LSAT 36, Logical Reasoning I, Q19

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: The “patriotism” in Arton’s work was ironic.

REASONING: Conditions in Arton’s country were bad when she wrote her poetry. 

ANALYSIS: The argument doesn’t take into account the possibility that people may not always feel the same way about what’s going on in their country. 

Arton might have loved her country when writing her poetry, even if others were upset at the time.

___________

1. The argument didn’t say if unemployment causes crime. And that is irrelevant to the question of whether Arton was patriotic. 
2. Not quite. The argument is assuming that patriotism is impossible for a serious writer living in a country going through hard times. 
3. CORRECT. Arton may have been patriotic even if most of her fellow citizens weren’t. 
4. This is a relevant point, but C is better. We don’t know if Arton prospered, and individual prosperity might not be enough to make someone optimistic if their country was in danger.
5. These are clearly different things and the argument didn’t mix them up. The point of mentioning irony was to show that Arton couldn’t possible have been seriously patriotic when morale was so low. 

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