LSAT 114 – Section 4 – Question 26

LSAT 114 - Section 4 - Question 26

October 2002

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT114 S4 Q26
+LR
Point at issue: disagree +Disagr
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Value Judgment +ValJudg
A
71%
164
B
15%
156
C
5%
155
D
3%
156
E
6%
159
145
154
163
 +Harder 144.851 +SubsectionEasier

Tony: A short story is little more than a novelist’s sketch pad. Only novels have narrative structures that allow writers to depict human lives accurately by portraying characters whose personalities gradually develop through life experience.

Raoul: Life consists not of a linear process of personality development, but rather of a series of completely disjointed vignettes, from many of which the discerning observer may catch glimpses of character. Thus, the short story depicts human lives more faithfully than does the novel.

Speaker 1 Summary
Tony thinks that novels are the only type of narrative that can accurately depict human lives (especially compared to short stories). Why? Because only novels can show characters’ personalities gradually developing through experience.

Speaker 2 Summary
Raoul thinks that short stories are a more accurate way to depict human lives, rather than novels. Why? Because life isn’t made up of linear progress. Instead, life is a series of independent scenes where people’s character can be glimpsed. This, we can infer, is better reflected by the format of short stories.

Objective
We’re looking for a point of disagreement. Tony and Raoul disagree on which narrative format more accurately reflects life, the gradual progress of novels or the disjointed vignettes of short stories.

A
human lives are best understood as series of completely disjointed vignettes
Tony disagrees with this claim, and instead thinks that life is best understood as a gradual progression over time. Raoul agrees with this claim. This articulates the point of disagreement.
B
novels and short stories employ the same strategies to depict human lives
Both speakers disagree with this claim. Both Raoul and Tony acknowledge the different strategies used by novels and short stories, their argument is just about which one is a better reflection of life.
C
novels usually depict gradual changes in characters’ personalities
Both speakers agree with this claim. Tony explicitly discusses the gradual change depicted by novels. Raoul also alludes to this idea when talking about “a linear process of personality development.”
D
only short stories are used as novelists’ sketch pads
Neither speaker makes this claim. Tony says that short stories are used as novelists’ sketch pads, but never says that they’re the only thing that is used that way. Novelists could have other sketch pads, we don’t know.
E
short stories provide glimpses of facets of character that are usually kept hidden
Neither speaker makes this claim. Raoul talks about vignettes providing glimpses of character, which we can infer also refers to short stories. However, Raoul never mentions whether these glimpses are usually hidden.

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LSAT PrepTest 114 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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