Q1

[skapur777]

I got this answer correct, but as usual, I'm trying to see why the others are incorrect (which explains my millions of post per night, it seems!). I was between A and C. Is C incorrect because the dichotomy is not illustrated in the novels themselves but in the various critics' widely divergent viewpoints? But the critics had to get their viewpoints for something, and clearly there is some middle ground that these novels are treading to elicit such opposing interpretations...perhaps then, the dichotomy is not well-illustrated because the lines are blurred in the author's novels?

[giladedelman]

Good post! I agree that (C) is tempting. But there are a few things wrong with it.

First, you make a nice point about how if a work of literature is blurring the lines between something, that's kind of the opposite of illustrating a dichotomy.

(I'm actually not sure that even matters here, because the passage never addresses this particular dichotomy. Okay, maybe "highbrow" and "true literature" are close enough to "sophisticated," but where do we get "popular"? I don't think we do! We get "enjoyable" and "lowbrow," but never does the passage actually address whether that's popular.)

Ultimately, the crucial issue here, and the best reason to get rid of answer (C), is that we are being asked for the author's main conclusion. The author doesn't merely conclude that P.D. James's works illustrate something; no, the conclusion is much stronger, and is articulated as clearly as you could ask for in the final paragraph: "But perhaps the time has come for P. D. James to slide out of her handcuffs and stride into the territory of the mainstream novel." That's the author's conclusion, so an answer that doesn't mention this point can't possibly be correct here.

(A), on the other hand, neatly rehashes this conclusion, which is why it's correct.

(B) is out; the author never says popular novels and true creative expression are incompatible, and certainly doesn't think James's potential is diminished.

(D) is totally unsupported: we know the characters are painstakingly constructed, but not the plots. And even if this were true it would obviously be too narrow in scope.

(E) is the exact opposite of the author's conclusion.

Does that clear this up for you?

[skapur777]

Yep! Thank you.