Which one of the following is an application of a principle underlying passage B to the view of detective fiction asc...

Skylar on October 20, 2019

@kristinsmith04 Happy to help!

The question asks us to apply the underlying principle in Passage B to the view of detective fiction in Passage A. First, we need to identify what this principle is. In this case, Passage B discusses how genres should be classified with regards to "a distinction between reading protocols" (lines 29-30) rather than with regards to "thematic similarities" (line 2). To illustrate this principle, Passage B gives the example of poetry and how readers employ rhetorical protocols in this genre by looking "for rhetorical figures that exploit, among other things, the phonic aspects of the words making up that text" (lines 46-48). Passage B also offers an example of the rhetorical protocols that readers engage in when reading science fiction.

Now that we have a grasp on the principle of Passage B, we are tasked with applying it to the view of detective fiction in Passage A. Essentially, we need evaluate detective fiction in the same way that Passage B evaluated poetry. So, we want to look at the rhetorical protocols, or the way that readers read and pay attention to various parts of the text. Passage A notes that readers of detective fiction approach "literature with such 'incredulity and suspicions'" (lines 6-7), so this is the view that we want to portray.

Answer choice (C) incorporates the principle of Passage B (rhetorical protocols/looking at how readers approach and focus on elements of a text) and the view of Passage A (readers of detective fiction read with suspicion), so it is correct.

Answer choice (D) focuses on thematic similarities ("must involve the unraveling of a puzzle") rather than rhetorical protocols, which misses the principle of Passage B. Moreover, it does not incorporate the view in Passage A regarding readers being suspicious. Therefore, (D) does not apply the principle of Passage B to the view of Passage A and is incorrect.

Does this make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions!

kristinsmith04 on October 20, 2019

Thank you! Hugely helpful