LSAT 123 | Section 4 | Reading Comprehension: Q6

RC Question 6 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Dove’s German experience shows that poetry and fiction aren’t intrinsically different. Instead, the American split between poetry and fiction is likely a local cultural phenomenon. This both supports the author’s general arguments and also shows why Dove holds her beliefs.

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1. This goes too far. We only know about America and Germany (e.g. lines 33-36). The author does not say whether other countries have the split or not. It’s possible other English speaking countries don’t have the split. And it’s also possible that other foreign countries (e.g. France, China, Iran) do distinguish between fiction and poetry. Who knows?
2. CORRECT. This works. Dove’s German experience gave her confidence in her beliefs. She isn’t a lone author defying the American mainstream. She can draw support by knowing that all of Germany agrees with her.
3. The author says Dove “also” studied in Germany. That shows this anecdote is not central to the author’s argument. They mention Germany only to show that some other countries do not have the same poetry/prose split that America does.
    
   Example of answer: Dove was a terrible writer before going to Germany. Then, in Germany, her teachers showed her how to combine poetry and prose. After that, Dove was an amazing writer.
4. The Germany anecdote perhaps makes Dove slightly more interesting, but the main point of the anecdote is that it reinforces the author’s argument that poetry and fiction shouldn’t be separate.
    
   A pure human interest anecdote would tell us about how Dove likes to climb mountains, or loves her dog or something.
5. The sentence in line 32 starts with “she also”. That should give you a strong indication that Dove’s German experience wasn’t the start of her opposition.
    
   Lines 30-32 show that Dove grew up with both poetry and fiction. She had no idea they were “supposed” to be separate.