16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardTwo authors weighing a claim about a text

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The anonymous poem in the abbey manuscript was written by a nun of the house, argues scholar Ida Brenn, since it refers to the abbey's own saint and to the view from its cloister. Text 2 Brenn's evidence places the poet in the abbey, not necessarily in the community. Abbeys housed guests, pensioners, and chaplains as well as nuns, and the poem's grammar uses masculine forms for its speaker throughout. A man who lived in the abbey and knew its saint and its cloister fits the evidence at least as well.

Which choice best describes how the author of Text 2 responds to Brenn's argument?

  1. A. By accepting that the poet knew the abbey while arguing that the evidence does not show the poet was a nun.Correct
  2. B. By denying that the poem mentions the abbey's saint.
  3. C. By claiming the poem was written elsewhere.
  4. D. By agreeing that a nun wrote the poem.

Answer: A. By accepting that the poet knew the abbey while arguing that the evidence does not show the poet was a nun.

In the abbey, yes; a nun, not shown; masculine forms.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that the poem mentions the abbey's saint.
Text 2 accepts the references.
C. By claiming the poem was written elsewhere.
Text 2 places the poet in the abbey.
D. By agreeing that a nun wrote the poem.
The reverse.

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