Reading Comprehension

PT104 · S3 · P2 · Q12 Hopi Personal Names

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Personal names are generally regarded by European thinkers in two major ways, both of which deny that names have any significant semantic content.

Central Topic / Purpose

significance of Hopi Names / Clarify Misconception (or Highlight Something Overlooked)

Main Point

Unlike Mill's point of view (that names are meaningless) or Strauss's (that names confer social rank), the correct view of Hopi names is that they were extremely meaningful things that not only helped to indicate social relationships but also provided aesthetic delight because of their poetic beauty or significance.

Passage Map

P1 - Introduce other views on function of names before pivoting into Passage's focus: Hopi Names.

P2 - Background information on when and how Hopis receive names

P3 - Elaboration on naming process, illuminated by an example, culminating in a takeway that the names are like tiny poems

P4 - Author's summary of Hopi names, showing how neither of the views on function in names from P1 are adequate in describing Hopi names.

Other Commentary

In trying to solve the passage from the 1st paragraph, there are a few foreshadowing hints: 1st sentence:

The fact that there are two views on how to regard personal names would prompt us to think, .

The wording that "X is generally thought of as Y" foreshadows a Clarify a Misconception / Highlight Something Overlooked type passage.

When we see the 3rd sentence say, "Consequently, X has been neglected", we would think, .

In this sense, we could see the passage as a Illustrate by Example, in which the discussion of Hopi names is just the example used to illustrate the broader point that some societies use names for functions that go beyond what our two guys enumerated in the 2nd sentence.

12.

Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements about Mill's view would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?

  1. Correct

    Its characterization of the function

    Why this is right

    "You wrong, Mill!" Since Mill denies that names have any important meaning, the example of the Hopi names would not fit his characterization, since they are chock full of meaning. To say "your characterization is too narrow to be universally applicable" just means "there's at least one example where your characterization is wrong". And Mill's characterization of names as "meaningless marks" definitely does not apply to Hopi names.

    Skill tested: Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    78% picked this

  2. It would be correct if

    Wrong Point of View

    This is what Levi-Strauss would say to Mill, not what our author would say.

    3% picked this

  3. Its influence single-handedly led scholars

    Too Strong: single-handedly

    The author doesn't say anything nearly this strong or accusatory. She just says that Mill and Levi-Strauss has been very influential.

    6% picked this

  4. It is more accurate than

    Unsupported: more accurate

    The author would agree with Levi-Strauss, that one function of names is social classification. And the author would agree with Mill that one function of names is distinguishing one person from another. But she disagrees with both Mill and Levi-Strauss in their denial of semantic content, so she doesn't really pick who is less wrong / more accurate.

    2% picked this

  5. It is less relevant than

    Unsupported: less relevant

    The author would agree with Levi-Strauss, that one function of names is social classification. And the author would agree with Mill that one function of names is distinguishing one person from another. Hopi names do both of those things, so there's no reason for the author to think that one of these characterizations is more relevant than the other to Hopi naming practices. She mainly thinks that both of these characterizations, in denying semantic content, are NOT applicable to Hopi naming practices.

    11% picked this

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