Author Vadya Taikon's first novel, The Good Road, was reviewed

Question

Author Vadya Taikon's first novel,  The Good Road , was reviewed by many critics who felt that it was well written, creative, and had a unique perspective. However, the critics unanimously said it had too much historical detail to sell well, as did all of the literary agents to whom Taikon sent the book. Taikon's second book,  The God in the Cauldron , has been a top seller and avoids any mention of historical detail. Clearly, the comments of critics and agents caused Taikon to change his writing style.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion of the above argument?

a) Taikon made a profit from sales of the first book.
b) Another historical novel published in the same year by a different author contained as much historical detail as  The Good Road  and was a best seller.
c) Taikon's primary goal in writing novels is to provide entertainment for his family and friends, regardless of how many copies of the book are sold.
d) Taikon's first novel was intended to be a historical novel.
e) Taikon's first novel was considerably longer than his second novel.

Source: Barron's LSAT

veteranrookie · Answer

(c) or (d).

Confused. OA please?

Though I'd go with (d)

Sent from my MI PAD using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Mahmud6 · Answer

Any official explanation, please? Can't find reason why d is wrong.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi,

since the confusion is between C and D, let me concentrate on these TWO

PARA:-
The first book was full of historical data and it did not sell well. Critiques and others found the book good but believed that too much time historical data. Next book sold very well and it did not have any historical data. So the author changed his style on critiques recommendation.

Now C is 
 c) Taikon's primary goal in writing novels is to provide entertainment for his family and friends, regardless of how many copies of the book are sold. 
The very reason the author writes book is for entertainment for his family. Clearly what others think doesn't matter and he would not have changed his writing style for selling more copies.
Clearly the answer

d) Taikon's first novel was intended to be a historical novel. 
First novel was intended to be historical. So he could have decided to change his style and contents on critic advice. So it doesn't weaken the argument.
But you may assume that the first was intended to be historical and second was to be fictional, do the advice did not affect the style.
Surely it could be the case but nothing tells us that the initial could not be the case where he changed his style due to others

rulingbear · Answer

Hi Mahmud, D is wrong IMO because it states that the author intended to write a historical novel, this is the inherent premise in the prompt and would not weaken the conclusion that fear of flopping in the market made the author change his mind. A good weakener would be to attack the critics' assumption i.e there are other reasons other than money why the author writes and the OA provided that i.e for the pleasure of his folks, regardless of sales. Hence why C is correct, the other close answer is A, i.e that the first novel was profitable anyway. However, C is correct because the question asked for the most serious weakner. The trap inherent in C is that it seems out of scope, because of the introduction of family and friends, but it is ultimately correct.

urhowig · Answer

Kindly reply to this question.

YashYashkratos · Answer

conclusion- critics made taikon change his writing style.

D- Trap option - directly talks about content historical events in the books however does nothing to prove critics influenced taikon.
C- CORRECT- says taikon does not care about the books being sold which critics used as support for their suggestion- goes to show taikon was not concerned with their suggestion.

abhishekujjawal · Answer

To evaluate which option most seriously weakens the conclusion that the comments of critics and agents caused Taikon to change his writing style, let's break down the argument and examine each option:

**Argument:**
1. Taikon's first novel had too much historical detail according to critics and agents.
2. His second novel, which lacks historical detail, became a top seller.
3. Therefore, the argument concludes that the critics' and agents' comments led Taikon to change his writing style.

**Conclusion:** The comments of critics and agents caused Taikon to change his writing style.

**Options Analysis:**

a) **Taikon made a profit from sales of the first book.**
- This doesn't address whether the critics' and agents' comments influenced his writing style.

b) **Another historical novel published in the same year by a different author contained as much historical detail as The Good Road and was a best seller.**
- This suggests that historical detail itself might not be a deterrent to selling well, but it doesn't directly address Taikon's reason for changing his writing style.

c) **Taikon's primary goal in writing novels is to provide entertainment for his family and friends, regardless of how many copies of the book are sold.**
- If Taikon writes primarily to entertain his family and friends rather than to sell books, the critics' and agents' comments about sales potential would be less likely to influence his writing style. This directly challenges the conclusion that their comments caused him to change his style.

d) **Taikon's first novel was intended to be a historical novel.**
- This fact aligns with the first book's historical detail but doesn't explain the shift in the second novel's style or contradict the conclusion.

e) **Taikon's first novel was considerably longer than his second novel.**
- The length of the novels doesn't directly impact the conclusion about why the style changed, though it might suggest different focuses in writing.

Given these analyses, the option that most seriously weakens the conclusion is **c) Taikon's primary goal in writing novels is to provide entertainment for his family and friends, regardless of how many copies of the book are sold.** This is because it directly challenges the idea that sales potential and comments from critics and agents were the primary influences on his writing style.

Posted from my mobile device

Author Vadya Taikon's first novel, The Good Road, was reviewed

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Author Vadya Taikon's first novel, The Good Road, was reviewed

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards