Q27

[Aquamarine]

I chose B based on line 3~5 because I think it's the only part about "a book" mentioned in Q27, but the answer is E.
I read the passage twice again, but I still have no idea why B is wrong and E is the right answer.

Can anyone explain me?
Thanks!

[ohthatpatrick]

I think you're focusing too much on the word 'book' in the question stem and not enough on the phrase "focused entirely on their style".

As you may well know, extreme language is VERY important on LSAT.

What is the main point of this passage?

It is found on lines 21-22.

Herbert has written a book (or some "work", line 15) that focuses on the historical/sociocultural aspects of Impressionism.

The 1st paragraph describes how this approach CONTRASTS with Rewald's (and other formalists') approach, which focuses on the stylistic aspects of Impressionism.

We know from the main point that the author ultimately rejects Herbert's arguments. Does that mean that our author thinks that Rewald and the formalists are correct? Does the author think that we should focus ENTIRELY on style?

No, that's way too harsh.

Even Rewald and Herbert aren't choosing to focus ENTIRELY on something. Rewald emphasizes stylistic innovations (line 4-5) and Herbert is paying more attention to the subject matter (line 7-8), but it never says that either one of them is addressing ONLY one or the other.

The support for (E) in Q27 is the last line of the passage:
Impressionist paintings have subject matter (what is represented) and style (how it is represented) and "no art historian can afford to emphasize one at the expense of the other".

Notice how the language of "an adequate treatment" in (E) mirrors the "inadequate approach" in the correct answer of (B) in Q21.

The author is rejecting Herbert because of his over-emphasis on subject matter, by saying that in order to properly understand Impressionism we need style AND subject matter.

(A) this essentially contradicts the passage ... a product of Herbert's recent trend would focus entirely on subject matter, not style

(B) 'primary' is a loaded term. Where are we going to point to in the passage where it told us what Impressionists' 'primary' concern was?

(C) wrong direction like (A) ... focusing on style FITS the traditional interpretation

(D) "most" is a loaded term we couldn't justify and this is also wrong direction ... whenever innovation was discussed in the passage it was related to style, so focusing on style would not NEGLECT stylistic innovations.

Hope this helps.

[hummamalik3]

I think the author gives some examples...such as in the last paragraph.

[Mab6q]

This is a tough question because you could make a case for B based on what the author indicates about what the Impressionist were not concerned with. However when it comes to these types of Qs that require us to infer something from the information provided in the text, it's best to focus on the answer that best matches the tone and purpose of the author; here the author seems to show why focusing only on one aspect of their work is inadequate. E better aligns with that purpose.