Q19

[jennifer]

why would answer choice D most weaken? I was able to eliminate A and C. And also eliminated D, which was clearly not the right thing to do. I was left with B and E, I thought answer choice E would have blown up the entire passage, thus made it the weakest.

[noah]

In this question you want to first arm yourself with the author's argument. In short, it's that Kingston's writings connect to the Chinese tradition of talk-story. In the third paragraph we learn how the connection works, and in the fourth paragraph we hear that the connection is clear in China Men.

But what if, as (D) suggests, that book was an anomaly? What if it's the only book of hers that shows this connection? Then could we say that Kingston's writings exhibit this connection? No.

As for the other answers:

(A) is out of scope - who cares about other authors?

(B) is similar to (A) - who cares about other authors?

(C) is again out of scope!

(E) is about what critics think - who cares? Out of scope.

If you struggled with this question, you probably either missed what the question was asking you to weaken, or you missed what the main point of the passage was.

I hope that helps.

[enasni.me]

In this question you want to first arm yourself with the author's argument. In short, it's that Kingston's writings connect to the Chinese tradition of talk-story. In the third paragraph we learn how the connection works, and in the fourth paragraph we hear that the connection is clear in China Men.

But what if, as (D) suggests, that book was an anomaly? What if it's the only book of hers that shows this connection? Then could we say that Kingston's writings exhibit this connection? No.

As for the other answers:

(A) is out of scope - who cares about other authors?

(B) is similar to (A) - who cares about other authors?

(C) is again out of scope!

(E) is about what critics think - who cares? Out of scope.

If you struggled with this question, you probably either missed what the question was asking you to weaken, or you missed what the main point of the passage was.

I hope that helps.

I do get why 'D' is the correct answer but I picked 'C' as I assumed that author falsely correlates narrative devices used in talk story in Kinngston's work to Chinese tradition. From 'C' it seems as if its too common to use those methods so no need to specifically correlate her work to Chinese heritage even Native American use them.. so do Kingston. Where am I wrong? I'm not convinced that 'C' is out of scope.. please help.

[maxx8893]

I understand that discussion on this question has been inactive for some time,but I had a question regarding Answer Choice E.

Lines (6-12) seems to suggest that the author's argument has to do with the fact that , "critics have overlooked Kingston's connection to to the long Chinese tradition of..."talk-story""

So wouldn't (E) weaken this argument by suggesting that the Critics have not overlooked this connection.

Or is to too much of a leap in logic? Or, is (E) wrong because we cannot equate "appreciating authenticity" with "~overlooking Kingston's connection to talk- story?"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[stacksdoe]

I understand that discussion on this question has been inactive for some time,but I had a question regarding Answer Choice E.

Lines (6-12) seems to suggest that the author's argument has to do with the fact that , "critics have overlooked Kingston's connection to to the long Chinese tradition of..."talk-story""

So wouldn't (E) weaken this argument by suggesting that the Critics have not overlooked this connection.

Or is to too much of a leap in logic? Or, is (E) wrong because we cannot equate "appreciating authenticity" with "~overlooking Kingston's connection to talk- story?"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think you may have misinterpreted (E). If they appreciate Kingstons autheticity, wouldn't this just bolster or validate the speaker's/author's argument about the complexity of Kingstons work. Either way, even if this not out of scope, it definitely does not hurt any part of the passage, appreciating something, unless followed by an undermining statement, is not associated with weakening. In other words, you can appreciate something while simultaneously arguing against it, but answer choice (E) doesn't indicate that. All it says is that critics "appreciate" the sincerity of Kingston's work. Finishing up, with most certainty, (E) doesn't tip the force of the passage one way or another.

[phoebster21]

In this question you want to first arm yourself with the author's argument. In short, it's that Kingston's writings connect to the Chinese tradition of talk-story. In the third paragraph we learn how the connection works, and in the fourth paragraph we hear that the connection is clear in China Men.

But what if, as (D) suggests, that book was an anomaly? What if it's the only book of hers that shows this connection? Then could we say that Kingston's writings exhibit this connection? No.

As for the other answers:

(A) is out of scope - who cares about other authors?

(B) is similar to (A) - who cares about other authors?

(C) is again out of scope!

(E) is about what critics think - who cares? Out of scope.

If you struggled with this question, you probably either missed what the question was asking you to weaken, or you missed what the main point of the passage was.

I hope that helps.

I do get why 'D' is the correct answer but I picked 'C' as I assumed that author falsely correlates narrative devices used in talk story in Kinngston's work to Chinese tradition. From 'C' it seems as if its too common to use those methods so no need to specifically correlate her work to Chinese heritage even Native American use them.. so do Kingston. Where am I wrong? I'm not convinced that 'C' is out of scope.. please help.

the issue with C is that it doesn't matter if native american's use them too.

An analogous argument. Everyone says Linda's cooking has a strong garlicy undertone (shout out to all the Friends' fans out there!).
Answer C would say: Sally's cooking uses a lot of garlic, similar to the entree's at Linda's restaurant. DOES sally's use of garlic suddenly mean that Linda is NOT using garlic?
No, they can very well both use garlic too much.

[ConnerM118]

I'm a bit confused as to how (B) is wrong... doesn't the author's argument rely on Kingston's similarity to other Chinese authors? She says in the first paragraph that critics think her work is not similar to other works within the Chinese American literary heritage, but they have overlooked her close connection to Chinese talk story. So... the auhtor's argument DOES rely on her work being similar to other authors, right?