PrepTest 141, Section 2, 10. Actor: Bertolt Brecht’s plays…

How will the right answer fit in terms of support and conclusion?

Only the right answer will add support that guarantees the conclusion. The LSAT expects you to know that “can be properly drawn” is the same as “must be true”.

Highlight the main conclusion in the passage, if there is one:

Bertolt Brecht’s plays are not genuinely successful dramas.

Actor: [CONCLUSION]. [SUPPORT with a lot of fluff]. But, [SUPPORT].

This argument is a bit tricky. Usually the author changes the subject in the conclusion, but this time it happens from one premise to the next: Before “But,” it said the audience couldn’t “discern any of the characters’ personalities” but nothing about whether they care about the characters. In the next sentence it said the audience “must care what happens” but didn’t say anything about personalities.

The author is implying that if you don’t get the personality, you won’t care. And so it won’t be a successful drama. The right answer will probably pretty much say that directly, but most of us will use process of elimination on a tougher one like this. So remember only the right answer guarantees that Brecht’s plays aren’t successful.

Map the wording of the answers to the wording of the passage:

(A) An audience that cannot readily discern…will not take any interest…

This is directly connecting the wording in the two pieces of support, as long as you agree that “take any interest” is basically the same as “care what happens”. Which it totally is.

(B) …determined primarily by the motives and beliefs…

How does the determining factor of personality relate to the rule about caring and being a successful drama? It doesn’t at all. This answer doesn’t have anything that maps either to that key piece of support, or to the conclusion.

(C) …is directly proportional to…

We already knew about the connection between success and caring from the “But,” statement in the passage. If an answer doesn’t add in anything new, it can’t guarantee the conclusion. Even if it has some spiffy math lingo in it.

(D) If the personalities…, then those personalities…

Okay an if-then rule could totally connect the two pieces of support, but this is way off. Like (C), this just makes something we basically already knew more specific. The passage said “audiences, as well as the actors…find it difficult” so we already got that they go together in this respect. No help.

(E) All plays that, unlike Brecht’s plays…

The conclusion is only about Brecht’s plays, so this info doesn’t impact that conclusion one bit.

(A) is the correct answer.

Common pattern/s in this question: It was an odd structure in this one for sure. But you still recognize the right answer way more easily if you recognize that when new wording shows up late in the passage, it probably means the author changed the subject.