Historians have long recognized the Japanese sword, or nihonto, as one of the finest cutting weapons ever produced. But to regard the sword that is synonymous with the samurai as merely a weapon is to ignore what makes it so special. The Japanese sword has always been considered a splendid weapon and even a spiritual entity. The traditional Japanese adage "the sword is the soul of the samurai" reflects not only the sword's importance to its wielder but also its permanent connection to its creator, the master smith.
Master smiths may not have been considered artists in the classical sense, but each smith exerted great care in the process of creating swords, no two of which were ever forged in exactly the same way. Over hundreds of hours, two types of steel were repeatedly heated, hammered, and folded together into thousands of very thin layers, producing a sword with an extremely sharp and durable cutting edge and a flexible, shock – absorbing blade. It was common, though optional, for a master smith to place a physical signature on a blade; moreover, each smith's secret forging techniques left an idiosyncratic structural signature on the smith's blades. Each master smith brought a high level of devotion, skill, and attention to detail to the sword – making process, and the sword itself was a reflection of the smith's personal honor and ability. This effort made each blade as distinctive as the samurai who wielded it, such that today the Japanese sword is recognized as much for its artistic merit as for its historical significance.
Which of the following can be inferred about the structural signature of a Japanese sword?
Correct
Incorrect
Sample passage map (yours will likely differ):
(1) J sword: not just weapon, spirit
(2) Master smith: skilled
-how to make
-artistic merit + history
The point (articulate to yourself; don't write): Japanese sword is a weapon and a work of art, important to both samurai and smith. The smiths were basically artists.
Next, identify the question type. The word inferred indicates that this is an Inference question. Next, the question asks about the structural signature of a sword. To find the support, look at your map; in which paragraph would that information likely be found? The second paragraph talked about how the smiths forged the swords, so go to that paragraph and scan for the phrase structural signature.
The relevant sentence says:
It was common, though optional, for a master smith to place a physical signature on a blade; moreover, each smith's secret forging techniques left an idiosyncratic structural signature on the smith's blades.
Next, predict an answer: The sentence references both a physical signature and a structural signature, so the structural signature must not be a literal signature. Further, the sentence indicates that each smith's structural signature is distinctive to the individual (idiosyncratic), a result of that smith's secret forging techniques.
(A) This refers to the physical signature, not the structural signature.
(B) CORRECT. This matches the information articulated in the prediction above. Each smith's process resulted in a structural signature unique to that smith.
(C) Tricky! The passage does say that a structural signature is unique to one smith, but it does not say that records survive indicating specifically who that smith was.
(D) The first paragraph does include a quote about the soul of the samurai, but this information is not presented in relation to the information about the structural signature.
(E) Careful: If you have ever seen a samurai sword, then you may remember that it is curved — but the passage doesn't say so! In any case, since the signature is individual to the smith, something that all swords had in common wouldn't be helpful here.
