Logical reasoning PrepTest 134 · Section 2 · Question 21

Incorrect. First, this is about a hymn, not a poem, so there may be enough of a difference there that his answer doesn't apply. Additionally, the conclusion isn't about Homer—it's about two poets who wrote these two plays, one of whom may be Homer.

Incorrect. Typos are a far cry from different tones, vocab, and details of the ancient world. A few misspelled words doesn't change the tone.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Weaken

Stimulus Summary:
The Iliad and the Odyssey differ greatly in tone, vocab, and details, so they're probably not both by the same poet.

Answer Anticipation:
This argument reaches a conclusion that two poems were probably written by different poets. Why? Based on some key differences between them—they had different tones, vocab, and details of the world they depicted.

So the argument is assuming that these differences determine that different authors wrote the poems. Or, in other words, one author can't write two things that have different tones, vocab, or details of the world. Any answer that calls that into question—that suggests the same author can change those things up—will weaken this argument.

Answer Explanation:
This answer calls into question the use of differences in tones, vocab, and details to conclude different authorship. If works known to be written by the same author differ in these aspects more than the two poems in question, then those differences are no longer proof that different poets wrote them. This answer undermines the logic of the argument, so this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
The overlap between the premises and conclusion of this argument was a type of logic—a comparison. And, in particular, the overlap was that both talked about differences. It's not always content that overlaps between the premises and conclusion!

Incorrect. Even if not completely consistent, they can be generally consistent, and much more consistent than when compared to each other, so this answer doesn't have an effect on the argument.

Incorrect. This answer aligns with the conclusion that the Iliad and Odyssey weren't written by the same poet—if a large number of poets were involved in both over an extended period of time, then it probably wasn't the same set of poets who worked on them both.