Q25 - Sociologists study folktales because they provide

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Explain/Resolve

Stimulus Breakdown:
Fact 1: Sociologists study folktales because they help us understand the distinct values of a culture.
Fact 2: Almost all folktales are just the same ancient narratives, adapted to the local culture.

Answer Anticipation:
GIVEN THAT almost all folktales are pulling from the same ancient narratives, HOW CAN IT BE THAT sociologists use them to learn about the DISTINCT values of a culture?

We basically need a way of saying that "when we adapt this ancient narrative to the local milieu, we reveal something about the value of the local culture".

Correct Answer:
C

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) This doesn't touch on the fact that almost all folktales come from the same ancient bank of stories. If they're the same ancient stories, don't the folktales represent the values of the ancient cultures, rather than those of the more modern cultures that sociologists are studying?

(B) Cool story, bro. This has nothing to do with "how could same stories, once adapted, provide distinct insights?"

(C) YES! This answers the question of "how could the same stories, though adapted to different cultures, reveal the values of the different cultures?"

(D) We don't care why the ancient narratives continue to be used. We only care how using the same ancient narratives could still allow for distinct traits of each culture to shine through.

(E) This would be tempting, since it at least connects folktales and values, but again the problem is we need our correct answer to show how "pulling from the SAME vault of stories is yielding DISTINCTIVE insights into a culture". This doesn't help us with that.

Takeaway/Pattern: This is one of those rare paradox paragraphs where the given fact comes second and the surprise comes first. If we organize this paradox as "GIVEN THAT they're adapting the same stories, HOW CAN sociologists see distinct values?", (C) seems like a pretty rock solid answer. If this felt easy to you, too, remember how important it is to not run out of time by trying miserable questions like Q24 (or others like it). If we're being choosy about prioritizing which questions we attempt in LR, this one should definitely be high priority.

#officialexplanation