More Solitary Passages Questions - - Question 4

The passage suggests that Posner might find legal training useful in the interpretation of a literary text in which

BradG May 2, 2019

Please explain why C is correct and why B is wrong

I selected B thinking it's directly supported by 24-25 when it discusses the loose use of the law. These lines state that the laws primary use in literature as a metaphor for the workings of a society. This is right in line with answer choice B.

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Irene-Vera May 22, 2019

Hi, I also chose B on the same basis.

Ravi May 22, 2019

@BradG and @Irene-Vera,

Happy to help. Let's take a look at (B) and (C).

(B) says, "an oppressive law is used to symbolize an oppressive culture"

The paragraph we should be focusing on is the one from lines 20
through 35. Here, we see that Posner's critique on why legal training
isn't all that useful for the interpretation of literature is that
writers of literature usually use the law very loosely or as a
metaphor in order to convey an idea, whereas actual legal questions
are rarely at issue. An oppressive law being used to symbolize an
oppressive culture would qualify as an instance when a lawyer's input
would not be useful. Thus, (B) is out.

(C) says, "one of the key issues involves the answer to a legal question"

Posner's whole point is that legal training isn't really useful for
interpreting literature because the law is usually used symbolically
or metaphorically in literature. From this, we can infer that an
instance in which legal training could be more useful would be when
there is actually a real legal question or issue that's involved in
the text in a non-symbolic or metaphoric way. With (C), we have a real
legal question that could be answered by an individual who has legal
training, so (C) is the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!