#24 - Folklorist: Oral traditions are often preferable to

[cboles]

Can someone explain what answer choice D is saying? I chose A and am not sure why it is wrong

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi Cboles,

Thanks for your question. Please see my response to your other question here: lsat/viewtopic.php?f=623&t=11980&p=28754#p28754

It helps to explain your reasoning in more detail, as it helps us provide a much more tailored answer for you!

Thanks!

[cboles]

I am just curious what answer choice D means. I eliminated it because I couldn't fully understand what it was saying.

I chose A because of the last two sentences which talked about how you need to be direct in your communication.

[Claire Horan]

Hi Cboles,

Thanks for the question! I would recommend that you read the question and pre-phrase a response, based on your understanding of the stimulus, before you go through the answer choices. That way, you have the right answer in your head and you merely match it with a similar answer choice.

Start by looking at the question stem: "Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the folklorist’s argumentation?"

The word "conclusion" is not mentioned, but in order to help justify the "argumentation," you'll need to know what the folklorist concluded. Now find the part of the stimulus that represents the folklorist's conclusion. You'll see that the first sentence is the conclusion: "Oral traditions are often preferable to written ones." The other sentences are premises. Answer A is supported by one of the premises about memory, but it doesn't really relate to the conclusion. Answer choice D, on the other hand, matches the conclusion well because it mentions what is "preferred." In that way, you don't actually need to completely understand what "Economy of expression is to be preferred over verbosity" means in order to answer the question correctly. But, since you are curious, "economy of expression" means using fewer words, whereas "verbosity" means using many.

In my response to your question, I've tried to model the way to think through the question. Ultimately, studying is more about learning the process and less about learning the answers. Every single question has unique content, but to solve them, you will employ a similar thought process. You can practice the process by writing it out in your forum posts. You can point out what you think are conclusions or premises, and why. You can summarize the main idea in your own words--prephrase. You can explain why you eliminated answer choices. All of that analysis will help you increase your eventual test score.

[jcough346]

this is a principle question right?

[Kristina Moen]

Hi jcough,

Yes, you got it! The answer choice will be a general principle that most helps to justify this specific argument.

[taxstonefromthefeds]

I was able to identify D as the correct answer through the process of elimination.

For me, D is correct because the "economy of expression" it refers to can be found in the third sentence. The stimulus states, "Because writing has no limits, it can proliferate to the point where writer and reader both become confused." This statement can be interpreted as written language becomes verbose, or contains too many statements. This interpretation is what AC D picks up on.

[Adam Tyson]

Agreed, taxstonefromthefeds! If economy of expression (keeping it simple, cutting out the excess and getting to the point) is preferable to verbosity (using more words than are required), and if an oral tradition eradicates all that is useless and irrelevant while written communication proliferates without limit to the point of confusion, that would strengthen the claim that oral traditions are preferable to written ones. Well done!

[silent7706]

For me (B) was tempting at the first, but I settled on (D) after comparing the two. The stimulus describes two methods in storytelling, oral vs written. While both (B) and (D) are true based on the stimulus, (B) does not convey the message that we need to pick one method over the other, whereas (D) clearly says one is preferred. Since the question stem asks us to justify the folklorist's argument, so I picked (D). I just want to make sure that my reasoning above makes sense to you.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi silent7706!

Your reasoning for picking answer choice D over answer choice B is generally on target. Since the question stem calls for a principle that "most helps to justify the ... argumentation," we want an answer that will help produce the conclusion the folklorist makes, that "[o]ral traditions are often preferable to written ones." You're absolutely right that answer choice D gives us another reason to prefer oral over written traditions, whereas answer choice B does not because, as you say, it does not state a reason to prefer one over the other.

Notice another interesting thing: in Strengthen-Principle questions (as this one is), identifying the nature (i.e. type) of the conclusion you're trying to justify can be very helpful. Many conclusions in Strengthen-PR questions are "judgments": meaning, they assert how good or bad something is, or whether something is better or worse than another thing. Many other conclusions in Strengthen-PR questions are "recommendations": meaning, they recommend that someone (or some group) "should" or "ought" to do something. A judgment-type conclusion needs a judgment-type principle to support it. A recommendation-type conclusion needs a recommendation-type principle to support it.

The conclusion in this stimulus is a judgment, asserting that oral traditions are often preferable to (i.e. better than) written ones. That means it needs a judgment-type principle to support. Answer choice D is that judgment-type principle, judging which verbal qualities are better than others. Answer choice B, which I believe you instinctively eliminated for this reason, is not a judgment. Rather, it's a "recommendation," stating what literate populations "need to" (i.e. "should") do. Good reason to eliminate it here!

I hope this helps!

Jeremy