aragonn wrote:
According to many critics, Shakespeare’s greatest gift to English literature was the introduction of the evolving character, that is, one who changes throughout the course of the work by virtue of his or her own words and thoughts. King Lear and Hamlet are two fine examples. Often, this achievement is what critics cite as justification for dubbing Shakespeare the greatest writer in the English language. However, it is a little-known fact that Chaucer achieved this very effect some 200 years before, with his masterfully penned pilgrims Alisoun of Bath and the Pardoner.
Which of the following statements can best be inferred from the passage?
(A) Chaucer was the greatest English writer.
(B) Chaucer’s Alisoun and the Pardoner resemble Shakespeare’s Lear and Hamlet in more ways than one.
(C) If whoever introduced the evolving character deserves the title of “the greatest writer in English,” then Chaucer should hold that distinction.
(D) The only reason Chaucer is not considered the greatest writer in the English language is because he wrote in Middle, and not modern, English.
(E) “Greatest” is a term that cannot be applied to writers.
Official Explanation:
Squib: Note that Shakespeare has been called the greatest writer in the English language solely because he purportedly introduced the technique of the evolv-ing character. The final sentence contradicts this widely held idea by introducing the little-known fact that Shakespeare did not introduce this technique. In-stead Chaucer, another English writer, introduced the technique centuries before Shakespeare.
Question stem: This squib is an inference question that requires you to use some of the facts of the squib to make the following inference: Chaucer, because he really first introduced the tech-nique, would deserve any accolades that Shakespeare received for the introduction of the technique.
Correct answer: C. Chaucer was the first to intro-duce the technique. If the sole basis for bestowing the title of greatest writer in English is the introduction of this technique, then clearly Chaucer would deserve this distinction because he introduced it before Shakespeare.
(A) This claim cannot be made based on the infor-mation in the squib. Shakespeare contributed to the English language in many ways, so he may deserve the title of greatest writer even though it was Chaucer who introduced the evolving character technique.
(B) From the squib, we can infer that Chaucer’s Al-isoun and the Pardoner resemble each other in only one way: They were evolving characters.
(D) This answer is clearly wrong because there is nothing in the squib about Middle versus modern English.
(E) This answer is clearly wrong because it contra-dicts the facts of the squib, in which the term “greatest” is applied to Shakespeare.