#16 - Global Reference, Main Point

[ataraxia10]

Hello, I chose D over A. I figured "purely on narrative" is too forceful that's not supported by the passage. Please explain how A is superior to D.

[Adam Tyson]

I'll start by describing what's wrong with answer D, ataraxia10, and that is that there is no evidence in the passage that Cather's work "served as an important impetus" for what came later in the 1960's. That's a causal claim - she helped to bring about that new approach to literary criticism. Did she? Or was she just a little ahead of her time, and it would have happened with or without her earlier work?

Further, is the idea that she was ahead of her time (and, perhaps, influenced the later development of narratology) really what Passage B was all about? I don't think so. That was a small part of the overall passage, but not the Main Point.

So if not that, then what? That's where your prephrase has to come in. What did you determine the correct answer should do, or say, or contain, before you looked at any of the answer choices? My prephrase was "Cather focused on narrative rather than on the traditional realistic novel structure, and some critics didn't get it." That made A a strong contender. No answer was any better, so A is, in my view, the best one, and that makes it a winner! That's how you need to approach these questions, with a solid prephrase and a willingness to keep answers that are perhaps imperfect as contenders until you find a better one.

[ataraxia10]

Hi Adam, thank you very much for the helpful tip and explanation.