LSAT 132 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q24

RC Question 24 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Keep reading line 30.
It says “a continuum that also included….piety and domestic instructions….goal of promoting morality and religious belief”.

In other words, apart from entertainment, the domestic novels were supposed to help you be a good mother and a good Christian.

Fiction as continuum means there was no clear dividing line between novel; religious book and household manual.

___________

1. The passage never mentions earlier times. It says the domestic novel was from the mid-nineteenth century (lines 28-29) and it doesn’t say that any earlier novels had similar goals.
2. CORRECT. The domestic novels were fiction, religious work and instruction manuals all rolled into one.
3. “Serial” means publishing a part of book in a magazine, usually on a weekly basis. For example, Charles Dickens’ novels were published piece by piece.
   So, this answer has nothing to do with the passage. We have no idea how domestic novels were published.
4. Rubbish. Read line 30 and the surrounding lines carefully. Nothing they say has anything to do with the evolution of fiction.
5. Nonsense. The only reason this answer is tempting is because continuity sounds like continuum. If you thought this was tempting, you completely failed to understand the use of the word “continuum”. Go reread lines 25-35.
    
   Some people in the 19th century might have thought domestic fiction promoted cohesiveness. But you’re not looking for what might be true. You’re looking for why the author used the word “continuum”.