Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

on July 5, 2020

A v. E

Why is this E instead of A?

Replies
Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Shunhe on July 6, 2020

Hi @kbernard,

Thanks for the question! So this is a main point question, so the answer needs to both be true (supported by the passage) and also the main point. With that in mind, let’s take a look at (A). It tells us that Jazz is a significant artistic achievement, and that it’s the first African American work of fiction whose plot, themes, and setting are all drawn from the world of jazz. Remember, an answer choice needs to be completely correct, it can’t have any wrong parts at all. And nothing in the passage supports the idea that Jazz is the FIRST work that draws all those things from jazz. In fact, the passage even tells us that many African American writers used musicians and music as theme and metaphor in their writing (lines 10-12). Also, reading over the passage, you can tell it’s talking more about the narrative strategy of the work, and not the work’s themes or settings. For both of these reasons, (E) is a better answer than (A), since it’s completely accurate and focuses on the meat of the passage, the narrative strategy.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

on July 24 at 12:36PM

But answer choice C also point to the Narrative Strategy, which is why i picked C over E. Why is answer choice C incorrect?

Emil on July 25 at 12:41AM

I think C misses some of the nuance of the passage, and ultimately I think that it actually slightly contradicts the passage, that tells us that other writers had used jazz as the central metaphor, but none had written a book that used jazz as an organizing principle.