Help with Main Point Questions

jwilton

Of all the questions in RC, I ironically have the most difficulty with the first one - the main point/author's purpose question. I almost always can narrow the choices down to two, which are typically factually correct but focus on slightly different points of the passage. For example, in PrepTest 60, there is a passage involving Luis Valdez and the Teatro Campesino. Both C and D focus on Valdez's contributions to the Teatro, but I incorrectly chose D because I believed the information presented in the last paragraph countered a claim made in C. Despite racking my head about this question, I still cannot figure out why D was incorrect, and I certainly wouldn't have this time to devote to a main point question on the real test.

What is the best way to identify and keep track of the main point when reading a passage? I find JY's method of reflecting after every paragraph very helpful, but I find myself struggling to combine these summaries into a main point that the test writers would agree with. This especially occurs when the last paragraph introduces a new idea, or a counterexample, and I'm stuck wondering if the correct answer needs to specifically address this. How can I identify information that is given time in the passage but does not need to be included in the answer choice?

Thanks in advance!