#13 - Advertisers typically prohibit graphic designers from

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Main Point. The correct answer choice is (C).

The stimulus identifies a common practice (advertisers prohibiting graphic designers from signing their work) and then tells us that practice is a bad idea. The last sentence, about the negative effects of anonymity, is a premise that supports the claim in the second sentence, which is that "it is better that graphic designers not remain anonymous." That claim is the main conclusion, and as this is a Main Point question, that sentence is also our prephrase.

Answer choice (A): This is a paraphrase of a portion the first sentence, which was neither a premise nor a conclusion, but merely background information that set up the subject matter of the argument.

Answer choice (B): Just like answer A, this is just a portion of the first sentence, which only provided background info.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. As we prephrased, the author seeks to prove, based on the negative effects described in the last sentence, that forcing graphic designers to remain anonymous is a bad idea.

Answer choice (D): This is a portion of the premise, not the main conclusion.

Answer choice (E): This is also just a portion of the premise in the last sentence of the stimulus.

[studyhelp20]

Dear Power Score Staff,

Can you please provide me with the correct answer to this problem? thanks in advance

Sincerely,
Brennan

[Adam Tyson]

Hey Brennan, we have now completed the official explanation, and that should answer your question. See the top of the thread.

[supernerd]

I highlighted the correct conclusion, but still chose D.

For C –– I didn't like the phrasing "not desirable." How does being "better" translate into being "desirable," if graphic designers do not remain anonymous?

I chose D, since the following sentence speaks to effectiveness, and I saw this as backing up the conclusion.

I think I get it but am nervous about this kind of wording.

[Robert Carroll]

supernerd,

In this case, no other answer choice is close - the only answer choice that resembles the second sentence is answer choice (C). If you identified that as the conclusion, you have to pick an answer that matches it. Answer choice (D) is a premise, as you indeed point out in what you're saying, so it's not the main point. The difference in one word - "better" versus "desirable - is very minor, whereas the difference between the second sentence and every answer choice except (C) is large. In this case, the discomfort of choosing an answer with a synonym should be much less than the discomfort of choosing an answer that doesn't match the conclusion at all.

Robert Carroll

[Hyunuk Park]

The last sentence,
"Anonymity undermines effective graphic design by making it difficult to hold designers accountable for their work."
is closest to "D) Graphic design is made less effective by anonymity on the part of graphic designers." isn't it?

Could you please further clarify why it's wrong?

[sandson]

If there were a colon between the last two sentences instead of a period ("Nonetheless, it is better that graphic designers not remain anonymous: anonymity undermines effective graphic design by making it difficult to hold designers accountable for their work."), would answer (D) have been the better choice?

The way I'm interpreting this, (D) is incorrect because the sentence "Anonymity undermines effective graphic design by making it difficult to hold designers accountable for their work." is a premise supporting the conclusion, but the conclusion doesn't rely primarily on this premise. But if a colon were introduced, this would indicate that the premise is necessary to the conclusion.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Hyunuk,

First, if you haven't done so already, I'd recommend reading the other posts for this question, especially the question explanation at the top.

As the explanation points out, the conclusion of the argument is the second sentence in the stimulus, not the third. The third sentence is a premise that supports the conclusion in the second sentence.

Since Answer D matches the premise rather than the conclusion, it is incorrect for this Main Point question.

As a general note, the conclusion for Main Point questions usually does not appear in the last sentence of the stimulus because that is where most people would expect it and that would make it too easy.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi sandson,

The colon versus a period would make no difference in the logic of the argument and which answer is correct, although if the two sentences were to be combined, they would likely be linked with a premise indicator such as "because" or "since" rather than a colon.

The statement in the third sentence provides the support for the statement in the second sentence (and not the other way around).

In other words, it is because anonymity undermines effective graphic design that it is better that graphic designers not remain anonymous.

You wrote:

"Anonymity undermines effective graphic design by making it difficult to hold designers accountable for their work." is a premise supporting the conclusion, but the conclusion doesn't rely primarily on this premise.

In fact, the conclusion does rely primarily on this premise. That premise is the direct (and only) support provided for the conclusion.