PT158.S1.P2.Q11

PrepTest 158 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 11

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P1

Native American stories often feature a character called the trickster, a comic figure who has both mortal weaknesses and supernatural powers. ███

Trickster · Native American comic figure
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"Trickster" · Term has been applied to the picaro of European literature
Both are heroes; live on the peripheries of society; are morally flawed
P2

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Main Point · Applying "trickster" to picaro obscures essential differences
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Premise · Picaro satirizes society
Picaro is human. He indulges in vices which enrages society. He is authentic. He acts as foil to society to reveal its hypocrisy. Society marginalizes him because he is viewed as dangerous.
P3

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Premise · Trickster does not satirize society
Trickster serves as moral instruction: do not behave like the trickster. Trickster is animal; lives in world of myth; flaws are the trickster's own, not the society's; is a comic figure and socially marginalized because he is fundamentally antisocial. Trickster only makes himself look bad.
P4

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Sub-Premise · Example of a trickster fable
Coyote trickster embodies a moral lesson: reaching beyond proper limits will result in negative consequences.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Show answer
11.

Based on the passage, the ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████ ███ ████████ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████

a

It has systematically ██████████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ██████████

There’s no suggestion the author believes the criticism has unfairly criticized the traditions of Native Americans.

3%
b

Its use of ███ █████████ ███████████ ███ ███████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ████████ █████████ ██████████

This is too extreme. The author wouldn’t say that the criticism’s use of the term has “nothing to do” with the Native American trickster character. The trickster and picaro characters do have some similarities — they’re both heroes of episodic adventures, live on the peripheries of society, and are morally flawed.

16%
c

Its reading of ██████████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ████████ █████████ ████████

Being “at odds with” something means that there’s a conflict with that thing. Does the way the criticism reads picaro novels conflict with how it reads trickster stories? We don’t know. We don’t actually get anything regarding how the criticism reads picaro novels or trickster stories. Maybe the criticism interprets both kinds of stories in a similar way? The author would say that this is a misreading. But that doesn’t mean the author would say that the criticism is at odds with itself in how it reads the stories.

13%
d

It reflects an ███████ ██ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ██ ████████ ████████████

We have no reason to think that the author thinks the critics who use “trickster” to refer to picaro are trying to be precise in their use of literary terms.

6%
e

It bases its ████████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████████████ ██ █████████ ████████

This best captures what the author would think about the user of the term “trickster” to refer to picaros. If the criticism engaged in a “closer examination,” it might realize that the picaro stories and trickster stories are significantly different from each other, and that calling picaros “tricksters” is misleading.

62%

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