Historiography

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

TopicsLocal PurposeSociety

Keep going in LSAT Lab

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Free to start

Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Passage

In the field of historiography—the writing of history based on a critical examination of authentic primary information sources—one area that has recently attracted attention focuses on the responses of explorers and settlers to new landscapes in order to provide insights into the transformations the landscape itself has undergone as a result of as commissioned agents of the U.S. government, were instructed to report thoroughly their findings in writing.

But in furthering this investigation some historiographers have recently recognized the need to expand their definition of what a source is. They maintain that the sources traditionally accepted as documenting the history of the Pacific Coast have too often omitted the response of Asian settlers to this territory. In part this is to recognize the value of other kinds of evidence, such as the actions of Asian settlers.

As a case in point, the role of Chinese settlers in expanding agriculture throughout the Pacific Coast territory is integral to the history of the region. Without access to the better land, Chinese settlers looked for agricultural potential in this generally arid region where other settlers did not. For example, where settlers raw material for valuable spices from a plant naturally suited to the local soil and climate.

Given their role in the labor force shaping this territory in the nineteenth century, the Chinese settlers offered more than just a new view of the land. Their vision was reinforced by specialized skills involving swamp reclamation and irrigation systems, which helped lay the foundation for the now well-known and prosperous agribusiness without attention to the input of Chinese settlers as reconstructed from their interactions with that landscape.

What this question is testing

Local Purpose

Your task

Identify why the author included the referenced detail at that point in the passage — its function, not its content.

Common trap

Answers that merely repeat or summarize the topic of the detail instead of describing the role it plays.

Winning move

Ask what job the detail does for the paragraph, then for the passage's broader point.

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

The question

Which one of the following most accurately describes the author’s primary purpose in discussing Chinese settlers in

Answer choices

Too Strong1% picked this
to suggest that Chinese settlers followed typical settlement patterns in this region during
Too Strong: typical Out of Scope: settlement patterns The passage doesn't discuss any settlement patterns, nor does it say that the Chinese settlers were following a typical pattern.
1%
Weaker Match1% picked this
to argue that little written evidence of Chinese settlers’
Weaker Match: Wrong Half of Target Sentence We're looking for an answer that sounds like the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph, but the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph actually has two separate claims: 1. Because a full study cannot confine itself to the little written evidence we have of Chinese settlers' practices, 2. Historiographers are seeing the value in recognizing other kinds of evidence, such as the actions of Asian settlers This answer choice is saying that the 3rd paragraph is trying to convince us of #1, that there isn't much written evidence. But the 3rd paragraph is supporting #2.
1%
Correct87% picked this
to provide examples illustrating the unique view Asian settlers had of
Why this is right
This correct answer reinforces the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph, in the sense that it acknowledges that the 3rd paragraph, which is about Chinese settlers, was used as a case in point for a generalization made about Asian settlers more broadly. The language about "illustrating their unique view" matches up with the first sentence of the 4th paragraph, which says "The Chinese settlers offered more than just a new view of the land." The examples in the 3rd paragraph certainly qualify as illustrations of Chinese (thus, Asian) settlers having an innovative outlook on the potential of the environment.
Skill tested: Local Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
87%
Out of Scope: contention2% picked this
to demonstrate that the history of settlement in the region has become a point of
Contentious discussions are heated, argumentative discussions. "A point of contention" is used in milder contexts like negotiations, but it still indicates a gridlocked disagreement. We don't have any support for the idea that historiographers are fighting over the settlements; they're just collectively broadening their sense of what a source can be.
2%
Out of Scope: inconsistent9% picked this
to claim that the historical record provided by the actions of Asian settlers is inconsistent with history as
There's nothing in the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph (or in the 3rd paragraph) that says the actions of the Asian settlers contradict history as derived from traditional sources.
9%

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free