Amos Tutuola

Answer choices

1. A

   Wrong Emphasis First Sentence Trap4% picked this

   Amos Tutuola is an internationally acclaimed writer of folktales whose unique writing style blends together aspects of Yoruba,

   This answer is pretty close. "Unique" is a strong word that doesn't have a good match in the passage, but it's also such a common thing to say about artists that I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker. Mainly this comes down to emphasis -- the author never made a big deal out of the blend of the three languages, so elevating that to the Main Point doesn't work as well as the correct answer. Our author spent a couple paragraphs telling us about how the African folktale tradition works and how Tutuola's writing adheres to that tradition, so we'd expect more of a tilt towards that discussion. This answer choice uses a lot of language from the first two sentences. Usually, the first two sentences establish some context, but the main point doesn't come until later (most often, the end of the first or beginning of the second paragraph),

   4%
2. B

   Correct93% picked this

   Amos Tutuola's literary works should be evaluated not as novels but as unique and inventively

   Why this is right

   This speaks more to the Clarify Misconception arc of the whole passage. It also uses the word "unique", which they are probably justifying with the early quote we hear that he was praised for "fresh, inventive approaches".

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

   93%
3. C

   Wrong Emphasis Not a Novelist2% picked this

   Amos Tutuola is an important author because he is able to incorporate the traditions of an oral art

   The passage makes it seem like Tutuola is an important author because he was the first Nigerian writer to receive wide global acclaim. And it would be weird to say that he received acclaim for incorporating an oral tradition into his novels, when half the critics didn't realize he was writing in an oral tradition (they thought he was writing derivative novels). Most importantly, the author does not think of Tutuola as a novelist, so she wouldn't accept her main point being that "Tutuola incorporates ___ into his novels."

   2%
4. D

   Misses The Author1% picked this

   Critics are divided as to whether Amos Tutuola's literary works should be regarded as

   This sounds like a detached description of the debate, but this passage had an author who had a very strong, vocal opinion on the debate. The main point of her passage isn't to summarize that a debate is being had, but rather to announce her side of the debate (he's writing folktales, yo!)

   1%
5. E

   Too Strong: "singular expression" Wrong Emphasis1% picked this

   The folktale is a valuable African literary genre that finds singular expression in the works

   This answer puts African folktales at the center and make Tutuola more of a supporting character. The author's main objective is to clarify that we should be evaluating Tutuola as a folktale writer, not a novelist. Meanwhile, this answer makes it sound like the author wants to say that Tutuola is the best folktale writer? The truest? I'm not sure how we interpret the strong sounding idea of "singular expression" but it sounds overly congratulatory. The author isn't crowning Tutuola king of folktales, she's just clarifying that we shouldn't be judging his works as though they're novels.

   1%