Which of the two wins in "Most accurately" MP question?

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  natemanwell1 Core Member

  January 30 322 karma

  you can't have a main point that is stronger than what the passage says. that doesn't make any sense, because a main point question's purpose is to describe the thesis or most essential part of a thesis of a passage, and any question in reading comprehension that describes something not in the passage by definition has to be false. to answer your specific question, yes, one that falls short will always win. the reason for this result is that we are talking about the "MAIN point," or "most ESSENTIAL point," we will rarely see a main point question whose correct answer summarizes every point. the second thing I'm noticing with this question is that you're referencing prep test 121, when there are only slightly over 100 official lsat prep tests. this practice should be avoided until you have gone through every official prep test, as since these new test are not made by lsat, you have no idea whether the scale is going to be accurate. a question about the main point in general seems indicative of not understanding the formula for solving these question types. most often, "subject and positive or negative view by the author" is enough to answer the question, although sometimes you may want to add a specific detail or details or the justification the author uses. before that you want to outline the passage noting the subject of each paragraph and key shifts in meaning, as well as where the author's voice comes in. outlining this passage, the first paragraph discusses Gluck's general view that a male dominated poetic history is not problematic for female poets, the second paragraph discusses the origin of this belief, the third paragraph discusses criticisms of her belief, and the fourth paragraph discusses Gluck's response. we know that the author of the passage has a positive view of Gluck for two reasons: 1) the author writes about her without endorsing any criticisms, and 2) the language in the third paragraph indicates that the author agrees with Gluck on several points "[she] observes," and "she points out." So the main point is something like "Gluck is uniquely and rightly untroubled by writing in a male-dominated poetic tradition, as evidenced by her specific views and the reasons for her dismissal of criticism." Addressing the answer choices, A is out because it is totally incomplete, it just describes a single detail in the passage. so it doesn't fall "somewhat short," it is in no way related to what a main point would be for this passage. B is incorrect because it describes two things that are not even in the passage, that Gluck is criticized for "GENERIC poetry," while only her views are criticized, and she doesn't believe that poetry "MUST" do anything. C is incorrect because it describes something not in the passage, the discussion of "art" in general while the passage is limited to "poetry," D provides a decent summary. your analysis of sufficient condition or beyond the passage is totally off-look at the second sentence of the last passage, it mirrors this answer exactly. E also describes two things not in the passage, any sort of commentary on the quality of Gluck's work, and an unsatisfying response to critics. there is no sort of sufficient condition for anything, you completely misread the last paragraph (at least). exact same issue with misreading that sentences appears to have occurred in your understanding of question 10. The correct answer, C, is a rephrase of that same sentence. A is out as the passage never discusses "presuppositions about gender," B is out as we never discuss any sort of "tools," D is out because we never talk about "commenting on gender issues" or using other subject matter, and E is out because "tradition," is not tied to gender issues in the passage.