying sculpture, she doesn’t argue against the historians themselves!

  5. E
    Konaté Sculptors: Pioneers of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 31) First, the passage notes that the Konate are an example of a center of style, and that they have a “long tradition” of sculpture tradition for surrounding groups - but that’s not the same as saying they’re “pioneers.” To support that, there’d need to be information supporting them being the first to do this. Second, the Konate were an example brought up by the Author to support a generalization about centers of style, which itself was used to criticize an approach used by historians to study African sculpture. That makes the Konate support for the support for the main point, whereas this answer makes it seem as if the passage is about them.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 83%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 9%
  5. E 1%

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