Question 8

[EmilieW17]

I understand why the right answer is D...but I am still having a hard time eliminating C and understanding what makes C wrong. Can anyone shed some insight?

[Laura Damone]

What a fun passage!

I'm wondering whether you fully untangled this crazy question stem for #8. The reason I say that: If this were a simple "the passage provides the most support for inferring which of the following about picaresque novels," both C and D could fit the bill. However, this question asks us, in essence, to infer why conventional society in those novels perceive the picaro as dangerous. That's a different question altogether. Looking at C through that lens, it's not as tempting. Society wouldn't think the picaro dangerous because they marginalized him. Likely it's the opposite: society marginalized the picaro because they think him dangerous. D, on the other hand, makes more sense: The picaro is dangerous to society because he forces society to reckon with its own hypocrisy.

The takeaway: Take the time to parse that question stem. I did it by isolating the parts that were clear to me ( "The passage provides the most support for inferring" and "for which of the following reasons"), which helped me figure out it was asking me to infer why something was the case. Then I went back to the dense middle of the stem to figure out what that something was: society's impression of the picaro as dangerous in those books.


Hope this helps!

[Ashutoshk335]

I couldn't find support for (D), and i found (E) equally plausible. Maybe, i didn't understand the below part well.
Below is my understanding:

S1: The picaro indulges in vices and follies with relish and freedom, much to the outrage of other members of society, who often secretly indulge in (20) similar pastimes out of a habitual compulsion. S2: Thus the picaro’s authenticity serves as a foil to the perceived hypocrisy of conventional society. S3: To such a society, the picaro can represent a dangerous, disruptive freedom, and it reacts by marginalizing him.

S1: Picaro did some bad thing, and members of the society weren't happy with it, even though they themselves indulged in bad business secretly.

S2: Picaro's opening doing bad things acts as a cover for the hypocritical society

S3: Society thinks, what Picaro represents is a bad thing, hence they marginalize him.

Is it correct? If yes, how can we find support for (D)? (D) seems to take a big leap!