LR Question 21 Explanation, by LSATHacks
QUESTION TEXT: Editor: Most of the books of fiction we have published…
QUESTION TYPE: Must Be True
FACTS:
- Published book ➞ literary agent submission OR manuscript request
- Serious attention ➞ Renowned figure OR Requested manuscript after review of proposal
Note: The first sentence has a most statement. I didn’t draw it, because it doesn’t link up with anything. Meanwhile, I combined the two facts in the first sentence into fact 1 above.
ANALYSIS: Imagine this as a real world situation. How does a book get published? The publisher gets interested somehow and gets a manuscript. If they like it, they publish it. So, the first step is the manuscript. The second step is publication:
- Manuscript: Renowned, or requested
- Published: Literary agent, or requested
So requests are an important part of the system. You can only sidestep a request by being renowned, and then by having your literary agent submit.
___________
- Hard to say. Maybe most unrequested manuscripts come from renowned figures.
- The first sentence talks about publishing. We’re not told if most books are fiction. The renowned author reference is just there to confuse you: renowned authors were mentioned in the second sentence, and not in reference to publishing.
- The second sentence describes when a book will get careful attention. That sentence never mentions whether fiction is an important factor.
- Literary agents are only mentioned in the first sentence, in reference to publishing. The stimulus doesn’t say whether literary agents are a major factor in attracting careful attention. If the publishing house requested a manuscript from a writer then the publishing house might give it very serious attention even without an agent.
- CORRECT. A manuscript needs serious consideration to be published. If the manuscript was unrequested, the the author needs renown to get attention.
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I didn’t pick E because it didn’t mention the alternative of editors requesting the manuscript after careful review of the writer’s book proposal. Can you explain why this doesn’t matter?
It does: E talks about *unrequested* manuscripts only.
Does “fiction” and “nonfiction” books play an important role in this? I found myself juggling all these characteristics: literary agents, requests, non fiction, fiction, serious attention, published, renowned figures, etc.
Yes, fiction and non-fiction are distinguished in the stimulus.