Reading Comprehension

PT137 · S1 · P1 · Q5 Lorenzo Tucker

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

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

Start practicing free

Until my present study, African American entertainer Lorenzo Tucker had not been extensively discussed in histories of United States theater and film.

Topic

Lorenzo Tucker’s contributions to African American theater and film, and the process of creating his career biography.

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy (With elements of Answer / Explain—explaining the approach and challenges of the biography)

Main Point

Lorenzo Tucker was an influential but understudied figure in American entertainment, and this study uses a careful blend of oral and documentary evidence to create his career biography, thereby addressing a gap in historical scholarship. The Most Valuable Sentence: (End of P4)

P1: Introducing Tucker and His Significance

We’re told that Lorenzo Tucker made major contributions to theater and film over sixty years, yet he hasn’t received much scholarly attention. The author collected memorabilia and personal memories from Tucker himself, aiming to shed new light on a neglected corner of U.S. entertainment history.

P2: Methods and Sources for the Study

The author explains the variety of sources used to research Tucker’s life, including library archives, interviews with fellow performers, viewing Tucker’s films, and especially personal interviews with Tucker.

P3: Pros and Cons of Biographing a Living Person

Here the author discusses the benefit of being able to interview the subject directly, but also the bias and unreliability that comes with personal memory, which means careful corroboration is necessary.

The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

criticizing and correcting certain political
Out of Scope: criticizing / correcting
Our author is just describing her study of Tucker: its content, its source material, its fact-checking methodology. She isn't using the introduction of her dissertation to criticize and correct political and intellectual traditions.
0% picked this
proposing an alternative method of
Out of Scope: alternate method
Our author is describing her study of Tucker: its content, its source material, its fact-checking methodology. She isn't proposing a new method of historical investigation. The closest we get to something like this is the discussion in the 3rd and 4th paragraphs, where she is acknowledging some trepidation people have with one of her methods of historical investigation (i.e. using oral testimony from the subject of the biography). But she didn't invent or propose that method. She's just defending her use of the method, saying that she was cognizant of its pitfalls and put in appropriate safeguards.
1% picked this
summarizing the main points, and
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: main points Too Narrow While the author tells us a lot about the topic that will be explored (in the 1st paragraph), she doesn't summarize any main points of the study. She does somewhat assess the value of the study in the final sentence of the first paragraph. But this answer doesn't cover the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th paragraphs at all, where the author discusses her source materials, acknowledges potential objections to one of those source materials (oral testimony), and then addresses those objections by explaining her methodology.
10% picked this
reexaming a previously held historical
Out of Scope: previously held view
Nothing in this passage holds up a previously held historical point of view and then reexamines it or identifies its weaknesses. The author is just telling us all about her study of Tucker: what it covers, what materials she used, what steps she took to avoid potential errors.
2% picked this
Correct
explaining the author's choice of
Why this is right
This gives us the boring but true answer: this passage is primarily concerned with describing the author's study of Tucker. What will my study talk about? Why am I choosing to talk about it? (1st paragraph) What methods did I use? (2nd, 3rd, 4th paragraphs)
Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
86% picked this

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