PrepTest 120

Incorrect. Being critical of a society could mean that you're providing serious revelations about what it was really like, so this answer doesn't explain the view of the Historians.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Plays feature innocent protagonists designed for audiences to empathize with, so they're not good sources for historians looking at what society was like.

Answer Anticipation:
As with all Paradox questions, we should start by clearly defining the paradox at play.

In this argument, the protagonists are designed to be empathetic. This might lead you to believe that they were designed to reflect the societies in which they existed. However, the Historians contend that this is not the case.

As such, we need to find an answer that explains how a character designed for the audience to empathize with ended up not reflecting that society—some disconnect between what society was and what they were looking for in this main character. That's a pretty broad anticipation, but it's what we have to work with here, as it's hard to anticipate something more specific than that.

Answer Explanation:
This answer doesn't address the protagonists of the plays at all, but it does highlight that the plays were written in a way that made them inaccurate—the society's weaknesses were played up for the drama. If that's the case, then it'd be hard to get a view of what was real and what was exaggerated for effect, thus justifying their wariness in using them as a source for historical analysis. This answer ignores the premise, but it does explain the viewpoint of the historians, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
This is a rare example of a Paradox question where the correct answer explains only the viewpoint that is being asked about, not the basis for it. That's fine! Though be sure that the question stem is asking for that before you select an answer like this one.

Incorrect. This answer suggests that the Historians would believe studying these plays would be useful to determine what the societies were like, so it's the opposite of what we're looking for.

Incorrect. Similar to (C), this answer suggests the Historians would believe the plays were useful to getting a window into society, so this answer is incorrect.

Incorrect. There's no indication that the plays in question were unpopular, so this answer doesn't necessarily apply to them.