PrepTest 111, Section 4, Question 19
Several critics have claimed that any contemporary poet(41 more words not shown)
The conclusion drawn above follows(9 more words not shown)
- ANo one who(7 more words not shown)
- BNo poet who(8 more words not shown)
- CNo one who(11 more words not shown)
- DAnyone who sometimes(14 more words not shown)
- EThe content of(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A politically progressive person could still perform a politically conservative act.
That's the distinction these examples need to address. I might question the critics' idea that using rhyme and meter is politically conservative. Writing in a traditional form doesn't obviously tell us a poem's politics. But agreeing with the author's conclusion wouldn't make the offered evidence sufficient.
We are told that Peacock and Hacker are progressive feminists and that they write formal poetry. We aren't told that none of their actions can be politically conservative. If a progressive person can sometimes act conservatively, these two poets might fit the critics' claim despite their personal politics.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. Let's rule out that possibility: a politically progressive person cannot perform a politically conservative act. With that rule, these poets' formal writing would give us examples that refute the critics' claim about every contemporary poet who writes formally.
Working the answers
- A
This classifies the person, not the person's acts. Even if a feminist cannot be politically conservative, that still doesn't tell us whether a feminist can perform a politically conservative act. To close this gap, we need a restriction on what the person can do, not another label for who the person is.
- B
This concerns poets who write unrhymed or unmetered poetry, whereas the examples concern poets whose work is almost exclusively rhymed and metered. It also repeats A's problem: saying a poet isn't politically conservative doesn't establish that the poet never performs a conservative act. Neither part gives us the connection we need.
- CCorrect
This is the rule we predicted. The two poets are politically progressive, so C prevents them from performing politically conservative acts. Yet they write formal poetry. Their formal writing therefore provides counterexamples to the critics' claim that any contemporary poet who writes that way is performing a politically conservative act.
Notice what the rule connects: the person's politics with the possible political character of the person's actions. That's why it closes the gap that A leaves open.
- D
We don't know that either poet sometimes writes poetry that is not politically conservative. That's the very kind of information the author is trying to derive from their personal politics. D starts with a fact about their poetry that the premises haven't established, so we can't apply its rule to reach the conclusion.
- E
Political consequences aren't the same as the classification of an act as politically conservative. More fundamentally, we aren't told the content of either poet's work. Even if content mattered more than form, we still couldn't infer from these poets' personal views that their formal writing is not a politically conservative act.
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