Q14

[rdunley417]

I chose (B). The author poses the question of how valuable dictated texts are in line 5. I felt like the rest of the passage is him answering that question by saying they are in fact less valuable as literature that texts written solely by their subjects. Perhaps (D) is a more general version of (B) and therefore necessarily accounts for (B) as well as other factors.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Good question! The thesis of the author is that "discussions of collaborative texts should take into account the conditions that governed their production." (lines 58-60) Notice this is a recommendation the author makes after carefully reviewing two categories of "collaborative texts." The thesis is restated in answer choice (D).

Incorrect Answers
(A) is too narrow. This is only a minor point stated in lines 19-23 on the way to author's main point.
(B) is unsupported, but also too narrow. This answer says that such autobiographies are "less valuable," whereas the author only suggests that we keep in mind the fact that these autobiographies were in many cases out of the author's hands and so should be carefully read for issues of authenticity and interpretation.
(C) is unsupported. Such a comparison is not made in the passage.
(E) is unsupported. The author states that when studying these autobiographies, one should consider the circumstances in which it was produced, but not that they deserve more study.

[deedubbew]

D seemed to broad, so I chose E. I can see why it is D now but I feel that if I were to run into the situation again, I would still chose E. How can I easily differentiate and make the right choice?

[WaltGrace1983]

D seemed to broad, so I chose E. I can see why it is D now but I feel that if I were to run into the situation again, I would still chose E. How can I easily differentiate and make the right choice?

The way I thought about (E) was, "what constitutes careful study?" The author's main point is that have these conceptions of what authenticity is when reading these autobiographies but what many believe to be "authentic" may not actually be so. We see this time and time again in the passage:

"The so-called edited narrative..."
"Ought to be treated as a ghostwritten account..."
"Readers of African American autobiography...too readily accepted...all without compromising the validity of the narrative..."
"It would be naive to accord dictated oral narratives the same status..."

So (E) tells us that we should study the autobiographies more carefully. In a way, I think the author is saying this. However, the MAIN POINT that (E) inherently misses is how we should study these autobiographies.

Also, (D) being "too broad" might not be a bad thing for this type of question. After all, it is a main point question which encapsulates the vast majority (if not the whole) of what every single word is point towards in the passage.