LSAT 136, Section 3, RC Passage 1, Ousmane Sembene

RC Passage 1 Explanation

PASSAGE TEXT: Many critics agree that the primary characteristic of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène's work …

Paragraph Summaries

1. Sembène’s films are politically committed, but his originality lies in adapting film to West African oral culture. He uses oral storytelling techniques to reach both literate and nonliterate Senegalese viewers.
2. Many of Sembène’s characters and motifs come from traditional West African storytelling, including symbolic trees, tricksters, character types, and archetypal predicaments.
3. Some of his films resemble West African dilemma tales because they leave endings open for viewers to interpret. His freeze-frames also suggest that the action continues beyond the film.
4. His films often involve transformative journeys that change the protagonist’s worldview and, ideally, the viewer’s. The author suggests that even his use of oppositions may come more from African oral storytelling than from Marxism.

Analysis

The first paragraph makes the thesis that he achieves sociopolitical content through West African oral tradition adapted to film.

The next three paragraphs each show a different dimension of the oral tradition: character and motif, narrative structure, and overall form.

The last sentence is the only real argumentative edge. Critics may over-credit Marxism for Sembène’s style. The author thinks African oral storytelling explains more.