#17 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Author’s Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[iwishiwasbaking]

Hi Powerscore,

I was hoping for some help finding evidence to support A. I chose A in my timed practice, but during blind review, I changed my answer to D. In both runs, I eliminated B, C, and E, as the word "political" in the passage isn't referring to politics or policy. That left me with A and D. Originally, I thought "zealous determination" better matched Rosenthal's apparent purpose, but upon review, I struggled to find evidence of her desire to "transform traditional categories of thought," instead of just "question[ing]" them (line 2). With D, I thought perhaps "heated debate" better aligned with the word "political" -- that Ricks was implying that Rosenthal wanted to start some type of discourse? Overall, I was a bit lost on the evidence for either option.

Thank you in advance!!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi iwishiwasbaking,

You're in the right ballpark, but you're not focusing as strongly on what the author is suggesting as the question wants you to. After all, that is what the question asks for: what "the author of passage A suggests that Rosenthal exhibits" with this phrase. The problem with going back to line 2 for the evidence of this is that line 2 gives us Rosenthal's own words. She says her purpose is to "question" certain categories, a softer term. But the author gives Rosenthal's book a pretty radical reading. In other words, Rosenthal herself might say, "I'm just asking questions about these categories." But the author reads her as doing something more extreme. Look at the end of the first paragraph: "such rhetorical questioning invariably leads to the required postmodern answer: that there is no difference between these things." In other words, the author suggests that she's doing more than questioning. She's transforming traditional categories by removing the distinctions among them. You get the same sense at the beginning of the next paragraph: "[Rosenthal] writes as if a political approach has to extirpate all moral considerations." In other words, traditional categories are being transformed by getting rid of all moral considerations.

Those are the references that back answer choice A, and given that there aren't any great references backing answer choice D (the author himself writes in a heated way about Rosenthal, but doesn't suggest that Rosenthal's purpose is to provoke that heat), that's what we're left with!

I hope this helps!

[christinamartello]

Could I have an explanation as to why (C) is incorrect? Thanks.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi christinamartello!

A problem with answer choice (C) is that I don't see any mention of Rosenthal hoping to foment a political revolution. There'd need to be either direct support or at least very persuasive indirect support for something like that in the passage.

The line reference in the question refers to the following sentence in passage A: "Though the book is animated by a political fervor that is clearly moral, the author writes as if a political approach has to extirpate all moral considerations from any discussion of plagiarism." The author of passage A is clear that Rosenthal has an agenda, specifically "to 'delegitimize' the distinction between imitation and plagiarism." That is why (A) is correct--Rosenthal seeks to transform categories of thought in ways that Ricks sees as problematic.