LSAT 5 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q24

LR Question 24 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Certain minor peculiarities of language are used…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: If an odd expression occurs in multiple poets’ works, it belongs to that era. If it only appears in one author, it belongs to that author.

ANALYSIS: We may not have identified all poems from an era, and these phrases are rare.

Suppose we know that John Milton used a certain phrase and we don’t have any other examples of poets using it. So we think it is unique to Milton. But then we find a poem that uses that phrase but otherwise does not match Milton’s style. Is the poem Milton’s, or did another unknown author use the phrase, proving that it wasn’t unique to Milton?

There is no way of deciding.

___________

1. Not necessarily. Academics tend to have a lot of time on their hands. They might investigate even without additional evidence.
2. This shows that the technique could not provide definitive proof of the authorship of every poem. We’re trying to prove it couldn’t work for any poem.
3. CORRECT. Yes. There is no way of knowing if the odd phrase was only used by one poet or if we simply have not found all of the poems where it was used.
4. All the same the minor peculiarities can provide useful clues.
5. Still, scholars would be able to tell poets by their use of expressions. It wouldn’t matter if the expression was used consciously or subconsciously.

Recap: The question begins with “Certain minor peculiarities of language are used”. It is a Weaken question. Learn more about LSAT Weaken questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.