PT57.S4.Q16 - when cather gave examples of

Henry An

Hi,

I'm aware that the correct answer is A, but while PTing I thought that the wording was too extreme. I do agree that the main point is to focus more on narrative than the characteristics of the novel, but what let me to confidently cross this out was due to the word "purely."

Where in the passage does it imply that the "best" approach is to focus "purely" on narrative? Why not 90% on narrative and 10% on the characteristics of the novel? Who is to say that a clear dichotomy can be drawn between the two? Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-57-section-4-passage-3-passage/
https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-57-section-4-passage-3-questions/

LSATcantwin

I will take a stab at this. I hope I can maybe be of some help.

Look at lines 45 to 47.

Does the wording there seem more appropriate to support answer choice A?

"Seems exactly appropriate" is pretty strong language.

This sentence also uses referential phrasing. It says "Such a model" at the start.

So let's patch together what it is really saying.

• Such a model of criticism ( referring to Narratology - that a novel ONLY tells a story) seems exactly appropriate to Cather's work.

So basically in that first paragraph the author lays out two different kinds of approaches.

Narratology and the dominant Western form. They tell us that Narratology does XYZ and that it does NOT do what dominant western form does of ABC.

And that is exactly what AC A says.

• Cather's fiction is best approached by focusing purely on narrative (or in other words, by using narratology) rather than on the formal characteristics of a novel (or the dominant Western form)

In this sense the word "purely" is equal to "only" as it is used in line 39.

This was really hard to explain, which shows me I don't fully understand it myself yet. Do you see what I am saying though?