Self-study
Novelist: Support Any author who thinks a sentence is ungrammatical will not write it down in the first place, and thus will have no need to use a grammar book. ██ ███ █████ █████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ████ █ ████████ ███ ██ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███ ████ █ ████ ██ ███████ █ ███████ █████ █████ ███████ █████ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ████████
Summarize Argument
The novelist concludes that grammar books are useless as references for authors. He argues in support that sentences fall into two categories: those writers believe to be grammatical and those they believe to be ungrammatical. In either case, he claims, authors have no reason to consult a grammar book.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The novelist suggests there are only two options: being sure that a sentence is grammatical or being sure that it’s ungrammatical. This is the cookie-cutter flaw of creating a false dichotomy. What if you’re unsure whether a sentence is grammatical? Perhaps you’d find a grammar book useful in that case.
12.
The reasoning in the novelist's ████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███ ████████
a
infers, from the █████ ████ ███████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ██
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of confusing "is" for "ought;" it’s not applicable here, because the novelist never indicates that authors should not consult grammar books.
b
infers, from the █████ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ █████ ████ █ ████████ ██ ██████████████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ███████████
The word "mistakenly" implies a judgment about a sentence's true grammatical status. But the novelist doesn't say anything about what sentences are truly grammatical or ungrammatical—only what authors believe to be grammatical.
c
overlooks the possibility ████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ███████
The novelist’s conclusion is about the use of grammar books by authors specifically. So their use by non-authors is irrelevant.
d
presumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ ███████ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ███████
The novelist’s conclusion is about using grammar books as reference sources—whether they have other uses is irrelevant.
e
ignores the possibility ████ █████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ █ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ██ █████████████
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of creating a false dichotomy. The novelist commits this by overlooking a third option: instead of being certain that a sentence is grammatical or ungrammatical, one can simply be unsure.