Sometimes one reads a poem

Answer choices

1. A

   Irrelevant Comparison8% picked this

   Different readers will usually disagree about what the author of a particular poem intends to communicate by

   The difference need not be between what different readers believe an author intends to communicate, but rather between what authors intend to express and what is expressed.

   8%
2. B

   Supports a Premise20% picked this

   If someone writes a great poem, he or she intends the poem to express

   This supports a premise of the argument.

   20%
3. C

   Wrong Outcome11% picked this

   Readers will not agree about the meaning of a poem if they do not agree about what the author of the poem

   Whether readers will agree about the meaning of a poem is not relevant.

   11%
4. D

   Weaken8% picked this

   Anyone reading a great poem can discern every idea that the author intended to express

   This makes it less likely that there is a mismatch between the author’s view and that of the reader. Without that mismatch it would not be wrong to think that the meaning of a poem is whatever the author intends to communicate.

   8%
5. E

   Correct52% picked this

   If a reader believes that a poem expresses a particular idea, then that idea is part of the

   Why this is right

   This bridges the gap between a BCI → CI reader believing that a poem expresses contradictory ideas and the poem actually expressing contradictory ideas.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   52%