#19 - Although it has been suggested that Arton's plays have

[voodoochild]

Question :
"Although it has been suggested that Arton's play have a strong patriotic flabor, we must recall that, at the time of their composition, her country was in anything but a patriotic mood. Unemployment was high, food was costly, and crime rates were soaring. As a result, the general morale of her nation was at an especially low point. Realizing this, we see clearly that any apparent patriotism in Arton's work must have been intended ironically."

B-takes for granted that straightforward patriotism is not possible for a serious writer
C-takes for granted that ARton was attuned to the predominant national attitude of her time.

Can you please explain why B) is incorrect?

[Steve Stein]

Hi voodoochild,

Thanks for your question. The problem with answer choice b in that example is that it is far to broad a presumption to ascribe to this author; the author does not assume that straightforward patriotism is impossible for any serious writer--this would include all serious writers, from everywhere, and in every era. The author's presumption is far more limited: instead, the author just presumes the patriotism to be ironic in this particular example, given the general attitude in the area at the time.

I hope that's helpful--let me know--thanks!

~Steve

[GLMDYP]

Hi!
For this question, I think (B) should be the right answer. The conclusion of the question stem is "we see clearly that any apparent patriotism in Arton's work MUST have been intended ironically." Such a resolute conclusion will let people question whether Arton really did intended to behave ironically. Thus (B) is correct.
Thanks!

[Lucas Moreau]

Hello, GLMDYP,

It's not so much that straightforward patriotism is always and forever not possible for a serious writer, as B asserts. It has to do with the individual circumstances.

The conclusion that Arton's supposed patriotism is intended ironically is supported by the premise that patriotism was at a low ebb at the time the book was written. Hence the "Realizing this" language - it shows that the argument is asserting the information in the premise directly leads to the conclusion.

Given this, C is a better answer. After all, just because the nation in general isn't feeling patriotic doesn't mean any given writer can't be. Not every writer writes about what's popular, of course.

Hope that helps,
Lucas Moreau
PowerScore

[Jay]

Hello Powerscore.

I don't understand why C is the correct answer.

In the stimuli, it is given that "her country was in anything but a patriotic mood." (first sentence) However, although the country was in patriotic mood, Arton thought the nation was not in patriotic mood; that's why Arton presented apparent patriotism, ironically.

I thought C was incorrect because Arton was not attuned to the predominant national attitude of her time. If Arton was accustomed to predominant national attitude (which is patriortic mood , as shown in the first sentence ), then Arton would not have thought that the nation was not in patriotic mood.

Please help!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Jay!

The conclusion here is that Arton's work must have been intended ironically. The premise for this is that Arton's work had a strong patriotic flavor even though at the time her country was not in a patriotic mood.

The flaw is that just because Arton's work demonstrated patriotism at a time when the nation was not feeling patriotic, assuming that she intended her patriotism to be ironic is not the only explanation. What if she didn't intend for patriotism in her work to be ironic? What if she was just out of touch with how most people in the nation felt?

Answer choice (C) says that the argument assumes that Arton was aware of the predominant attitude of her time (not ver patriotic). This describes the flaw. If Arton was being purposefully ironic, she would have to realize that the country was not in a patriotic mood. Another explanation of her use of patriotism would be that she just did not realize that the country was not feeling very patriotic, that she was out of touch.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey