PrepTest 138

[lcid:3648] Prep Test 138 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 1-7  .        The corrido , a type of narrative folk song, comes  . from a region half in Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Corridos' subject matter (border-specific issues to commemorate and bring the community together)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definition of "corrido": a narrative folk song with roots in 18th-c. Spanish ballads, flourished from 1836 to late 1930 in border community called Lower Rio Grande Border (first and second sentences)
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • All corridos have the same subject matter (border-specific issues) and contain the same generic elements (third and fifth sentences)
    • Example of a corrido with a border-specific issue, according to the author:
      • "El Corrido de Kiansis," which commemorated the first cattle drives to Kansas in the 1860s (fourth sentence)
    • Author's view on the purpose of corridos:
      • Corridos commemorated local events and helped bring the border community together (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "more importantly" (last sentence); "served to affirm the cohesiveness" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Corridos' language (simple, few embellishments, everyday images in metaphor when used)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Examples of simple metaphors in corridos, according to the author:
      • Thunderstorm as a metaphor for a fight in "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez" and "El Corrido de Kiansis" (third and fourth sentences)
    • Author's view on the purpose of simple language:
      • Language is simple and the imagery is conventional and recognizable, which reflects the continuity of the corrido tradition (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "simply and swiftly, without embellishments" (first sentence); "highly conventional and readily recognizable" (last sentence); "reflects and strengthens the continuity of the corrido tradition" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Corridos' ready-made lines (despedida, closing verse with repeated lines)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • The conventional lines that appear in many corridos is most readily illustrated by the despedida, the formal closing verse with conventional first and third lines (first, second, fourth through last sentences)
    • Example of despedida, according to the author:
      • Closing lines in one version of "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez" (third sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "travel easily" (first sentence); "most evident" (second sentence); "perhaps the clearest marker" (last sentence)

Main Point: By using familiar images, lines, and experiences, corridos strengthened and created continuity in border communities from around 1836 to the 1930s.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 6 (P1, S6) - Purpose of corridos is summarized

P2, S5- The scope and purpose of imagery in corridos is summarized

P1, S6 - The scope and purpose of repeated lines is summarized

Meta-Structure?

Importance of Subject - This passage utilizes an Importance of [Subject] Meta-Structure (in this case, Importance of the Corrido or Importance of a Tradition). A number of humanities passages explore a tradition, looking at its influences, its purpose, and its legacy. In this case, the author explores how corridos' purpose, subject matter, and composition made them important to border communities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In an Importance of Subject passage, the main point is generally the author's opinions on why the subject was important. To anticipate this main point, we can look for whether the author provides a conclusion that summarizes this opinion. But if the author doesn't provide such a conclusion, we'll have to summarize the author's opinions ourselves. In this case, the author provided a conclusion at the end of the first paragraph (P1, S6). But we also decided to anticipate a slightly more specific version of this statement, just to cover our bases: "By using familiar images, lines, and experiences, corridos strengthened and created continuity in border communities from around 1836 to the 1930s."

Example: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure is the example. In fact, the author uses an example to illustrate the point the author makes in each paragraph. We will certainly get some Minor Point or Argument Structure questions on these examples, so keep them highlighted!

Last Thoughts?

Each paragraph follows a pretty similar pattern — details are discussed, an example is presented, and then the overall point of that paragraph is summed up. In each case, the point presents the scope and purpose of something — corridos overall (Paragraph 1), their imagery (Paragraph 2), and their repeated lines (Paragraph 3). Noting this parallel structure should make it a lot easier to find any specific details or answer any structure questions.

On top of that, the end of Paragraph 1, at a very high level, outlines the rest of the passage. We know that the purpose of Paragraph 1 was to discuss the purpose of corridos overall, and it notes that the "more important[]" purpose was to affirm the cohesiveness of border communities using "familiar linguistic and thematic conventions." The discussion of imagery, metaphor, and repeated lines dives into these linguistic and thematic conventions in more detail.

Question prompt

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

Credited answer: E

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 best matches it

Answer Anticipation

As discussed in the Meta-Structure section above, this passage utilizes an Importance of Subject Meta-Structure. In an Importance of Subject passage, the main point is generally the author's opinions on why the subject was important. To anticipate this main point, we can look for whether the author provides a conclusion that summarizes this opinion. But if the author doesn't provide such a conclusion, we'll have to summarize the author's opinions ourselves. In this case, the author provided a conclusion at the end of the first paragraph (P1, S5). But we decided to also anticipate a slightly more specific version of this statement, just to cover our bases: "By using familiar images, lines, and experiences, corridos strengthened and created continuity in border communities from around 1836 to the 1930s."So, let's look for an answer choice that contains the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Corrido imagery is one Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice contain the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point?

    Not quite. True, this passage notes that everyday images familiar to Border communities served as one means of affirming those communities' cohesiveness. But our anticipation points out that several other elements serve the same purpose. While this answer choice provides a good description of the main point of the second paragraph, it doesn't quite nail the main point of the entire passage.

  2. B
    The roots of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this answer choice contain the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point?

    No. This puts way more emphasis on corridos' Spanish roots than the author's conclusion or our anticipation. And, outside of that, this answer doesn't address the purpose of the corrido, which served as the central focus of the passage. We can eliminate (B) for these reasons.

    Like (A), this answer choice is a true statement, but it's not the passage's main point. The passage states that corridos had roots in the 18th century Spanish ballad tradition (P1, S2), but it doesn't tie this to the conventional themes and language.

  3. C
    The corrido form, which Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice contain the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point?

    No. This emphasizes the "Gregorio Cortez" corrido, which neither the author's conclusion nor our anticipated main point even brings up. And they definitely don't say that this corrido is the ideal representation of the corrido. Because this answer choice makes a very bold claim that's not implied by the author's conclusion or our anticipated main point, we can eliminate this. This answer also skips over discussing the role of corridos in affirming the cohesiveness of border communities, which was the key point of the author's conclusion and our anticipation.

    Besides, the passage doesn't say that "Gregorio Cortez" is the ideal corrido. The passage states that the ready-made lines are most evident in the despedida, the formal closing verse, and it uses "Gregorio Cortez" as an example.

  4. D
    Corridos are noted for Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice contain the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point?

    No. Like many other answer choices, this one doesn't address the role of corridos in affirming the cohesiveness of border communities. That makes (D) a skip.

    Besides, this answer choice isn't necessarily accurate. Although corridos discuss local events (P1, S5), the passage notes that corridos told their stories "simply and swiftly, without embellishments" and that metaphors and images used were rare and simple. Therefore, it's perhaps a stretch to call their imagery "vivid."

  5. E
    The corrido is a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) Does this answer choice contain the same ideas as the last sentence of the first paragraph or our anticipated main point?

    Yes! This matches the author's conclusion and our anticipation beat for beat. This answer choice mentions corridos' familiar images, lines, and experiences ("the use of familiar conventions") and describes corridos' function in strengthening and creating continuity in border communities ("promotes cohesiveness in Border communities"). This answer describes the point the author wanted us to take away from this passage, so it is correct.

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