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I see you immediately reached towards the language in the question stem "most weakens," I want to point out an issue of analyzing questions this way. In practice, the LSAT doesn't introduce two answers that satisfy the question stem to different degrees. There is, almost always, no best answer, rather, there is only one answer that necessarily does what the stem is asking.

Let's take a look here. Weaken question. So we know there's a conclusion, that conclusion is not necessarily true, and now we must first identify the author's error of reasoning and then find the answer whose effect illustrates that flaw.

We know the drill for the first phase of this analysis: conclusion, premises, gap. In this argument, our author concludes that two works could almost not possibly be written by the same author because they differ in tone, vocabulary, and plot. But do these three characteristics of a writing completely determine the author of that writing? Or are they insufficient? Must at least one of these three qualities be reflected in every work by a specific author? Or could an author write things that do not share any of these qualities? I don't know, but that's precisely what's at issue here. Without a rule on point, we can't make this conclusion. That's the flaw.

So what I'm looking for in an answer choice is something that disproves the assumption underlying the argument. The assumption is that an author's writings must have at least one of the three qualities in common to some extent. Because if that's not true, if the writings of an author do not require these features to be similar, then any differences in tone, vocabulary, and plot, are not necessarily sufficient for us to conclude the identify of the author.

That's a big step towards the correct answer and we did all of that work before even reading any of the answers. Now let's look at the one you have an issue on.

Ahh, you think it is obviously (B). Well this answer presents some minor differences. Sweet! They are different because of errors unrelated to the author! So they could be by the same guy because of editing errors! Right? Or is it the case that this answer weakens only if it can account for the "great" discrepancies mentioned in the stimulus? What if these minor errors are just that, minor? What if they don't impact the greatness of the gap between these three qualities in the two works? If that's the case, and it likely is because minor errors probably do not result in great discrepancies across multiple characteristics, then we really haven't weakened the argument have we?

I'll spend just a moment on the correct answer. First off, does it really matter or make a difference if the author is modern? He could have been post-modern, pre-modern, post-pre-modern, or have written in the dark ages---presumably shrouded in darkness for the full effect---for all we care. This answer establishes that the assumption underlying the argument is not always true. And what that does is it shows how the conclusion is not "almost certainly true," instead there's some certainty missing! These three things do not always determine who wrote a certain work; there are times, at least one time that we know of, where an author could write things that are completely different in these respects. Which leaves us wondering: "How many other times is it the case that this assumption doesn't hold up?" If we were having a conversation right now, hopefully a pleasant one, with the author of this argument, he would have to respond to this answer by showing how, in this scenario, the assumption is a valid one because we know that sometimes, perhaps most of the time, it is an invalid assumption.

Does that clear things up?

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No problem. I enjoy this type of back and forth. Before I address your points directly, I want to point out something crucial that you may have looked over. Your post has two parts, both quoted and questioned below. Now in the first you introduce a possible interpretation that, if true, would weaken the argument, but that possibility is far from certainly true. In the second part you've disputed my point that the correct answer necessarily weakens the argument, though you did concede the point that this answer invalidates the assumption underlying the argument in at least some instances. Do you see the separation between these answers? You've already identified them in your analysis above! One answer leaves certainty to be desired, it could weaken or it could not weaken depending upon how you interpret it. The other answer renders the author's assumption not necessarily true. The effect of the second answer is much stronger than that of the first.

bpolley0 wrote:Yes, the copying errors are definitively minor, but the "other textual corruptions" here are left for the reader to wonder. Is it the fact that the entire text was copyrighted? Or is it simply a minor "textual corruption". The words textual corruption, at least in my opinion, don't sound minor. In fact, textual corruptions makes it sound like this document might not be a representation of the poems at ALL, as it is corrupted. If that is true it throws out the second sentence completely "But these two poems differ greatly in tone etc. etc." based only on the corrupt manuscripts they may not differ at all! which would completely ruins the basis of the whole argument

This is the crux of the issue with (B), there's more I suppose but we've cast that aside. There are questions that we need answers to in order to select this answer and because those questions, the ones you've raised above in fact, are unanswered, we can't let ourselves select this answer. This answer requires an assumption (that the corruption was material) in order to weaken the argument, and when that is the case, it doesn't necessarily do anything.

bpolley0 wrote:I agree that the assumption then, is not always true. The disagreement is here- "So they are almost certainly not the work of the same poet". How is it that one other writer, somewhere let's say in Africa to use a hyperbole to illustrate my point, add any certainty that in this case, the two poems mentioned are "almost certaintly" not the work of this same poet? My problem is with the word almost. If the initial stem said So they are certainly not the work of the same poet, I would agree with you 100% that introducing one other case with the same example weakens the reasoning. But because of the word almost this doesn't change that at all, in fact I would still be almost certain that, in this case, the work is probably not that of the same poet. Let's take my point a step to the extreme, let's say the new case in C is the ONLY example of that happening ever, yet there are thousands or even millions of cases of where poems differed in the way mentioned in the stem Does C then weaken the stem at all? You would probably say it's an anomaly.

This all comes down to whether or not the phrase "almost certainly," leaves room for an exception. In common usage it does not, at least where I'm from. Further, from experience, the LSAT usually does not run counter to common usage. I looked up a few definitions online and the gist of them is that this phrase does not leave room for any exceptions, though there is an odd circularity about these definitions. *

This is going to seem like a cop out, but sometimes you just have to cast aside technicalities on this test, look at what's in front of you and ask which answers on their face do what the stem is asking you to do. In this case, answer choice (B) requires a further assumption, while answer choice (C) attacks an assumption underlying the argument. In fact, you have to go against the plain meaning of the answer, to not select it.

It's great that you are reading these stimuli and answers so critically, and if you keep at it and become a bit more flexible you're going to kill this test. The combination of this point and the ones I mentioned above should hopefully resolve any remaining issues you have with this question, but I'd be happy to address your response if you still have concerns with this.

* Wikipedia Def of Almost Surely - exceptions to the rule are not impossible, but for most purposes they can be assumed to "never occur."

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Happy to help. And it's a lot of fun when students support their selection and elimination of answers with reasoning of their own. That's the type of stuff that leads to top scores on this test. Keep it up and you'll be in great shape.

And if you really want to destroy this test, start making little notes to yourself from tricky questions that you miss to form a ~red hot patterns~ list. Fancy, huh? This test is so full of patterns that if you learn to recognize them, it kind of falls apart, which is a little sad when you're on my end of things. The point you should take away from this question is that answers which impact unstated assumptions in the Assumption Family (S/A, N/A, Flaw, Strengthen, Weaken, Evaluate the Argument, Principle ID) are more likely to satisfy the question stem than those that do not. Another point is that answers which require an additional fact, answers that under one interpretation satisfy the stem and under another do not, are unlikely to be true.

But at the end of the day, under timed conditions, you just have to get used to recognizing these things and weighing them quickly against what's in the other contending answers. But those two points cover a large variety of the answers you'll see on this test.

Good luck, you're on the right track to a great score.