Logical Reasoning

PT112 · S1 · Q19 Although it has been suggested

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Although it has been suggested that Arton’s plays have a strong patriotic flavor, we must recall that, at the time of their composition, her country was in anything but a patriotic mood.

Conclusion

Any apparent patriotism in Arton's plays must have been intended ironically.

Evidence

Some say Arton's plays have a strong patriotic flavor. But at the time she wrote them, the country was not in a patriotic mood — high unemployment, expensive food, soaring crime, low morale.

Evaluate

The argument moves from "the country was in a low/non-patriotic mood" to "Arton's patriotism was ironic." That works only if Arton herself shared, or was responsive to, the prevailing national mood. But many writers buck the prevailing mood — some are uplifting precisely because times are bad. The argument assumes Arton's mood matched her countrymen's.

Goal

The correct answer should describe an unjustified assumption that Arton was attuned to (or shared) the predominant national mood.

19.

The reasoning above is questionable because it

posits an unstated relationship between
Bad Description
The argument lists unemployment, expensive food, and high crime as separate symptoms of a bad national mood — it doesn't claim any causal link between unemployment and crime. The flaw isn't about a hidden relationship between two of the listed conditions; it's about the leap from the country's mood to Arton's personal outlook.
1% picked this
takes for granted that straightforward
Bad Description
The argument doesn't treat "serious writer" as relevant — it doesn't claim that genuine patriotism is impossible for any serious writer. It claims that Arton's patriotism in this particular era must have been ironic because the era was unpatriotic. That's a different (and narrower) move than a blanket claim about serious writers.
4% picked this
Correct
takes for granted that Arton
Why this is right
This nails the assumption. The argument bridges "the country was unpatriotic" and "Arton's patriotic-sounding work was ironic" only by assuming Arton herself shared, or was attuned to, the prevailing national attitude. If she wasn't — if she was a contrarian, or if she was specifically pushing back against the national mood — her apparent patriotism could be sincere. The argument takes for granted that Arton was in lockstep with her countrymen's mood.
Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
85% picked this
overlooks the fact that some
Bad Objection
The argument's claim is about the predominant national mood — that the country was, on balance, in a low mood. The fact that some citizens prosper during high unemployment doesn't change the predominant mood claim, and so doesn't affect the argument. This objection wouldn't actually undercut the reasoning. The real flaw lies elsewhere: the leap from national mood to Arton's personal mood.
4% picked this
confuses irony with a general
Equivocation
"Irony" is used in only one sense — the rhetorical sense (apparent meaning vs. actual meaning). "General decline in public morale" is a separate concept the argument uses straightforwardly. The argument doesn't conflate them or shift between meanings of "irony." The flaw isn't a word-meaning trick; it's the assumption about Arton's mood matching the country's.
7% picked this

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