Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT109 S2 P2 Q10 Explanation

Domestic Novels

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsNon-Author OpinionHumanities

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Passage

The autobiographical narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861), by Harriet A. Jacobs, a slave of African descent, not only recounts an individual life but also provides, implicitly and explicitly, a perspective on the larger United States culture from the viewpoint of one denied access to into slavery, thus leading her free readers to perceive those values within a broader social context.

Some critics have argued that, by conforming to convention, Jacobs shortchanged her own experiences; one critic, for example, claims that in Jacobs’s work the purposes of the domestic novel overshadow those of the typical slave narrative. But the relationship between the two genres is more complex: Jacobs’s attempt to frame her story her experience, and that of any female slave, cannot be fully understood without shedding conventional perspectives.

What this question is testing

Non-Author Opinion

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
10.

It can most reasonably be inferred from the passage that the critics mentioned in the second paragraph hold which one

Answer choices

  1. Opposite3% picked this

    The mixture of literary genres in a single narrative often creates a useful tension that adds

    Our author and Jacobs probably think that mixing two genres (domestic novel and slave narrative) created a useful tension. But these critics are saying that Jacobs' mistake was mixing the two genres.

  2. Too Strong: both7% picked this

    The mixture of literary genres in a single narrative tends to cause the goals of both

    We could have signed off on an answer that said, "tends to cause the goals of at least one genre to be compromised". The critics didn't say that readers won't get the domestic novel effect and won't get the slave narrative effect. They just said the slave narrative will get overshadowed by the domestic novel.

  3. Opposite2% picked this

    The mixture of literary genres in a single narrative tends to favor the genre having the

    Which has a greater degree of realism: slave narratives or domestic novels? If the answer is, "who's to say", then we can get rid of this answer simply by not knowing how to even apply it to the conversation at hand. But the common sense answer would seemingly be that slave narratives are more realistic, as they detailed the terrible conditions of slavery. Domestic novels idealized the romance and intrigue of society women and their drama. So if mixing genres favored the more realistic, then the slave narrative would overshadow the domestic novel. But the critics believe the opposite of that.

  4. Opposite3% picked this

    The mixture of literary genres in a single narrative tends to favor the genre having the

    Which has a lesser degree of realism: slave narratives or domestic novels? If the answer is, "who's to say", then we can get rid of this answer simply by not knowing how to even apply it to the conversation at hand. But the common sense answer would seemingly be that slave narratives are less sentimental, since they are describing harrowing times spent in slavery. Domestic novels idealized the romance and intrigue of society women and their drama, so when the protagonist gets a crush on someone or is heartbroken with love, one would expect a lot of sentimentality. So if mixing genres favored the less sentimental, then the slave narrative would overshadow the domestic novel. But the critics believe the opposite of that.

  5. Correct86% picked this

    The mixture of literary genres in a single narrative can sometimes cause the goals of one of the

    Why this is right

    We love the soft, supportable language of "mixing genres can sometimes cause the goals of one genre to be compromised". Can we support this from our two ideas: - by conforming to convention, Jacobs shortchanged her own experiences - the purposes of the domestic novel overshadow those of the typical slave narrative Yes, the 2nd detail sounds like it's saying that mixing a domestic novel and a slave narrative together caused the slave narrative to be compromised (it was overshadowed and it shortchanged Jacobs's ability to relay her experiences).

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

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