PrepTest 122, Section 2, Question 1
Ilana: Carver's stories are somber and pessimistic, which(51 more words not shown)
On the basis of their(10 more words not shown)
- ACarver's stories are(2 more words not shown)
- BCarver's stories are(4 more words not shown)
- Cstories that are(10 more words not shown)
- Dstories that are(7 more words not shown)
- Ethere are some(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why would a sad story have to be a bad story?
Ilana treats somberness and pessimism as proof of inferior writing. But think about sad music that you love. Making us feel sad doesn't prevent a work from being interesting or beautifully made. The unhappy endings might establish the mood of Carver's stories without establishing their quality.
Gustav makes that distinction. He accepts that the stories are somber and pessimistic, then praises their humor, compassion, and structure. He isn't defending Carver by claiming that the endings are secretly happy. He's saying that these sad stories are good.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what the speakers disagree about, so my first prediction is whether Carver's stories are good. Ilana says no; Gustav says yes. Whatever wording the answers use, we need both sides of that disagreement. Something Gustav mentions and Ilana never addresses won't be enough.
Working the answers
- A
Gustav describes the stories as compassionate, but Ilana doesn't say whether they are. She could consider them compassionate and still call them inferior because they're pessimistic. We have Gustav's position without an opposing position from Ilana.
- B
They agree about this. Ilana calls the stories pessimistic, and Gustav explicitly grants that description. Their disagreement concerns what that pessimism tells us about the writing.
- C
Ilana never rules out humor. She could think a story is funny, pessimistic, and badly written all at once. Gustav sees humor in the stories, but we can't turn Ilana's criticism of their quality into a denial that they're humorous.
- DCorrect
This states the disagreement more generally than my prediction about Carver. Ilana calls somberness and pessimism a sure sign of inferior writing. On her account, a story with those features cannot be well written.
Gustav offers Carver as a counterexample: his stories have those features, and he is still an excellent writer. So Ilana says good writing and that gloomy outlook are incompatible; Gustav says they can go together.
- E
Both speakers appeal to characteristics of the stories when evaluating them. Ilana treats pessimism as decisive evidence of poor writing; Gustav appeals to humor, compassion, and structure in praising the stories. They differ over how to evaluate these characteristics. We don't have evidence that one speaker denies that any characteristic can determine aesthetic value.
More Disagreement questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Disagreement questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.