PrepTest 153, Section 2, Question 20
Some literary theorists argue that since literary works(52 more words not shown)
The claim that the literary(27 more words not shown)
- AIt is presented(25 more words not shown)
- BIt is presented(25 more words not shown)
- CIt is a(29 more words not shown)
- DIt is presented(17 more words not shown)
- EIt is presented(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why can't a book express an ideology and still be well written?
I could disagree with a writer's view of the world while admiring the writing. I could also agree with a book's ideas and find its writing poor. Those examples make me question the theorists' move from “expresses an ideology” to “shouldn't be judged as having a separate aesthetic value.”
Our author takes a different approach. The theorists themselves call some works more interesting and successful than others. The author treats those judgments as examples of the very aesthetic evaluation the theorists reject, then accuses them of falling into the view they oppose.
What we’re looking for
I'd want to check that connection: do judgments of how interesting and successful a work is amount to judgments of aesthetic value? The author relies on that connection. But the question asks for the role of the reported judgments, not for a critique of the connection. They are the evidence offered for the charge that the theorists' practice conflicts with their stated view.
Working the answers
- A
This names the theorists' position as though the author were supporting it. The target statement is instead used to show a problem in how those theorists apply their own position. It is not offered to establish that aesthetic evaluation is naive.
- B
Showing that someone behaves inconsistently with a view does not, by itself, establish that the view is false. A person could fail to practice a sound principle. Here the reported judgments support a claim about what the theorists themselves do: they fall into the view they wish to undermine. B substitutes a rejection of the view for that conclusion about their conduct.
- C
The author does not derive the fact that the theorists make these judgments from their belief that aesthetic evaluation is naive. The judgments are supplied as something they do. The author then uses that fact to draw the concluding charge of inconsistency. C reverses what is being supported.
- DCorrect
The evidence is that the theorists judge particular works as more or less interesting and successful. The conclusion is that, by making those judgments, they succumb to the position they are trying to undermine. D identifies that exact support relationship.
We can identify the role even while questioning whether “interesting and successful” really establishes the alleged aesthetic judgment. A premise can be used to support a conclusion without our having to agree that it succeeds.
- E
The author does not use the theorists' evaluations to deny that literature expresses ideology. A book could express an ideology and also be judged interesting or successful. The alleged conflict lies between what the theorists reject and how they evaluate works, not between their evaluations and the existence of ideology in literature.
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