Q16

[lmedward]

I understand why C is the correct answer but also think D is a valid choice. Can someone explain to me why D is incorrect?

[ohthatpatrick]

Sure thing. First of all, let me make sure you're aware of the "Cheat Code" for most PURPOSE OF A PARAGRAPH questions ...

The correct answer almost always sounds like it reinforces the first sentence of the paragraph (that's normally where the author uses a transition or topic sentence to telegraph the function of the next chunk of text).

Often, like in this case, the first sentence of this last paragraph refers to the final sentence of the preceding one.

End of P2 - string wampum was thought to send simple political messages

Beginning of Last P - formation of a confederacy led to using wampum to convey more complex messages, primarily for political purposes.

Something like that should be our answer, but I would scan the contents of the last P for quick reminders about what's covered:
- wampum belts encoded the constitution (+ examples)
- last two sentences ... "wampum became a way to record, store, and make public items government business" / "framed and enforced confederacy law for centuries"

== answers ==
(A) not terrible, but doesn't hit on any resonant keywords.

(B) getting closer ... definitely moved from simpler string to more complex belt (but the REAL keywords are the "primarily political" / "encoded law" / "record of government business")

(C) definitely true, but it would be nice if it had more of a nod to the political nature

(D) the author does not outline the constitution. I can't even name a single provision of the constitution. If the author had outlined it, shouldn't I know at least several provisions of the constitution?

We know from the examples that there were particular nations, council fires, occasional talks in progress, and safe-conduct passes. Is that outlining a constitution?

(E) effective at "ensuring compliance" is extreme and the focus of this answer is about compliance, whereas the paragraph focused on the content of the wampum belts.

I would be down to (B) and (C).

(B) actually looks like LSAT is trying to exploit the "cheat code" and catch people who are looking too shallowly at the first sentence and the preceding one.

(C) still lives up to the cheat code by reinforcing line 40-41 ... "a deliberate system of ... symbols", but it wraps its arms around more of the paragraph than (B) would.

43-57 are all examples of symbols found on the belts and what those meant.

Hope this helps.

[AnnaC659]

Sure thing. First of all, let me make sure you're aware of the "Cheat Code" for most PURPOSE OF A PARAGRAPH questions ...

The correct answer almost always sounds like it reinforces the first sentence of the paragraph (that's normally where the author uses a transition or topic sentence to telegraph the function of the next chunk of text).

Often, like in this case, the first sentence of this last paragraph refers to the final sentence of the preceding one.

End of P2 - string wampum was thought to send simple political messages

Beginning of Last P - formation of a confederacy led to using wampum to convey more complex messages, primarily for political purposes.

Something like that should be our answer, but I would scan the contents of the last P for quick reminders about what's covered:
- wampum belts encoded the constitution (+ examples)
- last two sentences ... "wampum became a way to record, store, and make public items government business" / "framed and enforced confederacy law for centuries"

== answers ==
(A) not terrible, but doesn't hit on any resonant keywords.

(B) getting closer ... definitely moved from simpler string to more complex belt (but the REAL keywords are the "primarily political" / "encoded law" / "record of government business")

(C) definitely true, but it would be nice if it had more of a nod to the political nature

(D) the author does not outline the constitution. I can't even name a single provision of the constitution. If the author had outlined it, shouldn't I know at least several provisions of the constitution?

We know from the examples that there were particular nations, council fires, occasional talks in progress, and safe-conduct passes. Is that outlining a constitution?

(E) effective at "ensuring compliance" is extreme and the focus of this answer is about compliance, whereas the paragraph focused on the content of the wampum belts.

I would be down to (B) and (C).

(B) actually looks like LSAT is trying to exploit the "cheat code" and catch people who are looking too shallowly at the first sentence and the preceding one.

(C) still lives up to the cheat code by reinforcing line 40-41 ... "a deliberate system of ... symbols", but it wraps its arms around more of the paragraph than (B) would.

43-57 are all examples of symbols found on the belts and what those meant.

Hope this helps.

I dont quite understand how C is the correct answer. I feel C is too vague and rather the purpose of the entire passage than the last paragraph alone. On the other hand, answer choice A looks like it is what the last paragraph's purpose is. Could you elaborate for me why A isn't correct and C is?

[ohthatpatrick]

Let's remind ourselves that the Purpose of the 3rd Paragraph should be connected back to the Main Point / Purpose of the overall passage.

Our main point is found in lines 12-17. These lines also foreshadow the structural function of paragraphs 2 and 3.

We know we're going to hear about an evolution
from OBJECTS of RELIGIOUS significance
to A METHOD of conveying key SOCIOPOLITICAL messages.

P2 details the time when wampum was more an object of religious significance.
P3 details the time when wampum was a method of conveying key sociopolitical messages.

The language in (C) of "HOW it functioned AS A SYSTEM of symbolic representation" is a much closer match to "a method of conveying key sociopolitical messages" than is "HOW belts were different from beads and strings" in (A).

What's annoying is that the way that belts were different was that belts were functioning as a way of conveying key messages, while beads were objects of religious significance. (It's complicating that string wampum, which appears before P3 and before belts, is actually the beginning of the shift towards a method of conveying messages)

When you look at the topic sentence of the 3rd paragraph, it is stressing that wampum became "a deliberate system of both arbitrary and pictorially derived symbols designed primarily for political purposes" matches up well with (C)'s use of "system" / "symbolic representation" / "how it functioned"

Meanwhile, 'belts' doesn't arise until the 2nd sentence, and it is used as a supporting detail, not as the main headline.

In LR, if see an argument with this structure:
Claim 1. This is evident from Claim 2.

Which is the conclusion? Which is the support?

Claim 1 is the conclusion. Claim 2 is supporting claim 1, allowing us to draw claim 1's "evident" inference.

So (C) better matches the wording of the main point and the wording of the topic sentence of the 3rd paragraph.

(A) reinforces a distinction between belts vs. string/bead, when the real distinction the author cares about here is religious objects vs. method of symbolic communication. And since string wampum is part of the latter, the string/bead vs. belt dichotomy that (A) is accentuating is not a match for the religious object vs. method of symbolic communication dichotomy that the 3rd paragraph is accentuating.

All the examples from lines 48 - 59 are examples of how wampum functioned as a system of symbolic communication, not as examples of how belts were different from strings/beads.

Hope this helps.

[LukeM22]

I fell for the Trap Answer (B), which was tempting because the author DOES make that distinction, perhaps inadvertently. The trickier thing is to determine whether or not that was that simply a means of achieving something, or the ends itself?

Something that helps me delineate between B and C is asking myself this:

Does "distinguishing wampum belts and forms of string wampum" in and of itself support the contention that the "true significance... lies in its gradual development.. into a method for permanent peace among distinct nations"? No. It doesn't.

Does "[Illustrating] how wampum functioned as a system of symbolic representation". Yes, it does, because without we would have no basis to conclude that such an evolution even took place.