LSAT vocabulary: Humanities and arts passages
Passages about literature, art, and music use a specialized vocabulary for talking about meaning and form. These are the repeat offenders.
All example sentences are original, written for this page. They are not from real LSAT passages.
The twelve words
- motif
- a recurring theme or image in a work of art
"The motif of locked doors appears in every chapter of the novel." - genre
- a category of art or literature with shared conventions
"The author mixed the detective genre with historical fiction." - aesthetic
- concerned with beauty or artistic style
"The gallery favored a spare, minimalist aesthetic." - narrative
- the story or account being told
"The film's narrative jumps between three different decades." - allusion
- an indirect reference to another work or event
"The poem's opening line is an allusion to an ancient myth." - critique
- a careful evaluation of a work's merits and faults
"Her critique praised the acting but faulted the script." - canon
- the works considered central or authoritative in a field
"The course covered the canon of nineteenth-century novels." - satire
- art that mocks its subject to criticize it
"The play is a satire of corporate boardroom culture." - elegy
- a poem or work mourning something lost
"The final chapter reads as an elegy for the old neighborhood." - allegory
- a story whose characters and events stand for deeper meanings
"Critics read the novel as an allegory about political power." - subtext
- the unspoken meaning beneath the surface
"The subtext of the interview was frustration with the studio." - avant-garde
- art that breaks deliberately with tradition
"The avant-garde exhibit divided visitors and critics alike."
Self-check: fill in the word
Each sentence is missing one word from the list above. Guess first, then open the answer.
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The recurring image of birds became the film's central ____.
Show the answer
motif
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The essay is a sharp ____ of the mayor's housing policy, disguised as comedy.
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satire
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Beneath the polite dialogue, the ____ was pure rivalry.
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subtext
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The professor argued the book belongs in the ____ of American novels.
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canon
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The painting's dreamlike ____ set it apart from the realistic works nearby.
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aesthetic
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The story works as an ____ in which the farm stands for the country.
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allegory
Keep building
Three more lists, twelve words each, same format.