Logical reasoning PrepTest 129 · Section 2 · Question 24

Incorrect. Two issues here. First, this answer suggests different interpretations, not necessarily contradictory interpretations. Second, even if these interpretations are contradictory, there's no indication that they're both correct, and therefore no guarantee that the poem actually does include contradictory ideas.

Incorrect. There's no need for there to be the intent to convey a single idea—the argument still works if the writer intends to convey multiple non-contradictory ideas.

Incorrect. The readers' knowledge of the author's intent is out of scope of the argument, since there's no indication that they need to be aware of it to reach their own interpretations.

Incorrect. The argument doesn't require readers to discern any idea the author intended—as long as they read the poem and believe it expresses contradictory ideas, the argument can work. The readers don't have to believe that the ideas expressed by a poem were intended by the writer!

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Some readers think a great poem has contradictory ideas. Anyone writing a great poem doesn't intend to convey contradictory ideas. Therefore, the meaning of a poem isn't what the author intends to convey to the reader.

Answer Anticipation:
Some of these harder Strengthen with Necessary Premise questions are really convoluted and hard to track! You're not alone if you lost track of what the author was trying to argue at some point in this stimulus. However, when all else fails, start with the conclusion and work back to the premises.

Here, the conclusion is that a certain thought is wrong. Instead of dealing with that, let's flip it around to convey it's actual meaning—if it's wrong to think the meaning is what the author intends, then it's right to think the meaning isn't what the author intends to convey.

Do any of the premises talk about the author's intentions? Yep—authors of great poems don't intend to convey contradictory ideas. If, as the conclusion states, the meaning of the poem isn't what the author intends to convey, then, with this premise, the conclusion is saying that the meaning of the poem is contradictory ideas (i.e., what the author doesn't intend).

Is there a premise establishing that great poems convey contradictory ideas? No—there's only a premise stating that some readers believe great poems have contradictory ideas. Since the argument isn't about belief but rather reality, the correct answer will have to connect what readers believe to be true (great poems have contradictory ideas) with those poems actually having those contradictory ideas. If the great poems have these contradictory ideas and yet the authors didn't intend to convey such ideas, then the conclusion—that meaning is outside of author intent—is valid.

Answer Explanation:
This answer matches our anticipation, connecting the readers' beliefs to the meaning of the poem. If readers believing a poem is contradictory doesn't guarantee it is, then there's no guarantee the meaning of the poem runs counter to the author's intent, and the argument falls apart.

Key Takeaway:
Some of these harder Strengthen with Necessary Premise questions have really high-level abstract arguments that are difficult to follow. When that happens, start with the conclusion, identify an idea in it that shows up in a premise, and start to draw the connections between the ideas. It'll make it a lot easier to track the logic and find the gap in the reasoning.