- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8917
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- Sat Jun 03, 2017 12:58 pm
#35675
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14335)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Global Purpose questions ask you to describe why the author wrote the passage, and the correct
answer is often an even more abstract version of the main point. Think of it this way—the Main
Point question is primarily concerned with a summary of what the author said; the Global Purpose
question wants to know why the author said it. A good prephrase is always important when
answering such questions.
Answer choice (A): The passage never mentioned which aspects of Chopin’s life are reflected in The
Awakening. We know little about her personal life, and even less about the story in her novel. This
answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The purpose of the passage is to examine
how Chopin’s writing developed as a response to some of the major literary trends in nineteenth-century
women’s fiction.
Answer choice (C): This is a classic half-right, half-wrong answer choice. Although the author does
trace the evolution of nineteenth-century women’s fiction, she never suggested that Chopin was
a typical example. On the contrary—Chopin both adopted and rejected some of the trends in the
evolution of women’s fiction. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): The purpose of the passage is not to counter the claim that Chopin’s fiction was
influenced by external social circumstances, but to describe the complex relationship between her
writing and the changes in nineteenth-century women’s literature, many of which were the result of
various external social circumstances. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (E): The author never weighed the value of Chopin’s novels against those of other
writers of her time. The purpose of the passage is to examine the evolution of Chopin’s literary
style in the context of nineteenth-century women’s fiction, not to argue that one style of writing was
superior to, or more valuable than, another. This answer choice is incorrect.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14335)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Global Purpose questions ask you to describe why the author wrote the passage, and the correct
answer is often an even more abstract version of the main point. Think of it this way—the Main
Point question is primarily concerned with a summary of what the author said; the Global Purpose
question wants to know why the author said it. A good prephrase is always important when
answering such questions.
Answer choice (A): The passage never mentioned which aspects of Chopin’s life are reflected in The
Awakening. We know little about her personal life, and even less about the story in her novel. This
answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The purpose of the passage is to examine
how Chopin’s writing developed as a response to some of the major literary trends in nineteenth-century
women’s fiction.
Answer choice (C): This is a classic half-right, half-wrong answer choice. Although the author does
trace the evolution of nineteenth-century women’s fiction, she never suggested that Chopin was
a typical example. On the contrary—Chopin both adopted and rejected some of the trends in the
evolution of women’s fiction. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): The purpose of the passage is not to counter the claim that Chopin’s fiction was
influenced by external social circumstances, but to describe the complex relationship between her
writing and the changes in nineteenth-century women’s literature, many of which were the result of
various external social circumstances. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (E): The author never weighed the value of Chopin’s novels against those of other
writers of her time. The purpose of the passage is to examine the evolution of Chopin’s literary
style in the context of nineteenth-century women’s fiction, not to argue that one style of writing was
superior to, or more valuable than, another. This answer choice is incorrect.