In studying the autobiographies of Native Americans, most scholars

Question

In studying the autobiographies of Native
Americans, most scholars have focused on as-told-to
life histories that were solicited, translated, recorded,
and edited by non-Native American collaborators—that
  (5)   emerged from “bicultural composite authorship.”
Limiting their studies to such written documents, these
scholars have overlooked traditional, preliterate modes
of communicating personal history. In addition, they
have failed to address the cultural constructs of the
  (10)   highly diverse Native American peoples, who prior to
contact with nonindigenous cultures did not share with
Europeans the same assumptions about self, life, and
writing that underlie the concept of an autobiography—
that indeed constitute the English word’s root meaning.

(15)   The idea of self was, in a number of pre-contact
Native American cultures, markedly inclusive: identity
was not merely individual, but also relational to a
society, a specific landscape, and the cosmos. Within
these cultures, the expression of life experiences tended
  (20)   to be oriented toward current events: with the
participation of fellow tribal members, an individual
person would articulate, reenact, or record important
experiences as the person lived them, a mode of
autobiography seemingly more fragmented than the
  (25)   European custom of writing down the recollections of a
lifetime. Moreover, expression itself was not a matter
of writing but of language, which can include speech
and signs. Oral autobiography comprised songs, chants,
stories, and even the process whereby one repeatedly
  (30)   took on new names to reflect important events and
deeds in one’s life. Dance and drama could convey
personal history; for example, the advent of a vision to
one person might require the enactment of that vision
in the form of a tribal pageant.

(35)   One can view as autobiographical the elaborate
tattoos that symbolized a warrior’s valorous deeds, and
such artifacts as a decorated shield that communicated
the accomplishments and aspirations of its maker, or a
robe that was emblazoned with the pictographic history
  (40)   of the wearer’s battles and was sometimes used in
reenactments. Also autobiographical, and indicative of
high status within the tribe, would have been a tepee
painted with symbolic designs to record the
achievements and display the dreams or visions of its
  (45)   owner, who was often assisted in the painting by other
tribal members.

A tribe would, then, have contributed to the
individual’s narrative not merely passively, by its
social codes and expectations, but actively by joining
  (50)   in the expression of that narrative. Such intercultural
collaboration may seem alien to the European style of
autobiography, yet any autobiography is shaped by its
creator’s ideas about the audience for which it is
intended; in this sense, autobiography is justly called a
  (55)   simultaneous individual story and cultural narrative.
Autobiographical expressions by early Native
Americans may additionally have been shaped by the
cultural perspectives of the people who transmitted
them.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the passage?

(A) Scholars have tended to overlook the nuances of concepts about identity that existed in some of the early Native American cultures.
(B) As demonstrated by early Native Americans, autobiography can exist in a variety of media other than written documents.
(C) The Native American life histories collected and recorded by non-Native American writers differ from European-style autobiographies in their depictions of an individual’s relation to society.
(D) Early Native Americans created autobiographies with forms and underlying assumptions that frequently differ from those of European-style autobiographies.
(E) The autobiographical forms traditionally used by Native Americans are more fragmented than European forms and thus less easily recognizable as personal history.

2 
 2. Which one of the following phrases best conveys the author’s attitude toward the earlier scholarship on Native American autobiographies that is mentioned in the passage?

(A) “failed to address” (line 9)
(B) “highly diverse” (line 10)
(C) “markedly inclusive” (line 16)
(D) “seemingly more fragmented” (line 24)
(E) “alien to the European style” (line 51)

3 
 3. Which one of the following most accurately conveys the meaning of the phrase “bicultural composite authorship” as it is used in line 5 of the passage?

(A) written by a member of one culture but based on the artifacts and oral traditions of another culture
(B) written by two people, each of whom belongs to a different culture but contributes in the same way to the finished product
(C) compiled from the writings of people who come from different cultures and whose identities cannot be determined
(D) written originally by a member of one culture but edited and revised by a member of another culture
(E) written by a member of one culture but based on oral communication by a member of another culture

4 
 4. Which one of the following most accurately describes the function of the third paragraph within the passage as a whole?

(A) to refute traditional interpretations of certain artifacts
(B) to present evidence that undermines a theory
(C) to provide examples that support an argument
(D) to contrast several different modes of expression
(E) to enumerate specific instances in which a phenomenon recurred

5 
 5. The author of the passage refers to “self, life, and writing” (lines 12–13) most probably in order to

(A) identify concepts about which Europeans and Native Americans had contrasting ideas
(B) define a word that had a different meaning for early Native Americans than it has for contemporary Native Americans
(C) illustrate how words can undergo a change in meaning after their introduction into the language
(D) posit a fundamental similarity in the origins of a concept in both European and Native American cultures
(E) explain how the assumptions that underlie European-style autobiography arose

6 
 6. Which one of the following would be most consistent with the ideas about identity that the author attributes to pre-contact Native American cultures?

(A) A person who is born into one tribe but is brought up by members of another tribe retains a name given at birth.
(B) A pictograph that represents a specific person incorporates the symbol for a constellation.
(C) A similar ritual for assuming a new name is used in diverse communities.
(D) A name given to one member of a community cannot be given to another member of the same community.
(E) A decorated shield that belonged to an individual cannot be traced to a particular tribe.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

6. Which one of the following would be most consistent with the ideas about identity that the author attributes to pre-contact Native American cultures?

The author examines ideas of identity in  Paragraph 2  and  3 , so that’s what we need to review prior to assessing each of the choices as to its fitness. You can’t predict where in  lines 15-46  the right answer’s support will come, but you can look generally for something reflecting tribal identity, current events, and non-written forms of communication.

(A)  seems to go against the idea of tribal identity (wouldn’t an adopted member take on at least part of the new tribe’s naming?), as well as against the idea that  “one repeatedly took on new names.”

(B)  relates not only to the brief reference to an individual’s relationship to  “the cosmos” (line 18) , but also to the pictographic references in  Paragraph 3 , in which individual tribe members are described as being represented visually by way of connections to things far outside of themselves.  (B)  is the correct choice – seen even more readily by contrast to the weak choices that follow:

(C)  The question of differences between Native American tribal communities is never explored. We never get a sense of how, or whether, one tribe’s practices would be echoed by those of another.

(D),(E)  The notion that a particular name could be restricted to one and only one community member  (D)  would certainly seem at odds with the notion of  “relational identity.”  So would the idea that an individual’s shield cannot be traced to his tribe  (E) . You would think that a name would more likely be communally held – if two or three members experienced the same event, why wouldn’t they all adopt that event’s name? – and that an individual’s shield would readily yield the name of the tribe of which he was a part.

Answer: B

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. Which one of the following most accurately describes the function of the third paragraph within the passage as a whole?

Explanation

As we noted when going through the passage, the author seems to forbear from using the phrase  “for example”  largely to see whether we will recognize, the function of  Paragraph 3 . It provides concrete examples of the non-European types of autobiography about which the author has been generalizing in  Paragraph 2 . Thus it serves to illustrate her overall argument about the different meanings of autobiography, and so  (C)  has it right.

(A)  No refutation is present here. Artifact interpretation is outside the scope in any case.

(B)  Opposite. The evidence supports the author’s belief that  “autobiography”  means something very different in Native American hands.

(D)  If any contrasting of expressive modes is going on in the passage, it’s in  Paragraph’s 2  and  4 , where side references are made en route to the different ways in which Native Americans and Europeans express themselves. But none of that happens in  Paragraph 3.

(E)  The examples enumerated in  Paragraph 3  are more hypothetical  (“Also autobiographical, ...would have been”)  than real  “specific instances.”  Also, the reference to a  “recurring phenomenon”  seems puzzling in the context of this passage-long examination of Native American identity. We are talking long-term sociological mores, not any particular  “phenomenon.”

Answer: C

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the passage?

Explanation

The main conclusion is hinted at in  Paragraph 1  and, as we’ve seen, is given full expression in  Paragraph 4 . There’s a big difference between a Native American  “autobiography”  and the traditional form as created by Europeans, and that difference has to do with what goes into the notion of one’s self and life, and how one expresses it.  (D)  sums that up neatly.

(A)  Where’s autobiography?  (A)  is probably true of scholars, but doesn’t begin to describe the conclusion of this passage because it leaves out the Topic.

(B)  Where  (A)  was too broad,  (B)  is too narrow, restricting the passage simply to different expressive media, an issue that really only emerges in  lines 26-34  and in some of the  Paragraph 3  examples. The passage has a broader interest than  (B)  indicates.

(C)  might sound good at first glance (wrong answers often sound good at first glance; that’s what they’re there for!) but is actually not necessarily true. The passage has to do with how Native American society influences the autobiography, whereas  (C)  speaks of  “the depiction of an individual’s relation to society,”  which is a very different thing. For all we know, both Native American and European life stories might take the same approach in showing how an individual lives within the greater community. (And the odds of that happening would seem to be better if there were  “non-Native American”  input into the former type, as  (C)  specifies.)

(E) ’s characterization of Native American autobiographies as more  “fragmented”  seems a gross and inaccurate distortion of line 24’s passing reference to a  “seeming”  difference between two autobiographical modes. Beyond that, this business about how a Native American autobiography is  “less easily recognizable”  is sheer contrivance.

Answer: D

2. Which one of the following phrases best conveys the author’s attitude toward the earlier scholarship on Native American autobiographies that is mentioned in the passage?

Explanation

We know that the scholars in question, indicted in  Paragraph 1, “have overlooked”  elements of how Native Americans communicate personal history, and “have failed to address” the different culture of the Native American peoples. And danged if the latter isn’t  (A).

(B),(C)  Scholars have ignored diversity and inclusiveness, so these two choices hardly sum up the author’s attitude toward those scholars.

(D),(E)  Each of these choices, meanwhile, speaks to the difference between the Native American and European autobiographical mode, but neither relates directly to the scholars who are at the heart of the question. Both references are too far removed from  Paragraph 1  where those scholars are discussed, for one thing.

For another, the Native American approach might seem fragmented  (D)  to all non-Native American readers, not just scholars, and all might find that approach  “alien” (E) . Neither comment, then, zeroes in on the scholars’ failures of approach the way  (A)  does.

Answer: A

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. The author of the passage refers to “self, life, and writing” (lines 12–13) most probably in order to

Explanation

As we noted in our analysis of the passage, the reference to not sharing  “the same assumptions about self, life, and writing that underlie the concept of an autobiography”  makes a promise – a promise that the author will explain what they are, and how they differ. That promise is, indeed, fulfilled throughout the text.

(A)  is correct because it flatly and accurately identifies that phrase as the linchpin of the entire argument to follow.

(B)  What word?  “Autobiography” ? That phrase doesn’t define autobiography; it describes elements that go into one’s life story.

(C)  The different meanings of those three huge concepts  “self, life, and writing”  did predate the contacts between Europeans and Native Americans, but that’s very different from saying that they changed  “after their introduction into the language.”  To what single  “language”  is  (C)  referring? This choice is a mess.

(D) “Similarity” ? Quite the opposite. The detail in question highlights different points of view. And in any case,  “the origins of”  any  “concept”  are not part of the passage scope and are never discussed.

(E) , too, falls outside the scope. Why did Europeans believe that an autobiography should reflect one person’s individual life and be told in a looking-back way? It’d be interesting to find out. But it’s not a question that this passage explores.

Answer: A

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

3. Which one of the following most accurately conveys the meaning of the phrase “bicultural composite authorship” as it is used in line 5 of the passage?

(A) written by a member of one culture but based on the artifacts and oral traditions of another culture
(B) written by two people, each of whom belongs to a different culture but contributes in the same way to the finished product
(C) compiled from the writings of people who come from different cultures and whose identities cannot be determined
(D) written originally by a member of one culture but edited and revised by a member of another culture
(E) written by a member of one culture but based on oral communication by a member of another culture

OE

This  detail question  seems to be asking for a definition of  “bicultural composite authorship.”  But we are given a definition in lines  2–4,  so all we are really being asked to do is paraphrase it. The reference is to  “as-told-to life histories that were”  whipped into shape  “by non-Native American collaborators.”  The only choice that alludes to every element of that definition is  (E).

(D)  is a very tempting choice – no wonder it appears where it does, to seduce examinees away from ever reading correct  choice (E) ! It’s tempting largely because it picks up the word  “edit”  from  line 4.  But  (D)  is actually a hash. The Native American did not  “write”  the story in the sense of putting pen to paper, but told it to the collaborator, who did a lot more than just  “edit and revise”  – he did the writing.  (D)  misses that key point utterly.

Pranavsawant · Answer

I'm still not entirely convinced why we chose D over A in the first question. Can anyone shed light on that please?

Also, the question refers to the main "conclusion" of the argument. I suppose that's the same as asking for the main "point" of the argument? In other words the purpose for writing the passage.

The passage by and large seems to be written in order to crticize the people who have limited their studies to the bicomposite authorship, as referenced to in the passage. And the rest of the passage serves to illustrate how native american autobiography is different compared to European ones. But this illustration serves to prove the point that scholars are wrong on focusing only on these pseudo-autobiographies.

A just seems to better highlight the crux of the passage despite it not including the word "autobiography" 
D in essence, is an intermediate conclusion, not the main conclusion of the passage.

miag · Answer

Hi,

Let me try explaining this part: 
A) is true but too narrow (partial scope): it only addresses one aspect of the critique. The author's critique goes beyond identity: saying that scholars also overlooked different cultural assumptions, traditional ways of telling life stories (preliterate), and so on.
You are correct to equate main conclusion with the main point / central claim the author wants you to accept
D) One way of looking at this is to focus on what the passage spends most of its time proving. Paras 2-4 are largely focused on autobiographical forms and assumptions.
>> The criticism is just a starting point used to set up the author's main point on what Native autobiography actually was.

Hope this helps clarify!

In studying the autobiographies of Native Americans, most scholars

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

In studying the autobiographies of Native Americans, most scholars

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