PrepTest 110

Incorrect. Wigmore notes that her argument doesn't particularly care if ads are or are not true literary works ("might or might not be") so this answer is irrelevant to the argument.

Incorrect. Wigmore doesn't object to teaching true literary works, she just objects to not teaching ads. On top of that, she wouldn't be surprised if ads were true literary works. This answer doesn't line up with her argument.

Incorrect. Wigmore argues that these skills are taught in lit courses, but there's no indication that it's the only skill developed, so this answer is incorrect. If other skills are also developed, the kids could still learn to critically analyze ads.

Incorrect. Wigmore does specifically talk about analyzing "texts" which would exclude purely visual ads. However, these ads don't have to fail to hurt society in order for those that are text—based to have such detrimental effects. Nor does Wigmore conclude that the lit courses will completely fix the problem of the negative impact of ads on society. As such, this answer is incorrect.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
PC: Ads are frivolous, so the lit dept. should focus on real literary works and not ads.

PW: Ads have a bad effect on society because people can't tell their real messages. The lit dept. teaches critical reading skills, so they should study ads.

Answer Anticipation:
Similar to question #20, we can ignore Chan's argument since this question asks about Wigmore's!

When dealing with a Strengthen with Necessary Premise question, a great place to start your analysis is to see if there are any new concepts in the conclusion. Here, the conclusion talks about the lit department's responsibility but the premises never bring that up. While the lit department does teach critical analysis skills that can apply to ads, it's never established that it's their responsibility to teach how to critically analyze ads.

Let's find an answer stating that this responsibility does fall under their purview.

Answer Explanation:
Wigmore talks about the "responsibility" of the literature department in her conclusion but she never actually establishes what falls under that responsibility. While their classes do teach critical analysis skills that can be applied to ads it's not clear that teaching specifically how they apply to ads falls within their responsibility. If it's not their responsibility—if the lit department's responsibilities are limited to teaching students how to analyze true literary works—then it's very possible that they shouldn't be teaching students how to analyze ads. Without this answer the argument's conclusion doesn't hold and thus this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Always start your analysis of Strengthen with Necessary Premise questions by looking for new concepts in the conclusion. If there is one the assumption will likely connect some related concept in the premises to that new concept.