Q18 - It has been a staple

[aryehkln94]

Hi
Can someone help me understand why the answer is (B) over (A)?I thought that A would be a better answer bc since bc since the argument says that playwrights write the plays so that the audience should empathize with the protagonist, then if the playwrights are more critical of there societies (the ones there writing about) then that would give a reason for the historians not to view the societies for what they really were!?

[ohthatpatrick]

The problem with (A) is the leap you're making here:
"then if the playwrights are more critical of their societies (the ones they're writing about)"

We can't equate those.

Question Type: Explain the Discrepancy

Normally our reading goal is
GIVEN THAT ____________ , WHY IS IT THAT ____________ ?

This question acts and feels more like a typical missing link Assumption question.

We need to explain why
historians don't regard "these plays" as serious revelations of what the society depicted in the play was really like

Translation: historians think there is a disconnect between how societies are depicted in these plays and what what those societies were really like

What do we know about "these plays"?
- playwrights want the audience to empathize with the protagonist
- protagonist is an idealist who gets pooped on by the world

Why would that lead to thinking that there's clearly a disconnect between how society is portrayed in the play and how society really is?

(A) This sounds like a distorted picture of society, but we don't know that "these plays" specifically deal with the society the playwright belongs to.

(B) This sounds like a distorted picture of society, but it doesn't seem to connect to either of the two facts mentioned about "these plays".

(C) This seems to go the opposite direction. It makes the plays USEFUL historical references.

(D) This also seems opposite.

(E) We could use this rule to say that "these plays" do not accurately portray society, but only if we knew that "these plays" were unpopular. We don't know that.

Only (A), (B), and (E) have any explanatory power when it comes to showing why historians DON'T TRUST the portrayal of society. With (A), we need to know that the playwright wrote about his/her own society. We don't. With (E), we need to know that "these plays" were unpopular. We don't.

(B) connects a little better to "these plays", on second look, because we're talking about plays in which it's protagonist vs. society, and the playwright wants the audience to side with the protagonist.

So it's probably particularly likely for "these plays" that a playwright would exaggerate the weaknesses of a society, because that makes us root for the protagonist even more.

Thus, (B) is the correct answer.