Critical Reasoning

. Before the advent of writing each of the isolated clans of the Comaquogue tribe had master storytellers whose function was to orally transmit the clan's tradition from one generation to the next. When riting was developed within certain clans of the tribe, their master storytellers disappeared within a few generations. This stands to reason, since the availability of written records obviated the need for masterful oral communicators to keep the tradition of literate clans alive. What has puzzled anthropologists, however, is the total lack of masterful storytellers in modern illiterate Comaquogue clans.

Which of the following, if true, best helps to explain the puzzling situation mentioned above?

(A) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clan members display personality semble their ancestors more closely than they characteristics that resemble their ancestors more closely than they resemble the characteristics of modern literate Comaquogue clan members.

(B) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clans participate in more ritual gatherings than most modern literate Comaquogue clans do, but they participate in fewer ritual gatherings than did their common ancestors.

(C) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clans are recently descended from long-time literate clans that failed to pass on the skills of reading and writing due to a devastating 75-year war.

(D) The celebrations of modern illiterate Comaquogue clans involve a great deal of singing and dancing, and children are taught clan songs and dances from a very young age.

(E) The traditions of modern illiterate Comaquogue clans are an amalgamation of the cumulative experiences of previous generations plus innovations to the heritage added by the current generation of clan members.

OA [spoiler](C)[/spoiler]

MY pick would be C..

What has puzzled anthropologists, however, is the total lack of masterful storytellers in modern illiterate Comaquogue clans.


the right answer should be something for recent because arguments assumes that there are only two ways to communicate tradition either by written records or storytelling... if both of them not present it has to fairly recent..

That's my take.. any thoughts?

yes akahuja143, ur reasoning is correct. Let me just add to it.

what is the paradox involved? due to advent of written materials, oral storytellers have become obscure [ assumption involved- people could read those material ie they were literate] but illiterate modern C tribes do not have story tellers[ir. they cant read neither do they have story tellers]
so whatever is the answer,it needs to explain both sides of the paradox.

Lets look at options:

(A) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clan members display personality semble their ancestors more closely than they characteristics that resemble their ancestors more closely than they resemble the characteristics of modern literate Comaquogue clan members. [ are we talking about how their characteristics differ / are similiar?? Eliminated!]

(B) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clans participate in more ritual gatherings than most modern literate Comaquogue clans do, but they participate in fewer ritual gatherings than did their common ancestors. [so what if they participate in more rituals. how does this answer our question of why there are no storytellers despite lack of written materials. this choice involves us to make an assumption that at rituals,traditional information of the clan gets transferred. Remember any choice that urges us to make another assumption is seldom correct. Eliminated!]

(C) Modern illiterate Comaquogue clans are recently descended from long-time literate clans that failed to pass on the skills of reading and writing due to a devastating 75-year war. [ Voila! this clearly explains why the clan lack both oral storytellers though they are illiterate. if they have descended from a literate clan, the clan would have obscured the need for story tellers. hence the lack of storytellers. Also due to the ongoing war, the skills of reading/writing were not passed on. hence the illiteracy.]

(D) The celebrations of modern illiterate Comaquogue clans involve a great deal of singing and dancing, and children are taught clan songs and dances from a very young age. [celebrations involving dancing and singing dont necessarily lead to transfer of tradition's and values. Eliminated!]

(E) The traditions of modern illiterate Comaquogue clans are an amalgamation of the cumulative experiences of previous generations plus innovations to the heritage added by the current generation of clan members.[ okay let them be a amalgamation of anything under the sun, but does this answer our paradox. this is outright NO]

Hope this helps!

I would go for D as well. It seems the best and safest among the rest.