PrepTest 128, Section 3, Question 11
Literary critic: Samuel Johnson argued that writers should(34 more words not shown)
The conclusion is properly drawn(13 more words not shown)
- AOne-dimensional characters are(5 more words not shown)
- BThe attractive qualities(9 more words not shown)
- CIn reality, all(6 more words not shown)
- DIn reality, it(6 more words not shown)
- EIt is rarely(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Johnson doesn't want writers to make immoral characters attractive because readers might imitate them. I can see the worry about romanticizing a villain, though we could also ask how much responsibility belongs to the writer and how much belongs to the reader.
The critic makes a different objection: following that advice would make fiction unrealistic. That sounds plausible. People are complicated. Imagine a villain who treats people badly but is kind to puppies. An admirable quality and serious moral faults can coexist.
But pause. I supplied that point about real people. The critic never actually states it. The argument jumps from Johnson's advice about portraying immoral characters to a conclusion about realism without telling us what immoral people are like in reality.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. So we need that missing connection: real bad people have attractive qualities, making a portrayal that strips those qualities away unrealistic. Don't confuse this task with deciding whether readers should imitate villains or whether writers should prioritize entertainment.
Working the answers
- A
A character can be entertaining without being realistic, and realistic without being particularly entertaining. The critic's conclusion concerns realism. Comparing how entertaining two kinds of characters are doesn't establish that following Johnson's advice would misrepresent reality.
- B
How appealing readers find the characters' qualities doesn't tell us whether the portrayal matches real people. B might matter to Johnson's concern about imitation, but it doesn't establish the critic's conclusion about realism.
- CCorrect
If all bad people in reality have some attractive qualities, then depicting immoral characters without any attractive qualities fails to represent that feature of real people. C supplies the premise we were filling in ourselves. It is strong enough to establish the critic's objection, which is what the question asks for.
- D
Difficulty copying fictional characters could bear on whether readers will act like them. But the critic isn't concluding that imitation is easy or hard. The conclusion is that Johnson's proposed portrayals would be unrealistic, and D doesn't tell us how they compare with real people.
- E
Uncertainty about which traits an author intends to make attractive is different from whether real bad people have attractive traits. E concerns recognizing the author's intention. It doesn't connect Johnson's advice to an unrealistic portrayal.
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