#17 - Poetry journal patron: Everybody who publishes in The

[CEF]

This is a weaken question. I had selected answer choice D, in thinking that it weakened the conclusion that "if your magazine also published an anthology of poems first printed in your magazine, you could depend less on donations." by stating that The Brick Wall Review still depends on donations regardless of the fact that they publish an anthology of poems.

Can you explain how answer choice E is correct?

Thank you!

[David Boyle]

This is a weaken question. I had selected answer choice D, in thinking that it weakened the conclusion that "if your magazine also published an anthology of poems first printed in your magazine, you could depend less on donations." by stating that The Brick Wall Review still depends on donations regardless of the fact that they publish an anthology of poems.

Can you explain how answer choice E is correct?

Thank you!

Hello CEF,

Re answer D, maybe BWR would have to depend even *more* on donations if they didn't publish the anthology.
About E: even when prephrasing the stimulus, one question arising (at least for me) is, "Maybe there's some way that the BWR anthology might be different from the other anthology, even though the poems in both magazines are similar?" And E provides that, since the anthology has famous poets' poems in addition to the run-of-the-mill poems.

Hope that helps,
David

[flexbubbleboi]

I can see why E is correct, but I had trouble ruling out A. If neither magazine depends on donations to cover operating expenses, wouldn't the Patron's argument be wrong? The patron is arguing "you could depend less on donations," but if I don't actually depend on donations at all, wouldn't that argument be wrong?

[Robert Carroll]

flex,

Answer choice (A) does not say that the magazines don't depend on donations. It says they don't depend on them to cover most operating expenses. So there is room for there to be less dependence on donations. And it's probably good that The Brick Wall doesn't largely depend on donations, as the entire point of the argument is that, by being more like The Brick Wall, the other magazine can be less dependent also.

Robert Carroll

[ericj_williams]

Thanks for your response.

All of the premises are still true--the two magazines do indeed feature similar poetry, and the Brick Wall Review does have a successful annual.

The question that follows says "Which of the following, if true,..."

So, as we consider this answer choice, we have to take it as true and assess the effects on the argument from the stimulus.

So, it's still true that the two journals deal with similar subject matter, but when we add correct answer choice E into the mix, then the Brick Wall Review actually has an unfair advantage that wasn't previously discussed.

The problem with answer choice C is that the patron's argument concerns the Poetry Journal's ability to count on an Annual for increased revenues. Since Answer choice C does not weaken the patron's argument, it can be safely ruled out.

I hope that clears it up--let me know. Thanks!

~Steve

I see it now (maybe).

I missed the words "NOT PUBLISHED IN THE REGULAR ISSUES." At first I couldn't understand what allows me to assume that the other magazine couldn't do the same, especially since it says "most..are very similar."

But here's the actual difference (in my opinion), the argument talks about "POEMS FIRST PUBLISHED" in one magazine, whereas E talks about "POETS NOT PUBLISHED." The difference in my opinion is not the fame of the poets, but rather that one anthology would be based on poets PUBLISHED, and the Brick Wall would be based on poets NOT PUBLISHED.

That's my take.

[GoldCrono]

Yeah, I struggled with this one too. I was between A and D, chose A, but neither answer tasted right to me. I knew I was missing something.

I see why E makes more sense now…for some reason my mind didn’t process it (maybe because I had already seen two answers I initially thought were attractive).

Sometimes I need to take a step back, come back later and read more carefully.

[saiffshaikhh@gmail.com]

Would A be a classic out of scope answer? How would I break the speaker's argument down?

[Dana D]

Hey Saiff,

I wouldn't say answer choice (A) is out of scope, becuase it is discussing reliance on donations, which is part of the way the other magazine covers their operating costs. The problem is that this is a weaken question, but if we assume answer choice (A) is true and apply it to the stimulus, it doesn't really weaken the author's argument.

Perhaps neither magazine relies on donations to cover most operating expenses. For the Brick Wall, we already know that's true - the anthology sales cover most of the operating costs. For this magazine, even if donations don't cover "most" operating costs, the author's argument is only that it would have to rely less on donations to cover operating costs if it sold an anthology issue. Less is a relative term, and it doesn't change the author's argument at all, so this is not a good answer choice for a weaken question.

hope that helps!