LSAT 145 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q23

RC Question 23 Explanation

DISCUSSION: This question mentions the transnational approach. Normally, I recommend rereading the specific section of the passage that mentions what the question asks about.

However, the transnational approach is just the general African-American historical approach described in the whole passage. So rather than rereading, take a moment to recall what you know about this approach:

• The approach was against mainstream U.S. nationalism.
• The approach nonetheless built a sort of transnational African nationalism. (See the fourth paragraph)
• Transnationalism focusses on more than one country.

___________

1. This would be fun to do, but it’s not supported by the passage. Paragraph three discusses the main concerns with nationalism: African-American historians were troubled by its implications. They thought nationalism led to imperialism.
    
   The passage doesn’t say that European and U.S. nationalisms necessarily contradicted each other.
2. Defining a national character is something nationalism did. African-Americans were skeptical of nationalism – that’s partly why they used a transnational approach.
3. This focusses only on one nation: The United States. Transnationalism would focus on multiple countries.
4. This only considers the policy of one country: the United States. Transnationalism would compare and study the policies of various countries.
    
   You might have picked this because you thought “in Africa” referred to several countries. That’s true, but it’s like saying “US trade policy has shipped American goods all over the world”. That sentence is still only really considering one country: the US. 
5. CORRECT. This study actually examines multiple countries. That effectively makes it a transnational study. And it’s studying African-American culture, which was the focus of the African-American historians’ work.