LSAT 159 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q1

LR Question 1 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Critic: While the political message in this short story …

QUESTION TYPE: Principle Justify

CONCLUSION: The political message should not have been included in the story.

REASONING: It distracts from the primary focus of the story: humor.

ANALYSIS: So what if the political message distracts from the focus? It could still be an important political message. The critic himself says it’s interesting.

We need an answer that says that if something distracts from the focus of a story, it shouldn’t be included in the story. That’s the only justification the critic gives for why it shouldn’t be included.

___________

1. This is too strong. The critic never said authors should never convey political messages in any stories, just that this author shouldn’t have in this story.
2. CORRECT. The only justification the critic gives for his conclusion is that the political message distracts from the story’s primary purpose.
3. The critic never said anything about disagreement or alienating readers. This isn’t supported.
4. The critic does mention essays, but he never discusses the development of political messages in essays vs. short stories.
5. We’re not concerned with the relevance of political messages. The argument is that political messages shouldn’t be included when they distract from the story’s focus.