Critic: Vampires have traditionally been symbols of pure evil. Recently there has been a trend in entertainment of humanizing vampires. This is unfortunate.
The overall trend in entertainment toward moral complexity is a good thing. But evil exists in the world, and the vampire myth is one of the most powerful representations of that.
The claim that the overall trend in entertainment toward moral complexity is a good thing plays which one of the following roles in the critic's argument?
The critic argues that humanizing vampires is unfortunate because vampires are especially powerful symbols of evil. The boldface statement
limits the scope of that criticism. The critic is
not rejecting moral complexity in entertainment generally, only its application to vampires.
(A) It states a principle used to support the conclusion of the argument.
Incorrect. The claim does not support the criticism of humanizing vampires. It actually concedes that moral complexity is generally valuable.
(B) It places limits on how broadly the conclusion of the argument should be generalized.
Correct. The critic says moral complexity in entertainment is generally good, while arguing that humanizing vampires is an exception. Thus, the statement prevents the conclusion from being interpreted as a rejection of moral complexity in entertainment overall.
(C) It justifies the need for the argument's being given.
Incorrect. It does not explain why the argument needs to be made.
(D) It provides a hypothesis that is rejected in the conclusion of the argument.
Incorrect. The critic accepts that moral complexity is generally good. The statement is not rejected.
(E) It is the conclusion of the argument.
Incorrect. The conclusion is that the trend of humanizing vampires is unfortunate.
Answer: (B)