Q5

[geverett]

A or C . . . go!

[gilad.bendheim]

Looks like we both just did the same test. This is obviously all about reading in context. The line goes 'Sembene's narratives take the form of initiatory journeys that bring about a basic change...."
(B),(D), and (E) are easy enough to eliminate, so we are left with (A) and (C), which at first glance both make sense. (A) could be saying that he 'begins a series of journeys that end with a change' and (C) could be saying that his narrative style usually takes the form of 'transformative journeys that end in change.' At this point we need to pick which one, and from what I can tell, (C) is better for at least 2 reasons.
(1) I dont think that 'beginning a series of journeys' can be a form that his narratives take. I'm having trouble putting my feeling into words, but essentially, I think that 'beginning a series of journeys' is perhaps too specific to be considered as something as broad as a form. It would imply, I think, that almost all of his narratives tell the story of someone who takes a number of journeys (real or metaphorical) on his path to change, which might not be the case for all of Sembene's stories. Maybe a character grows through one extended journey or by dealing with particular (rather multiple) difficulties.

That may be a bit abstract or totally wrong, so reason (2) is basically a look at the sentence structure. Its a little tricky, because there are no commas or hyphens to separate the middle of the sentence out, but it is actually playing the role of defining the term 'initiatory' for us. If we had rewritten it like this: "Sembene's narratives take the form of initiatory journeys - [ones] that bring about a basic change in the worldview of the protagonist - and ultimately...,' then it would be abundantly clear that choice (C) was the correct definition. The 'change in the worldview' is synonymous with 'transformative (answer C), but in no way implies 'a series' (Choice A).

Hope this makes sense!

[geverett]

I thought the use of transformative combined with the use of "a basic change" would have made the sentence a bit redundant. Maybe I am way off here. Is there a good rule of thumb on these? Should we be able to read the sentence and replace the word in question with the correct answer choice with the correct answer choice making the most logical and grammatical sense in the context of the sentence?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Nice discussion!

I thought the use of transformative combined with the use of "a basic change" would have made the sentence a bit redundant.

That's exactly why you want to choose answer choice (C). It's not that you want to substitute the word back into the sentence and look for something that is grammatically correct, but rather you want to pay attention to the meaning of the sentence - that's where you'll get clues for the specific meaning of the word they are looking for in the correct answer.

So because that sentence describes an "initiatory journey" as one that brings about "a basic change," you're looking for an answer that expresses the idea of a basic change. Hence... "transformative."

If we had rewritten it like this: "Sembene's narratives take the form of initiatory journeys - [ones] that bring about a basic change in the worldview of the protagonist - and ultimately...,' then it would be abundantly clear that choice (C) was the correct definition. The 'change in the worldview' is synonymous with 'transformative (answer C), but in no way implies 'a series' (Choice A).
Nice work gilad.bendheim! You're totally right, they're essentially defining initiatory for us, and so we'll look to match that definition in the correct answer.



Hope this makes sense!

[geverett]

It's not that you want to substitute the word back into the sentence and look for something that is grammatically correct, but rather you want to pay attention to the meaning of the sentence - that's where you'll get clues for the specific meaning of the word they are looking for in the correct answer.

Thanks for the clarification!

[shirando21]

Why is D out?

initiatory is close to initial in meaning, which I think is something new, not happened before, so close to unprecedented.

[denis468]

A or C.

Answer C.
Substitute each of the answers for the phrase in the text:

"Initiatory journeys that bring about the basic change...." Answer choice A would sound like "beginning a series of journeys that bring about change..." - does not make much sense. However, "transformative journeys that bring about change..." -- makes perfect sens.