LSAT 145 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q4

RC Question 4 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The author refers to the Harlem Renaissance at…

DISCUSSION: The author mentioned the Harlem Renaissance in order to provide background information/context for the Negro Units. There was already a flourishing of African-American culture, and the FTP/Negro Units helped continued this effort. The Harlem Renaissance provided the Negro Units with a diversity of ideas to work with, and this lead to a great many debates about the role of African-American theater.

Note also that the Harlem Renaissance is mentioned at the start of the second paragraph, and that the second paragraph is about debates within the Negro Units. So this is what lets you choose answer D instead of A.

___________

1. See the discussion above. This answer is true, but it’s not the point. The point of mentioning the Harlem Renaissance was to lay the groundwork for the debates.
2. The passage never mentions this. We have no idea whether African American theater made political progress for African-Americans.
3. The author never says why the Negro Units became obscure. The Harlem Renaissance can’t explain it, since the Harlem Renaissance happened before the Negro Units were created.
4. CORRECT. See the discussion above. The second paragraph was about debates within the Negro Units about the role of African-American theater. The Harlem Renaissance helped provide some of the ideas at issue in those debates.
5. I’m not even sure the passage concretely discussed the relationship between African-American culture and mainstream American culture. (Only line 37 even alludes to mainstream culture)