Reading comp PrepTest 126 · Section 2 · Question 21

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Critics' view on Kingston (uninfluenced by Chinese literature) and the author's rebuttal (overlook her connection to "talk-story")
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Critics's view:
    • Maxine Hong Kingston's works are truly innovative, with no precedent in Chinese literature (first sentence)
  • Author's view:
    • The critics just look at written works and thus overlook her work's connection to the Chinese tradition of "talk-story" (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "overlooked" (last sentence); "highly developed" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Background of talk-story (old, maintained by families, immigrants embraced Western subjects/discourse)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • Chinese immigrants in the U.S. adapted the talk-story, including new subject matter and forms of Western discourse (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "continually revitalized" (second sentence); "fully established, sophisticated oral culture, already ancient and capable of producing masterpieces" (third sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Kingston's views (oral storyteller, uses "thematic" memory, stories grow and change beyond print)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Kingston's views:
    • Sees herself as part of a long lineage of oral storytellers working in the talk-story tradition; her stories can change and grow even if a moment of their development is captured in written text (first and last sentence)
  • Comparison, according to Kingston:
    • Draws a distinction between "thematic" memory (picks and rearranges the most important parts of remembered stories) and "print-oriented" memory (emphasizes the precise order of events) (second sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Example of Kingston's use of the talk-story tradition (China Men, which uses elements of that tradition and imbues English with Chinese)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Example of Kingston's use of the talk-story tradition, according to the author:
    • China Men, which uses elements that are common to the talk-story genre and oral tradition and takes idiomatic English and gives it Chinese language characteristics (first through last sentences)
  • List of oral culture/talk-story elements in China Men:
    • A "grammar" of repetitive themes, stock characters, symmetry/balanced oppositions; repetition (first sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "evidence" (first sentence); "typical of that genre and common to most oral cultures" (first sentence); "succeeds" (last sentence); "allusive texture" (last sentence); "rich in aural and visual puns" (last sentence)

Main Point: While critics believe that Kingston's works were produced outside of the Chinese literary tradition, her works are produced within the Chinese talk-story tradition.

Correcting the Record: This passage utilizes a Correcting the Record Meta-Structure.* In a Correcting the Record passage, the author will describe at least one common misconception or false belief. The author will then explain why the beliefs are false and occasionally offer an alternative belief.

This passage certainly fits that mold. The passage opens with some critics claiming that Kingston was a completely innovative artist, producing her works "ex nihilo" (literally meaning "from nothing," but the contextual definition of "lack[ing] ... direct literary antecedents" will help you deduce its meaning in this context). The author then corrects that view, showing how Kingston's work belongs to the "long Chinese tradition of a highly developed genre of song and spoken narrative known as 'talk-story'" (P1, S2). The author spends the rest of the passage providing background info on that tradition, relaying Kingston's statements on her place within that tradition, and showing how one of Kingston's works exemplifies her connection to the genre.

In a Correcting the Record passage, the main point is often the author's explanation of why the misconception is false (or just an assertion that the misconceptions are false). Alternatively, if the author provides an alternative belief or approach, the main point is the author's opinion about that belief or approach. The latter description applies to this passage because the author argues that Kingston's works are connected to the talk-story tradition. The author summarizes their opinion on this alternative approach at the end of the first paragraph, so we use that to help us understand and articulate the passage's main point. We can also frame that sentiment as a response to critics, which we did in our summary of the main point.

*As is the case with many passages that fall under the Critical Meta-Structure umbrella, we could use a few different Meta-Structures from that family to describe this passage. We could certainly call this a Rebutting Critics or Criticizing a Viewpoint passage and come away with a solid understanding of the passage's organization and main point.

Example: An entire paragraph is dedicated to an example of how Kingston's writing style/form relates to the talk-story tradition. That makes the example the most prominent minor Meta-Structure. Let's expect at least one question — most likely a Minor Point or Argument Structure question — about the China Men example.

We're going to rely heavily on the purpose of each paragraph to help us find information, as each one has a clear purpose and topic distinct from the others. Focusing on the role of each paragraph when they are this distinct in their purpose is a great way to tackle questions efficiently!