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- Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:00 am
#36733
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14619)
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)
The correct answer choice will likely contain information about either reader-response theory (the better
theory; provides a more useful means to evaluate and understand a literary text by allowing readers
to apply their personal interpretation to the work) or formalism (the less useful theory; implies that a
literary work has an objective meaning and a proper evaluation of the content of the text will yield a
unified view).
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. Formalists argue that an author’s intended
meaning is always legible within a work, no matter how obscured or hidden that meaning may be. Since
it is a critic’s duty to look for this meaning, responsible critics should tend to find it or something similar
to it.
Answer choice (B): The passage states that interpretations similar to reader-response theory existed
long before reader-response theory was articulated (lines 44-49) and that formalist literary criticism
existed before reader-response theory (line 2). However, the author does not mention anything about the
precursors to formalism and so readers cannot infer that formalist approaches existed long before the
theory itself existed.
Answer choice (C): This is an intriguing question: if formalists are always looking for the author’s
intended meaning, what will they find if there is no intended meaning? Unfortunately, the passage does
not provide enough information to answer this question. It may be that formalists would find no meaning
or many different meanings. In any case, formalists would likely argue that this issue is irrelevant since
every author must have at least one particular intended meaning.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is essentially a Mistaken Negation of the author’s claim in lines
49-52. While the passage does suggest that reader-response theory may result in interpretations that are
unfairly contemporary, it does not argue that reader-response theory must use historical context to be
valid.
Answer choice (E): Most test takers can eliminate this answer choice as an exaggeration and an
unwarranted assumption. The passage does note that formalism is older than reader-response theory, but
it cannot be known if formalism is a day older, a week older, or a decade older. Also, at no point does the
passage discuss which theory has more adherents or that the older theory is more popular.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14619)
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)
The correct answer choice will likely contain information about either reader-response theory (the better
theory; provides a more useful means to evaluate and understand a literary text by allowing readers
to apply their personal interpretation to the work) or formalism (the less useful theory; implies that a
literary work has an objective meaning and a proper evaluation of the content of the text will yield a
unified view).
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. Formalists argue that an author’s intended
meaning is always legible within a work, no matter how obscured or hidden that meaning may be. Since
it is a critic’s duty to look for this meaning, responsible critics should tend to find it or something similar
to it.
Answer choice (B): The passage states that interpretations similar to reader-response theory existed
long before reader-response theory was articulated (lines 44-49) and that formalist literary criticism
existed before reader-response theory (line 2). However, the author does not mention anything about the
precursors to formalism and so readers cannot infer that formalist approaches existed long before the
theory itself existed.
Answer choice (C): This is an intriguing question: if formalists are always looking for the author’s
intended meaning, what will they find if there is no intended meaning? Unfortunately, the passage does
not provide enough information to answer this question. It may be that formalists would find no meaning
or many different meanings. In any case, formalists would likely argue that this issue is irrelevant since
every author must have at least one particular intended meaning.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is essentially a Mistaken Negation of the author’s claim in lines
49-52. While the passage does suggest that reader-response theory may result in interpretations that are
unfairly contemporary, it does not argue that reader-response theory must use historical context to be
valid.
Answer choice (E): Most test takers can eliminate this answer choice as an exaggeration and an
unwarranted assumption. The passage does note that formalism is older than reader-response theory, but
it cannot be known if formalism is a day older, a week older, or a decade older. Also, at no point does the
passage discuss which theory has more adherents or that the older theory is more popular.
