PrepTest 115

[lcid:3558] Prep Test 115 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 1-8  .        The contemporary Mexican artistic movement  . known as muralism, a movement of public art that  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Humanities


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on Mexican muralist art movement (sponsored by the post-revolutionary Mexican state; three artists' goals).
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Contrast drawn between the ideological basis of muralism and the theoretical/artistic basis:
      • Ideologically, muralism had a close connection to the Mexican government and traditional culture, but its principal artists, Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, and Jose Clemente Orozco, sought to comment commented on the time period and culture (first through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "closely linked ideologically" (first sentence), "ambitious cultural program" (second sentence); "Mexico's richness and possibility" (second sentence); "was formulated by the artists themselves" (third sentence); "major figures" (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's view on muralists' innovations (not just political; freer expression than traditional muralists)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • The author implies that there is an established view of the muralists as mere producers of state-sponsored art with little artistic merit; the author asserts that this view is wrong (second sentence)
    • Example of artistic innovation:
      • Muralists' works depicted traditional subjects in a freer way than previous artists working in the realist style (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "mistake" (first sentence), "reduce" (first sentence), "more than merely" (second sentence); "important innovations" (second sentence), "freer in expression" (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's support (distinct artistic styles/innovations of Siqueiros, Rivera, and Orozco)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of innovations developed by each artist:
      • Rivera: incorporated Renaissance and pre-Columbian elements; depicted people as mechanical shapes (second sentence)
      • Orozco: used expressionism and diagonal lines (third and fourth sentences)
      • Siqueiros: used asymmetry, action, and bold colors (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "distinct styles" (first sentence), "incorporated" (second sentence), "strange combination" (second sentence); "openly emotional" (third sentence), "strong diagonal" (fourth sentence), "heightened movement and drama" (fourth sentence); "brilliant color" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's explanation of innovations (caused by large scale of the mural form)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationship
      • Murals, with their physically larger area to cover than the canvases the artists had been used to, caused innovations (first through last sentences)
    • Examples of the ways the mural medium led to innovations:
      • Murals allowed for sweeping brushstrokes and thus more impactful images (second sentence)
      • Large area in which viewers can see murals led to bolder artistic statements designed to strike the viewer from many angles (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "experimentation" (first sentence); "can be seen as" (first sentence); "bold effect" (second sentence), "equally strong impact" (last sentence)

Main Point: State-sponsored Mexican muralism was inspired by Mexican traditions and history but provided an opportunity for multiple artistic innovations.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - Introduces muralism and ties to the Mexican government

P1, S3 - Names prominent mural painters

P2, S2 - Asserts that muralism allowed for artistic innovations

P4, S1 - Author's explanation of muralism's innovations

Meta-Structure?

Innovative Subject: This passage utilizes the Innovative Subject Meta-Structure. The author asserts that Mexican muralism was a highly innovative artistic movement that allowed painters to move beyond realism. The author contrasts this assertion with the belief that muralists merely provided state-sponsored propaganda reflecting Mexico's post-Revolution political ideology by focusing on traditional and historical subjects. Although the muralists painted traditional, cultural, and historical representations of Mexico, the author argues that the muralists' style was new, a result of unique influences (from pre-Columbian, to Italian Renaissance, to expressionism) and the huge size of the mural form itself.

The main point in an Innovative Subject passage is the author's opinion on the subject's innovations. In this passage, the author claims Mexican muralism was significant, in part, for the new artistic techniques that the three prominent muralists — Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros — deployed.

Last Thoughts?

This passage is straightforward in terms of the structure of the author's argument. The author offers their conclusion in the second paragraph and provides support in the third and fourth paragraphs.

What's the first paragraph doing, then? It's setting up the rest of the passage. In the passage, the author makes a key distinction between the initial impetus of the muralist movement and its innovations. The first paragraph, then, describes the movement's initial impetus. The movement was initially meant to express Mexican heritage and traditions following the Mexican Revolution. And the muralists started their work with the same premise: to use familiar images and ideas to comment on the present. The rest of the passage contrasts the familiar, state-sponsored beginnings of the movement with the stylistic innovations the artists would later initiate. The artists' innovations arose naturally from their artistic knowledge and from the new experience of painting on a scale much larger than they had used before. The author thus contrasts the old/traditional with the new/innovative in this passage.

Question prompt

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

Credited answer: C

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

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Review the main point, and use notes or highlighted/underlined text in the passage to recall the author's attitude on this topic, and find the answer that best reflects your understanding of the main point/author's attitude

Answer Anticipation

This Author's Attitude question asks about the author's attitude on the value of muralist painting. That's a very broad topic in this passage. Now, we could go back to the passage to review all of the author's stated opinions. However, this approach would require us to re-read and review a lot of the passage. That's an inefficient use of our limited time, so it's not the approach we recommend. Instead, we'll recall the author's main point, as well as the corollary points the author makes. Then, let's work through the answer choices, tabling any that don't align with the author's views and examining any answer choice that conforms to those views.In general, we know that the author highlights two main points about the Mexican muralists' work: that they expressed Mexican traditions and history and that they included artistic innovations. The bulk of the passage is dedicated to this latter point. We know from the third paragraph that the author highlights the distinct artistic styles the three principal muralists developed. The fact that the author has devoted a whole paragraph to this implies that the author values this aspect of muralism. We also know from the fourth paragraph that the author thinks the large-scale nature of murals demanded that the muralists develop techniques to make an artistic impact. Dedicating an entire paragraph to this point also suggests that the author values this part of muralism.So, the correct answer might mention the distinct artistic styles or the fact that a mural can shape the artist's style. Still, we shouldn't be too attached to these anticipations as we assess each answer choice. We'll keep an open mind, making sure to check whether the answer choice is related to the passage's main point or our anticipations.

Answer choices

  1. A
    its revolutionary ideology
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Is this answer choice related to the author's main point or our anticipations?

    No. This doesn't mention muralists' distinct artistic styles or the fact that a mural can shape the artist's style. And the author's main point highlights the stylistic innovations of the muralists, not their revolutionary ideologies. That's enough to eliminate (A) and move on to the next answer choice.

    If you need a more thorough examination of (A), this answer choice echoes the fact that the muralists' movement arose after the Mexican Revolution. But its use of the word "revolutionary" is ambiguous. It is unclear whether the government who commissioned the muralists to create their works would be considered "revolutionary" since the themes they desired the muralists to express were traditional, historical, and cultural. It is hard to describe these themes as revolutionary. Moreover, the author says it's a "mistake" to "reduce" the muralists' art to just its ideology (P2, S1). These negative terms suggest that the author does not highly prize the ideological aspect of murals.

  2. B
    its use of brilliant Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Is this answer choice related to the author's main point or our anticipations?

    No. This doesn't describe how murals can shape the artist's style. And the author's main point highlights the stylistic innovations of the muralists, not its use of brilliant color specifically. The use of brilliant color may be one of the muralists' distinct style, but none of our paragraph notes spotlight this feature. So, while this may not be enough to definitively rule out (B), shrewd test-takers would table (B) and check the remaining answer choices.

    If you need a more thorough examination of (B), the passage mentions brilliant color once in the last sentence of the third paragraph but as one of the stylistic innovations one of the three main muralists. And, while brilliant color is certainly in line with what the author says about the muralists' usage of bold artistic statements in their works, other techniques are mentioned in the same vein, including diagonal lines, a high degree of action, and loose brushwork (P3, S4-5). The author doesn't use any laudatory words when describing this muralist's use of color which would suggest that the author values brilliant color above those other techniques, so we have no reason to select this answer choice.

  3. C
    its tailoring of style Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) Is this answer choice related to the author's main point or our anticipations?

    Yes! This answer choice aligns with one of our anticipations, reflecting that the author appreciates how the large-scale nature of murals demanded that the muralists develop techniques to make an artistic impact (P4, S1-2).

    If we needed to review the passage to confirm that the author appreciates this aspect of muralist painting, we'll see that the author uses laudatory words like "bold effect" (P4, S2) and "equally strong impact in all parts" (P4, S3) when describing murals.

    Since we only had a loose anticipation on this question, even experienced test-takers would need to eliminate (D) and (E) before selecting (C). Once we do so, we can select this answer choice confidently.

  4. D
    its use of elements Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Is this answer choice related to the author's main point or our anticipations?

    No. This doesn't mention muralists' distinct artistic styles or the fact that a mural can shape the artist's style. And the author's main point highlights the stylistic innovations of the muralists, not their use of common objects. That's enough to eliminate (D) and move on to the next answer choice.

    If you need a more thorough examination of (D), there is little support in the passage for this answer choice. The first paragraph mentions that muralists sought to use "images and familiar ideas" (P1, S4) but doesn't specify that these images include "elements of everyday life." Indeed, the third paragraph enumerates how the muralists relied on abstraction to make their artistic points rather than concrete and relatable elements from everyday life (P3, S2-5).

  5. E
    its expression of populist Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Is this answer choice related to the author's main point or our anticipations?

    No. This doesn't mention muralists' distinct artistic styles or the fact that a mural can shape the artist's style. And the author's main point highlights the stylistic innovations of the muralists, not their expression of populist ideas. That's enough to eliminate (E) and review our remaining answer choices.

    If you need a more thorough examination of (E), the author does state that many murals express populist ideals in the first sentence of the second paragraph. But the author then qualifies this with the assertion that it would be "a mistake to attempt to reduce Mexican mural painting to formulaic, official government art" (P2, S1). This contrast implies that the author's primary reason for admiring muralist painting is not merely the ideology expressed by murals.

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