Reading Comprehension

PT139 · S3 · P2 · Q11 A Return to Tintypes

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When Jayne Hinds Bidaut saw her first tintype, she was so struck by its rich creamy tones that she could hardly believe this photographic process had been abandoned.

Topic

A current trend of people resurrecting old-fashioned photographic techniques.

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy / Explain Something Puzzling

Main Point

Since our author is spotlighting this current trend of re-discovering old, janky, idiosyncratic photographic methods, what does she think is most distinctive / impactful / interesting about it?

Her voice enters the most in the last two paragraphs, where she seems to be trying to explain the appeal of these techniques to the people engaging in them.

Those paragraphs sound like an answer to the puzzling question of,

The main point should be a distillation of "current trend + motivation for trend", like:

There is a recent trend of photographers' rediscovering old photographic techniques, because they love the unpredictability / imperfection / intimacy / mystery that they get out of using these techniques.

Summary

P1 - Teaser Example 1 (Bidaut, tintype)

In realtime, we probably assume we're reading a passage about Bidaut or about tintype. It's only when we get to paragraph 3 that we realize the trend being discussed is broader than just Bidaut and Estabrook and broader than just tintype.

P2 - Teaser Example 2 (Estabrook, tintype)

This rinky-dink 4-line paragraph is very unusual in LSAT RC, so we would proceed curiously, like,

If we asked ourselves the $1 million question, , we'd come up with stuff like tintype, photography.

P3 - Introduction of Central Topic

Here we figure out that the 1st two paragraphs were just examples of this broader trend that's happening within photography. We would probably use a framework of Highlight Noteworthy (since it feels like a descriptive article about some topic the author finds compelling), or Illustrate General Claim (because we realize now that paragraphs 1 and 2 were just examples of a broader thing).

P4 - Background on Central Topic

This paragraph's first couple sentences telegraph that we will be informed about why these old techniques that are trending are appealing / why they disappeared in the first place. Turns out the two answers are intertwined. The reason they disappeared is because they produce a lot of irregular, blemished results, and that's precisely what these photographers enjoy about them.

P5 - Artistic Analysis

Here the author gets more explicit about the artistic statement practitioners are able to make by using these old techniques, as well as the artistic experience they get to have in making their art.

11.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the primary purpose of the passage?

  1. to make a case for

    Too Strong: make a case for

    I would probably save this on a first pass, because you can "make a case" for something at arm's length, and this passage was pretty much our author laying out the case for why people have been getting into these techniques. But lay out the case for X conveys more clearly, "These aren't my beliefs; but this is what someone who does believe would say". To say that some wrote an essay "to make a case for X" sounds too much like the writer is trying to champion / recommend / endorse X, and this author was not that explicitly into it.

    28% picked this

  2. to provide details of how

    Wrong Emphasis: provide details

    The author did provide some details, but this is too narrow. The focus of the passage is definitely to talk about this recent trend and why the artists are doing it. The main focus was not an instruction manual on the details of using these techniques.

    18% picked this

  3. Correct

    to give an account of

    Why this is right

    Yes, this somewhat dovetails the Highlight Noteworthy purpose with the Explain Something Puzzling. A surprising recent development ("groundswell") in the photographic arts is the noteworthy thing the author is trying to highlight. And accounting for why it's happening, i.e. explaining the motivations of the artists involved, is explaining to the reader not just what is happening, but why it's happening.

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

    51% picked this

  4. to explain the acclaim that

    Out of Scope: acclaim

    Nothing in this passage ever cites that these artists have garnered any acclaim for the works created using these old processes.

    2% picked this

  5. to contrast the approaches used

    Wrong Emphasis

    Wrong Emphasis: two photographers Opposite: to contrast The central topic is broader than Estabrook and Bidaut, so that quickly shows us that this answer is too narrow. But even within the context of the actual essay, the author was stressing the similarities between Bidaut's and Estabrook's photography. They are both part of this groundswell of interest in old-timey techniques, which is the central topic of the passage.

    1% picked this

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