PrepTest 113, Section 3, Question 22
On the surface, Melville's Billy Budd is a(68 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AGiven a choice(15 more words not shown)
- BThe only relevant(15 more words not shown)
- CIn deciding between(17 more words not shown)
- DWithout relevant evidence(13 more words not shown)
- EThe only relevant(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why must we establish the author's intention before considering a richer reading?
An allegory tells one story while also conveying another meaning. A story about animals, for example, might also be about politics. So describing a novel as a simple story doesn't by itself rule out a deeper interpretation.
But this author isn't merely saying Billy Budd looks simple. The author says there is no textual or historical evidence that Melville intended an allegory. We should accept that premise. The interesting step is the recommendation that follows: without that evidence, we should stick with reading it as a simple tragedy, even though the allegorical reading would make it a more impressive work.
What we’re looking for
We're being asked for the principle underlying that step. I'd put it this way: don't adopt an allegorical reading without relevant evidence that the author intended one. That's the author's standard for choosing an interpretation. We can identify it without agreeing that intention should control our own reading.
Working the answers
- A
This says to choose the nonallegorical reading whenever there is a choice. The argument is more specific: it recommends that reading because evidence of an intended allegory is missing. A would reject an allegorical reading even when strong evidence supported the author's intention. It leaves out the condition doing the work here.
- B
An author's stated intention is only one possible kind of evidence. The argument considers both textual and historical evidence, neither of which has to be an explicit announcement by the author. B restricts the evidence too much. We also aren't told Melville stated that the novel should be read as a simple tragedy.
- C
This points toward the reading the author rejects. We're told the allegorical interpretation makes the novel richer and places it among the great novels. If we simply chose the reading most favorable to the work, that would be a reason to choose the allegory. The author instead gives priority to evidence of intention.
- DCorrect
The rule and the argument line up directly. D says to avoid an allegorical interpretation without relevant evidence of the intended reading. The passage supplies the absence of textual or historical evidence and recommends the simple-tragedy interpretation.
This doesn't prove that the novel has no deeper meaning. It explains why this author thinks we should refrain from adopting that interpretation on the evidence available.
- E
The author expressly considers historical evidence as well as the novel's text. E would rule out historical evidence altogether. That restriction isn't the principle being used; the problem is that neither kind of evidence supports the intended allegory.
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