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- Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:37 pm
#32724
Complete Question Explanation
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (E)
This is a somewhat challenging question, in part because the critic uses none of the usual premise or conclusion indicators to help us determine the structure of the argument. Nevertheless, you should realize that the last sentence supports the first, because it helps us understand why the recent biography of Shakespeare does not explain what is most interesting about him: it does not show what made Shakespeare different from his contemporaries. Note that the second sentence of the stimulus merely concedes that Shakespeare’s biography is not entirely without merit, which is extraneous to the argument as a whole.
The critic’s argument, when reworded, is structured as follows:
Answer choice (A): This answer choice defends Shakespeare’s biographer by suggesting that there is no way to know what made Shakespeare different from his contemporaries. This, in turn, weakens the critic’s position, making answer choice (A) incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice can easily fool those who are looking to “match” key elements of the stimulus to the answer choices (such as “interest” and “uninteresting”). A closer look at this choice reveals that the life of the average man in Elizabethan England is entirely irrelevant to the conclusion of the argument.
Answer choice (C): The author probably assumes that Shakespeare was very different from his contemporaries, but our job is not to identify an assumption upon which the conclusion depends. Instead, we need to justify the conclusion that the biography does not reveal what is most interesting about Shakespeare. This answer choice fails to do so, and is therefore incorrect.
Answer choice (D): This is an incredibly tempting answer, in part because it uses the type of definitive language (“always”) frequently encountered in correct answer choices to Justify questions. Indeed, if biographies should always focus on what makes their subjects distinctive, and Shakespeare’s recent biography fails in this regard, this would strengthen the critic’s position. However, it does not prove the exact conclusion in the argument, namely, that the biography fails to explain what is most interesting about Shakespeare.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice, because it introduces the missing link between the premise and the conclusion. If what is most interesting about Shakespeare is what made him different from his contemporaries, and the biography does not explain what made him different, then it logically follows that the biography does not explain what makes Shakespeare interesting.
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (E)
This is a somewhat challenging question, in part because the critic uses none of the usual premise or conclusion indicators to help us determine the structure of the argument. Nevertheless, you should realize that the last sentence supports the first, because it helps us understand why the recent biography of Shakespeare does not explain what is most interesting about him: it does not show what made Shakespeare different from his contemporaries. Note that the second sentence of the stimulus merely concedes that Shakespeare’s biography is not entirely without merit, which is extraneous to the argument as a whole.
The critic’s argument, when reworded, is structured as follows:
- Premise:
Shakespeare’s biography does not explain what makes him distinctive.
Conclusion: Shakespeare’s biography does not explain what is most interesting about him.
- Premises + Answer choice = Conclusion
Answer choice (A): This answer choice defends Shakespeare’s biographer by suggesting that there is no way to know what made Shakespeare different from his contemporaries. This, in turn, weakens the critic’s position, making answer choice (A) incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice can easily fool those who are looking to “match” key elements of the stimulus to the answer choices (such as “interest” and “uninteresting”). A closer look at this choice reveals that the life of the average man in Elizabethan England is entirely irrelevant to the conclusion of the argument.
Answer choice (C): The author probably assumes that Shakespeare was very different from his contemporaries, but our job is not to identify an assumption upon which the conclusion depends. Instead, we need to justify the conclusion that the biography does not reveal what is most interesting about Shakespeare. This answer choice fails to do so, and is therefore incorrect.
Answer choice (D): This is an incredibly tempting answer, in part because it uses the type of definitive language (“always”) frequently encountered in correct answer choices to Justify questions. Indeed, if biographies should always focus on what makes their subjects distinctive, and Shakespeare’s recent biography fails in this regard, this would strengthen the critic’s position. However, it does not prove the exact conclusion in the argument, namely, that the biography fails to explain what is most interesting about Shakespeare.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice, because it introduces the missing link between the premise and the conclusion. If what is most interesting about Shakespeare is what made him different from his contemporaries, and the biography does not explain what made him different, then it logically follows that the biography does not explain what makes Shakespeare interesting.