Summary
Storytelling appears to be part of every culture. Studies of stories from various diverse cultures across different time periods show that these cultures’ stories have certain common themes (creation, tribal origin, for example) and common types (fables and tales involving animals with human personalities, for example).
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Cultures have something in common that might cause them to develop stories about certain themes or of certain types.
A
Storytellers routinely borrow themes from other cultures.
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t provide any evidence that cultures were in contact with each other or influenced each other’s stories or themes. The fact common themes arose in different cultures from widely separate time periods instead suggests that those themes may have arisen independently in each culture.
B
Storytellers have long understood that the narrative is a universal aspect of human culture.
Unsupported. Although stories are universal, we don’t have evidence that the storytellers themselves were aware that stories are universal. There’s no suggestion that a storyteller from ancient Greece, for example, knew that people in other parts of the world told stories.
C
Certain human concerns and interests arise in all of the world’s cultures.
Most strongly supported. The stimulus tells us that among diverse cultures across widely separate time periods, there are stories with common themes. This is evidence that human cultures are interested in certain topics (such as the creation of the world).
D
Storytelling was no less important in ancient cultures than it is in modern cultures.
Unsupported. Although we know all cultures told and tell stories, there’s no evidence of the comparative importance placed upon stories. Modern cultures might find storytelling more important than ancient cultures did.
E
The best way to understand a culture is to understand what motivates its storytellers.
Unsupported. Although we can probably infer that the themes that arise in a culture’s stories give us some insight into that culture, we don’t know whether this is the best way to understand the culture. The stimulus doesn’t compare this way of understanding to any other way.