LR Question 8 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Storytelling appears to be a universal aspect of both…
QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported
FACTS:
- All cultures use storytelling.
- Common themes appear in many diverse cultures.
ANALYSIS: Remember, this is a “most strongly supported” question. You’re not looking for an answer that’s 100% true, with no exceptions. You’re just looking for something that is probably true, based on the stimulus.
We know storytelling seems to be common to all cultures.
The evidence about creation myths being widespread is also strong, but not as strong. The study examined narratives from different times and places. (e.g. ancient Rome, modern china, medieval Russia) and found similar themes. This suggests those themes are universal – and that’s enough for a MSS question.
___________
- We know cultures have common themes. We don’t know if this is due to borrowing, or because people think alike across cultures.
- We have no idea what storytellers think. They aren’t mentioned.
- CORRECT. This is fairly well supported by the fact that the diverse cultures in the study all have similar themes.
- This we don’t know. We know that storytelling has been important in all cultures. But we don’t know whether it is more or less important in modern cultures.
- Storytellers aren’t mentioned. We have no idea what motivates them, or whether this lets us understand cultures.
Recap: The question begins with “Storytelling appears to be a universal aspect”. It is a Most Strongly Supported question. To practice more Most Strongly Supported questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.
More Resources for Most Strongly Supported Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Most Strongly Supported questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers most strongly supported questions.
shouldn’t we be wary of selecting answers with words like “all.” The stimulus never said all cultures. Confused about when absolute terms are okay & when they’re not
The word “universal” appears in the first sentence of the stimulus. This can be taken to mean “all”.
In “most supports” questions, the directionality of support flows from the stimulus to the answer choices. This means that the paragraph’s conclusion is found among the answer choices. In such questions, strongly worded answers can be correct since they are the ones being supported, and not the other way around.
Why is D incorrect if the first sentence says that storytelling is a “universal aspect” of both past and present culture? Doesn’t that imply that storytelling is important in both ancient and modern cultures?
The stimulus does imply that storytelling is an aspect of past and present cultures, but we have no evidence of the degree of importance that storytelling is assigned during each of these time periods. The answer choice says “storytelling was no less important” in ancient cultures, but we’re not actually given a comparative claim in the stimulus. We’re just told that there’s evidence that storytelling was a part of–or present in–those cultures.
When answering most strongly supported questions, it’s very important to ensure that each part of the answer you select is supported within the stimulus. Often, one phrase within the incorrect answer will be supported, while another phrase within the same answer choice will not be.