Reading comp PrepTest 135 · Section 3 · Question 2

Passage

Questions 1-7  .        In the 1980s there was a proliferation of poetry  . collections, short stories, and novels published Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • 1980s trends in U.S. Latina writings (proliferation of poetry/short stories/novels, and three notable autobiographies)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of two 1980s trends in writings by Latina women in the U.S., according to the author:
      • 1980s: Lots of poetry, short stories, and novels (first sentence)
      • End of 1980s: Autobiography (3 examples) (last sentence)
    • List of notable autobiographies of Latina women in the U.S., according to the author:
      • Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Pasó Por Sus Labios by Cherríe Moraga; Getting Home Alive, by Aurora Levins Morales and Rosario Morales; and Borderlands/La Frontera, by Gloria Anzaldúa (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "proliferation" (first sentence); "notable" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • How the three autobiographies innovate (combine English and Spanish, mix genres to explore ethnicity, gender, and language)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • The three notable autobiographies innovate by mixing English and Spanish and by combining multiple genres (essays, poems, short stories, etc.) to explore the relationship between ethnicity, gender, and language (first through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "innovative at many levels" (first sentence); "confront" (second sentence); "manifests itself" (last sentence); "without, for the most part, giving preference" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Specific innovations in each autobiography (all use multiple genres and voices to express complex identities)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of specific innovations in each autobiography, according to the author:
      • Borderlands/La Frontera: personal and community history by mixing narrative and poetry (first sentence)
      • Loving in the War Years: Mixes genres; not chronological (political development) (second sentence)
      • Getting Home Alive: Even more innovative, mixes mom and daughter viewpoints (fourth through sixth sentences)
    • Author's view:
      • All autobiographies mix genres and voices to express the formation of their author's complex identity (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "departs even further from conventions" (fourth sentence); "may seem fragmentary and confusing, it is in fact a fully intentional and carefully designed experiment with literary structure" (sixth sentence); "employ multigeneric and multivocal forms to express the complexities inherent in the formation of their identities" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's conclusion (writers revolutionized autobiography to make it fit their voices and experiences)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • These autobiographies by Latina women in the U.S. revolutionized the genre to make a better vehicle to express their voices and experiences (first and last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "revolutionized" (first sentence); "redrawing the boundaries" (first sentence); "more amenable to teh expression of their own experience" (first sentence); "shown a strong determination" (last sentence)

Main Point: By mixing forms and genres, breaking with traditional timelines, and mixing multiple voices, the autobiographies published by Latina women at the end of the 1980s innovated within the genre and allowed the authors to fully capture their identities and experiences.

Meta-Structure?

Innovative Subject: This passage uses one of the most common major Meta-Structures for humanities passages — Innovative [Subject]. These humanities passages describe what is groundbreaking and unique about an artist, movement, or group of artists. The word "[Subject]" is just a placeholder for the artist, movement, or group of artists. This passage discusses three authors and their innovations in the autobiography genre. So, we can think of this as an Innovative Autobiographies or Innovative Autobiographers passage (or an Innovative Autobiografía passage, if you want to mix English and Spanish like these writers).

In Innovative [Subject] passages, the main point is generally the author's opinion on the innovation. The author really goes overboard with their praise for these autobiographies — especially in the fourth paragraph, where the author summarizes their opinion. We can use that paragraph as the main point whenever a question requires us to consider that main point. Alternatively, we can summarize the author's opinions for them. We elected to use the latter approach, including some of the specific innovations the author outlined in the third paragraph.

Last Thoughts?

Paragraph 3 is really long and detailed, so we should be sure to head back to check details as necessary when answering questions about the specific innovations in each autobiography.

Question prompt

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underlined to locate where the passage discusses the purpose of the autobiographies, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

Answer Anticipation

For questions that ask us to find a specific detail mentioned in the passage, quickly finding and reviewing that piece of information is paramount. That is why we make brief notes describing the role of each paragraph and highlight or underline definitions and the minor Meta-Structures — doing so helps us find the salient information efficiently and reliably. Once we review that part of the passage, we can look through the answer choices to see which one is best supported by what we reviewed. Here, the question asks about a "motivating factor" behind the autobiographers' innovations. Where did that show up in the passage? Our notes describe two purposes. Our note for the second paragraph suggests these innovations are meant "to explore ethnicity, gender, and language." Our note for the third paragraph suggests these innovations' purpose is "to express complex identities." We shouldn't waste time re-reading these paragraphs (especially the behemoth third paragraph), so let’s find an answer restating either of the purposes reflected in our notes.

Answer choices

  1. A
    the importance of chronological Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this say the purpose of these autobiographies is to explore ethnicity, gender, and language or to express the autobiographers' complex identities?

    Nope, so we can cross off (A). Besides, Moraga’s Loving in the War Years wasn’t written in chronological order (P3, S2), and the Morales' Getting Home Alive also sounds as if it wasn’t in chronological order (P3, S5-S6), so this answer doesn’t describe at least one of the provided examples.

  2. B
    those authors' stated intention Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this say the purpose of these autobiographies is to explore ethnicity, gender, and language or to express the autobiographers' complex identities?

    No. We can eliminate (B) without giving it further thought. Besides, from the list of genres mixed into the autobiographies, there’s at least one that is nonnarrative (take your pick of essays, journal entries, and poems, all of which certainly have nonnarrative characteristics) (P2, S3).

  3. C
    those authors' preference to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this say the purpose of these autobiographies is to explore ethnicity, gender, and language or to express the autobiographers' complex identities?

    Negative. So, we can cross off (C) without hesitation. Besides, overt political expression isn’t really mentioned in the passage. The closest mention of it is the closing line, but if anything, that suggests that these autobiographies were, in some way, a political expression (P4, S2).

  4. D
    the complexities of identity Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Does this say the purpose of these autobiographies is to explore ethnicity, gender, and language or to express the autobiographers' complex identities?

    Yes! And if we need textual confirmation, we can look at the final sentence of the third paragraph, which states that “these autobiographies” employed innovative forms to express the complexities of their identity formation (P3, S7). So, this answer is correct, and we can justifiably select it and advance to the following question.

  5. E
    those authors' judgment that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this say the purpose of these autobiographies is to explore ethnicity, gender, and language or to express the autobiographers' complex identities?

    Nope, so we can eliminate (E). Besides, this answer choice doesn't make much sense. These writers wrote autobiographies (not poetry), and autobiography is an inherently narrative medium, telling the narrative of one’s life.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 2%
  3. C 1%
  4. D Credited 91%
  5. E 1%

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