PrepTest 103

[lcid:3511] Prep Test 103 LSAT — Reading Comp — S4 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 6-13  .        James Porter (1905–1970) was the first scholar to  . identify the African influence on visual art Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • James Porter researched and wrote about the African influence evident in the work of African American artists.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Porter was the first to identify the African influence on visual art in the Americas (first sentence)
    • Porter studied African American crafts of the 1700s and 1800s and found West African influences (third-fourth sentences)
    • Author’s attitude: “first scholar” (first sentence); “much of what is known” (first sentence); “research revealed” (third sentence); “linked them iconographically” (third sentence); “establish clearly” (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Porter published a book that was the first of its kind in 1943 tracing the African influences on African American art.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Part of Porter’s book showed that Robert S. Duncanson and Joshua Johnston, painters of the Hudson River School, were of African ancestry (first-third sentences)
    • Alain LeRoy Locke, a fellow professor, had written two other books by 1943 devoted to African American art, but his books didn’t trace African precursors like Porter’s did (fifth-seventh sentences)
    • Porter was careful in his own art to refer to the cultural history of African peoples (eighth sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “commonly thought” (second sentence); “proved definitively” (third sentence); “comprehensive volume” (fourth sentence); “only two other books” (fifth sentence); “neither addressed the critical issue” (seventh sentence); “painstakingly integrating” (seventh sentence); “especially attuned” (eighth sentence); “conscious effort” (eighth sentence); “extensive knowledge” (eighth sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Porter’s later accomplishments included tracing the biographical details of African American artists, revising his 1943 book, and making extensive notes for an unfinished work dealing with the influence of African art on the art of the Western world.
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Porter revised and expanded his 1943 book (first sentence)
    • Porter determined the birth year of painter Patrick Reason, and identified a grave in San Francisco as that of sculptor Edmonia Lewis (second sentence)
    • Porter left extensive notes for an unfinished work dealing with the influence of African art on the art of the Western world (third sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “constantly revising and correcting” (first sentence); “later achievements” (second sentence); “definitive reckoning” (second sentence); “extensive notes” (third sentence); “riches” (third sentence)

Main Point: Painter and historian James Porter pioneered the study of how African influences can be discerned in the work of African American artists.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1 S1) - Importance of James Porter’s work

P2 S7 - Why Porter’s work was groundbreaking

P3 S3 - Scope of unfinished work

Meta-Structure?

Innovative Subject: This passage uses an Innovative Subject Meta-Structure. The author introduces artist and art historian James Porter as the first scholar to trace the African influences evident in African American art. Porter’s work was groundbreaking because only one other academic had written about African American art at the time when Porter published his book on the subject, and Porter was the first scholar to write about African iconography in African American art. His later work laid the foundation for exploring how African art influenced Western art more generally.

The author’s perspective is evident throughout the passage. The author admires Porter’s work, innovative scholarship, and painstaking research. The author is also at pains to point out how Porter’s own artistic background played into his research and made the enterprise of documenting the lives of African American artists more personal (P2 S8, P3 S2).

Last Thoughts?

This passage makes an argument for the historical importance of a scholar’s work. There are no views presented in the passage to oppose the author’s perspective, and the strongest voice in the passage is the author’s. This fact makes understanding and tracing the argument made relatively straightforward; there are no nuances of viewpoint or argument to keep track of.

Question prompt

The discussion of Locke's Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the reference to Locke’s books in passage, consult notes, and choose an answer choice based on your understanding of that reference in the passage’s overall argument.

Answer Anticipation

This question asks us why the author inserted the discussion of Locke’s books into the second paragraph. Unless a detail conflicts with the paragraph's purpose, the author probably mentioned that detail to advance the paragraph's role. So reviewing the second paragraph’s role, which we hopefully wrote down in the notes on our scratch paper, will generally reveal why the author included that detail.In this case, the second paragraph is there to describe Porter’s work and to highlight its innovative quality by distinguishing it from the work of previous academics. Let’s look for this idea in the answer choices.

Answer choices

  1. A
    argue that Porter's book Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice accurately describe the author’s purpose in referring to Locke’s books in P2 S5-7?

    No. Indeed, the author says in P2 S7 that, while Locke’s studies were “interesting for being the first to survey the field,” Porter’s book addressed the “critical issue of African precursors,” so the author is contrasting Porter’s book with Locke’s books to show that it was different and groundbreaking in its own way, not that it depended on Locke’s scholarship.

  2. B
    highlight an important way Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) Does this answer choice accurately describe the author’s purpose in referring to Locke’s books in P2 S5-7?

    Yes. This answer choice is a good paraphrase of our anticipation, and captures the notion that the author is trying to get across in the passage, namely, that Porter’s work was unprecedented and new because it accomplished different things from previous work in the field (P2 S7, P1 S1).

  3. C
    suggest an explanation for Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice accurately describe the author’s purpose in referring to Locke’s books in P2 S5-7?

    No. The author never says or suggests that Porter’s book was little known outside academic circles. And even if it did, it’s unclear how the reference to Locke’s books would assist in making that point.

    Because it lacks support in the passage, this is not the right answer choice.

  4. D
    support the claim that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice accurately describe the author’s purpose in referring to Locke’s books in P2 S5-7?

    No. The author contends that Porter was the first to write about African influences in African American art (P2 S7), but not that he was the first to notice these influences. As far as we can tell, the passage doesn’t make the claim that Porter was the first to notice these influences.

    Because it lacks support in the passage, this is not the right answer choice.

  5. E
    argue that Locke's example Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice accurately describe the author’s purpose in referring to Locke’s books in P2 S5-7?

    No. The author does not state or hint that Locke’s books encouraged Porter to publish his own book. P2 S7 illuminates the relationship between Locke’s work and Porter’s work by pointing out the way in which the books differed, though both wrote about a similar subject. Porter’s book had a feature that Locke’s lacked, namely, documentation of the African influence evident in African American art (P2 S7). Nothing about this discussion suggests that Porter was encouraged by Locke’s example to publish his findings.

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