Harry Trevalga: You and your publication

Answer choices

1. A

   Irrelevant Quality: editor's grudge8% picked this

   The poetry editor does not bear a grudge against Harry Trevalga for his winning the

   If we negate this "not", we hear that "the editor DOES bear a grudge against Harry". Does that weaken? Does that help us argue, "See, this isn't fair?" No, because the author will remind us that the editor doesn't know the name of the poet who wrote any poem that she's judging, so, he presumes, she wouldn't know which one is Harry's.

   8%
2. B

   Out of Scope: Submission Patterns3% picked this

   It is not unusual for poets to contribute many poems to the publisher’s publication without ever having

   If we negate this lovable "not", we'd hear that it's very weird for someone to contribute lots of poems but never get accepted. Oooh, that sounds like Harry is getting shafted, right? That weakens? Not really, because it doesn't address the judging process at all. Even if Harry's experience with this publication really does seem like they specifically hate him, we still don't have a way to say that judging process was biased. The poems are anonymous. Even if this magazine does hate Harry, how would they use their hatred in anonymous judging?

   3%
3. C

   Correct84% picked this

   The poetry editor cannot recognize the poems submitted by Harry Trevalga as his unless Trevalga’s name

   Why this is right

   This assumption provides us with one of the two missing links we cited, "If there's no name, then you can't figure out who the poem is by" It uses language specific to Harry, but has the same gist. We treat "unless" as "if-not", so this translates into If Harry's name is not attached to the poem, the editor can't tell it's a Harry poem. Whenever we see conditional answers on Nec Assump, we look at the reasoning move the answer describes and ask ourselves if it matches the argument's logical flow. Did the author establish that Harry's name wasn't attached, and then say/assume they wouldn't be able to tell that Harry wrote the poem? Yes!

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

   84%
4. D

   Opposite4% picked this

   The poetry editor’s decisions on which poems to publish are not based strictly on judgments

   It seems like this author is saying the editor's judging is completely fair, i.e. is is decided strictly on merit. If we negated this, it would strengthen.

   4%
5. E

   Out of Scope: Pen Name1% picked this

   Harry Trevalga submitted his poems to the publisher’s publication under his

   Whether Harry used his real name or his nom de plume doesn't change the conversation. The publisher will say "there were NO names attached to the poems being judged".

   1%