Comparative Reading #5, Q17

[Nadia0702]

Hi PowerScore, I am consistently missing questions on author agreement/disagreement. On this particular question, I picked B and while I see why C is a "superior" answer, I don't really see why B is wrong.

I picked Answer Choice B because Passage A alludes to it being a "startling" revelation that "Finn's Hotel" was intended to be a stand-alone anthology. However, nothing about Passage B tells me that the author agrees that "intense examination can in some cases lead to startling revelations." To me, the author mostly dismisses some of intense examination as being speculative. What did I miss?

Thanks,
Nadia

[Steve Stein]

Hi Nadia,

Thanks for your question. One issue with that answer choice is the use of the word "some," which means "at least one." The answer asserts that in some cases, scrutiny of Joyce's work leads to startling revelations. Neither author would go so far as to assert that startling revelations are never revealed by scrutiny of Joyce's work, so neither author is really committed to disagreeing with the statement presented in answer choice (B).

I hope that's helpful! Please let me know whether this is clear--thanks!

~Steve

[lunsandy]

Hi Powerscore,

Is question E) wrong because Passage B thinks Finnegan's Wake as one of his best known works (line 54) which serves that basis of "Finn's Hotel" so Passage B would think Finnegan's Wake is also a greatest work of James Joyce?

[nicholaspavic]

Hi lunsandy,

Passage B does not say that Finnegan's Wake is Joyce's greatest work. Full stop. Being a better known work of Joyce does not mean that it is his greatest work. The two concepts are totally separate and one cannot infer one of those from the other. That's one of the reasons why (E) is wrong.

Thanks for the question.