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A humanities passage may be about art, music, philosophy, drama, or literature. It typically places its subject in a positive light, especially if it’s about a person who was a pioneer in his or her field, such as the first African American astronaut or the first female doctor. Use this to your advantage: If someone is worthy of mention historically or in a Reading Comprehension passage, then he or she probably was an amazing person or did something truly noteworthy. Look for this sense of admiration from the author to create the context in which to frame the passage.

The humanities passages seem to be the most down-to-earth of the lot. They’re easy to read, informative, and can even be enjoyable. Too bad they’re rare. The approach is the same, though: Look for the gist of the passage in a few words and establish a context for the whole story and each paragraph. You can always go back for the details later.

Although the passage doesn’t require meticulous reading, the questions are another matter. The questions following a humanities passage often require you to get into the mind of the author in order to read between the lines and make inferences. While you’re reading a passage about a particular person, for example, try to ascertain not just what the person accomplished but why this person worked toward those goals and what mark was left on the world.

Here’s an example of a typical humanities passage, taken from LSAT For Dummies by Amy Hackney Blackwell (Wiley), about someone you’ve probably never heard of before but will still enjoy reading about.

 Junzaburou Nishiwaki, a 20th-century Japanese poet, scholar, and translator, spent his career working to introduce Japanese readers to European and American writing and to break his country out of its literary insularity. He was interested in European culture all his life. Born to a wealthy family in rural Niigata prefecture in 1894, Nishiwaki spent his youth aspiring to be a painter and traveled to Tokyo in 1911 to study fused Japanese and European artistic traditions. After his father died in 1913, Nishiwaki studied economics at Keio University, but his real love was English literature. After graduating, he worked for several years as a reporter at the English-language Japan Times and as a teacher at Keio University.

 Nishiwaki finally received the opportunity to concentrate on English literature in 1922, when Keio University sent him to Oxford University for three years. He spent this time reading literature in Old and Middle English and classical Greek and Latin. He became fluent in English, French, German, Latin, and Greek. While he was in England, Roaring Twenties modernism caught his eye, and the works of writers such as James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and T. S. Eliot were crucially important to his literary development. In 1925, Nishiwaki published his first book, Spectrum, a volume of poems written in English. He explained that English offered him much more freedom of expression than traditional Japanese poetic language.

 Nishiwaki returned to Keio University in 1925 and became a professor of English literature, teaching linguistics, Old and Middle English, and the history of English literature. He remained active in modernist and avant-garde literary circles. In 1933 he published Ambarvalia, his first volume of poetry written in Japanese; this collection of surrealist verse ranged far and wide through European geography and history and included Japanese translations of Catullus, Sophocles, and Shakespeare. Angered by the Japanese government’s fascist policies, Nishiwaki refused to write poetry during the Second World War. He spent the war years writing a dissertation on ancient Germanic literature.

 After the war, Nishiwaki resumed his poetic pursuits and in 1947 published Tabibito kaerazu, in which he abandoned modernist language and returned to a classical Japanese poetic style but with his own postmodernist touch, incorporating both Eastern and Western literary traditions. In 1953, Nishiwaki published Kindai no guuwa, which critics consider his most poetically mature work. He spent his last years producing works of such writers as D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Stéphane Mallarmé, Shakespeare, and Chaucer. Nishiwaki retired from Keio University in 1962, though he continued to teach and write poetry. Before his death in 1982, he received numerous honors and awards; he was appointed to the Japanese Academy of Arts and Sciences, named a Person of Cultural Merit, and nominated for the Nobel Prize by Ezra Pound. Critics today consider Nishiwaki to have exercised more influence on younger poets than any other Japanese poet since 1945.

12. Which one of the following most accurately states the main idea of the passage?

Nishiwaki was a Japanese poet who rebelled against the strictures of his country’s government and protested its policies toward Europe during World War II.

Nishiwaki was a Japanese poet and literary critic who embraced European literature as a way of rebelling against the constraints of his family and traditional Japanese culture.

Nishiwaki was a Japanese poet and professor who spent his life trying to convince young Japanese students that European literary forms were superior to Japanese poetic styles.

Nishiwaki was a Japanese poet and linguist who throughout his life chose to write in English rather than Japanese.

Nishiwaki was a Japanese poet and scholar who spent his life specializing in European literature, which proved tremendously influential to his own work.

A process of elimination reveals the correct answer. Choice (A) is wrong: Though Nishiwaki did protest against his country’s fascist policies during World War II, this fact isn’t the main idea of the passage. Choice (B) is flat-out wrong: Although the first paragraph discusses Nishiwaki’s departure from family and his country’s literary insularity, the word rebelling is too harsh. Choice (C) is also wrong: The passage doesn’t say that he tried to convince his students one way or the other. Choice (D) is wrong: The passage states only that his first book was in English and many others were in Japanese. Correct answer: Choice (E).

13. The author’s attitude toward Nishiwaki’s life and career can be best described as

Scholarly interest in the life and works of a significant literary figure

Mild surprise at Nishiwaki’s choosing to write poetry in a language foreign to him

Open admiration for Nishiwaki’s ability to function in several languages

Skepticism toward Nishiwaki’s motives in refusing to write poetry during the Second World War

Envy of Nishiwaki’s success in publishing and academia

Choices (B), (D), and (E) are wrong because the passage doesn’t reflect surprise, skepticism, or envy. Choices (A) and (C) remain, but you can eliminate Choice (C): The passage is objective, not admiring, and Nishiwaki’s multilingual ability is a supporting detail to his accomplishments. The correct answer is Choice (A).

14. The primary function of the first paragraph is to

Describe Nishiwaki’s brief study of painting

Introduce Nishiwaki and his lifelong interest in European culture

Summarize Nishiwaki’s contribution to Japanese literature

Explain why a Japanese man chose to specialize in English literature

Analyze European contributions to Japanese culture at the start of the 20th century

After rereading the first paragraph, you know that in a nutshell it introduces Nishiwaki as one who worked to bridge the literature gap separating Japan from Europe and America. It also summarizes Nishiwaki’s interest in art through college and his early career years afterward. Most importantly, the first paragraph sets the stage for the rest of the essay. Armed with this perspective, only one possible answer remains: Choice (B).

15. Select the sentence in the third paragraph that explains why Nishiwaki stopped writing poetry during World War II.

Like most select-a-sentence questions, look for the correct sentence buried in the passage. Correct answer: “Angered by the Japanese government’s fascist policies, Nishiwaki refused to write poetry during the Second World War.”

16. The passage is primarily concerned with

Comparing Nishiwaki’s poetry to that of other Japanese poets of the 20th century

Discussing the role of the avant-garde movement in Nishiwaki’s writing

Providing a brief biography of Nishiwaki that explains the significance of his work

Explaining why writers can benefit from studying literature from other countries

Describing the transformation in Japanese poetic style during the post-war period

The key words in this question are primarily concerned with. The passage may suggest some of the points listed, but its primary concern is more explicit. Choice (A) is wrong because the author doesn’t mention the work of other Japanese poets. Choice (B) is wrong because although the avant-garde movement was influential to Nishiwaki’s writing, this point is hardly the primary concern. Choice (C) looks about right, but check the others just in case. Choice (D) is wrong because the author doesn’t mention the benefits of studying foreign literature. Choice (E) is wrong because the passage doesn’t mention changes in Japanese poetic style after the war. Correct answer: Choice (C).

17. According to the passage, which one of the following types of literature did not greatly interest Nishiwaki? Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

Old and Middle English literature such as Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales

Classical Greek works such as Antigone

Classical Japanese literature such as The Tale of Genji

From the first paragraph, you know that Nishiwaki’s real love was English literature. From the second paragraph, you know that Nishiwaki spent his time at Oxford reading Old and Middle English and classical Greek and Latin. However, even though he may have had some interest in Japanese literature, it didn’t greatly interest him as the question states. Only one correct answer: Choice (C).

18. Select the sentence in the second paragraph that explains why Nishiwaki chose to write his first published poems in English.

Though many sentences in the passage mention Nishiwaki’s interest in English literature, in only one sentence does the passage provide Nishiwaki’s explanation of why he chose to write his first published poems in English. Correct answer: “He explained that English offered him much more freedom of expression than traditional Japanese poetic language.”