PrepTest 105, Section 1, Question 2
Tennyson's line of poetry "nature, red in tooth(74 more words not shown)
The claim about the publication(17 more words not shown)
- AIt casts doubt(12 more words not shown)
- BIt supports the(13 more words not shown)
- CIt provides reason(15 more words not shown)
- DIt suggests that(11 more words not shown)
- EIt implies that(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The dates matter because the author is challenging an interpretation. People say Tennyson was referring to Darwin, and the author asks us to see that as a mistake. Why? The poem was published in 1850; Darwin kept his theory closely held until publishing it in 1859.
A reference normally requires knowing what you're referring to. Think about the problem with claiming that an old poem deliberately refers to a story that hadn't yet been made public. We'd want an explanation of how the poet knew about it.
Here, a private conversation between Darwin and Tennyson could be such an explanation, but we aren't told that happened. The dates give us a reason to doubt Tennyson knew the theory, even if they don't make private knowledge impossible.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what the claim about the dates does in the argument. Start with the conclusion: this line wasn't a reference to Darwin. The dates support that conclusion by suggesting Tennyson didn't know the theory when the poem appeared. “It's evidence” is a useful start, but we need an answer that identifies what that evidence supports.
Working the answers
- A
Who deserves credit for developing the theory is a different issue. The author isn't suggesting Tennyson or anyone else helped Darwin develop it. The dates bear on what Tennyson could have known, not who should receive credit.
- B
“Supports the claim” sounds like the right role, but the rest identifies the wrong claim. The dates aren't offered to establish that creationist theories dominated the period. That is a separate piece of background used in explaining the poem's context. The timing supports the argument about Tennyson's intended reference.
- CCorrect
Darwin had not yet published the closely held theory when Tennyson's poem appeared. That gives us reason to think Tennyson didn't know it then, which in turn supports the conclusion that he wasn't referring to it. Notice the modest wording: a reason to believe something needn't eliminate every imaginable exception.
- D
The fact that the poem came first doesn't establish that Darwin read it or drew inspiration from it. The argument doesn't propose that direction of influence. It uses the dates to question a reference from Tennyson to Darwin.
- E
Lack of knowledge of one unpublished theory wouldn't establish that Tennyson knew little about the period's dominant theories. Indeed, the author says the poem refers to a creationist theory. The dates concern knowledge of Darwin's theory at a particular time, not Tennyson's general biological knowledge.
More Role/Main Point questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Role/Main Point questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.