Reading comp PrepTest 133 · Section 4 · Question 8

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Chopin influenced by sentimental novels (romantic language, only focused on marriage) and local colorists
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • List of influences on Chopin, according to the author:
    • Sentimental novels: Mid-19th century, romantic language, female characters only focused on courtship/marriage (second and third sentences)
    • Local colorists: group of women writers, influenced early writing (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Local colorists described (followed women into professional worlds, anthropological, mourned loss of domesticity)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • As women entered professional and political worlds in the 1870s and 1880s, the local colorists also entered and described these worlds (first and second sentences)
    • The local colorists were similar to anthropologists, as they observed regional life with scientific detachment (third sentence)
    • Later, the local colorists mourned the loss of "women's culture" (fourth sentence)
  • Examples of ways local colorists lamented the loss of women's culture, according to the author:
    • Described gardens as if they were paradises; houses became symbols of female nurturing (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Chopin combined local colorists’ detachment and sentimental novelists’ extreme emotions (Chopin told stories of loneliness, unlike LCs, but did so with LCs’ style)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • Unlike the local colorists, Chopin told stories of loneliness (first sentence)
    • Like the local colorists, Chopin used a scientifically detached style to avoid the excesses of the sentimental novelists (second sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "solve" (second sentence); "excesses of the sentimental novels" (second sentence); "could tell rather shocking or even melodramatic tales in an uninflected manner" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Chopin influenced by New Women (more ambitious and impressionistic, explored dreams and psychology)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • Unlike the local colorists, Chopin wasn't nostalgic for women's culture (first sentence)
    • The New Women movement was more ambitious and experimental (and produced less "crisply plotted" stories) than the local colorists (second through fourth sentences)
    • The New Women movement took elements from sentimental novels but added fantasy and parable (third sentence)
    • The Awakening was more fully impressionistic than the New Women movement (last sentence)
  • Example of the New Women movement's influence on Chopin:
    • The Awakening, which was more fully impressionistic and psychological (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "more ambitious models" (first sentence); "freedom and innovation" (second sentence); "crisply plotted" (fourth sentence); "experimented" (fourth sentence); "effort to explore hitherto unrecorded aspects of female consciousness" (fourth sentence); "more fully" (last sentence); "sustained focus on faithfully rendering the workings of the protagonist's mind" (last sentence)

Main Point: Kate Chopin was at first influenced by sentimental novels and the local colorists before adopting the innovative methods of the New Women writers, as exemplified by her impressionistic novel The Awakening.

Old Approach/New Approach: This passage best fits the Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure. Technically, since three approaches are described, we can say this passage employs an Old Approach/New Approach/Newer Approach Meta-Structure.* The passage first describes sentimental novels, a writing approach that produced romanticized stories about marriage and courtship. The next approach was that used by the local colorists, who followed women into the professional world, writing stories about regional life with scientific detachment — and later, mourning the loss of domesticity. The New Women's movement adopted the "newest" approach. They adapted the sentimental novel to tell experimental and impressionist stories about women's psychology. Each approach at some point influenced Kate Chopin.

In an Old Approach/New Approach passage, the main point is generally the author’s opinion on the new approach. The author ultimately concludes that the New Women’s approach influenced Kate Chopin's writing — particularly for her novel The Awakening — so we made that idea the crux of our main point.

*We could instead call this an Innovative [Subject] passage since Chopin ultimately takes influence from an innovative, ambitious movement. Or, since the author's attitude is mostly absent from this passage, we could call this a Reporting a Viewpoint passage. After all, the author is mostly parroting the view held by Chopin and other writers.

Comparisons: As with many passages that deal with different approaches, this passage features many comparisons between those influences. We should be sure to highlight or underline these minor Meta-Structures, as the LSAT will be sure to ask about them. If memorizing a few facts isn't too burdensome for you, we can also save some time by memorizing a few basic facts about each approach:

• Sentimental novels: Romantic language; women focus on marriage/social positions
• Local color: Detached/scientific view; regional life and new openings for women; grew sentimental for past
• New Women: Free and innovative; impressionistic style

There's one detail that would be easy to miss, but we should always be seeing how these styles influence each other. Here, it's noted that the New Women were themselves influenced by the sentimental novels (P4, S3), modifying their form for their own purposes. There's a good chance this detail will show up in a question.