Self-study
Franklin: Support The only clue I have as to the identity of the practical joker is the handwriting on the note. ██████████ █ █████ ███████ ███████ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ███████ █████
Summarize Argument
The author hypothesizes that the practical joker must be someone besides Miller. This is because the only clue about the identity of the practical joker is the handwriting on the note, and the handwriting isn’t Miller’s.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks the possibility that Miller could have been the practical joker and enlisted someone else to write the note. The correct answer should relate to why Miller could have been the practical joker despite the handwriting not being hers.
14.
Which one of the following ████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ██████████
a
It fails to ████████ ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██████
If there were more than one practical joker, then Miller could have been one of them and someone else could have written the note. This possibility undermines the argument, and the author fails to consider it.
b
It fails to ████████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ███████
We already know that the handwriting is not Miller’s. This is a premise we accept. The exact degree of difference between Miller’s handwriting and the handwriting on the note therefore doesn’t matter.
c
It provides no ███████████ ███ ███ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ████████
The author’s conclusion is simply that the joker is not Miller. Why Miller was initially suspected doesn’t relate to whether or not Miller is the joker based on the handwriting sample.
d
It provides no ███████████ ███ ███ ████ ███ █████ ██ ████████ ███ █████████
The author doesn’t need to explain why only one piece of evidence was obtained. The author is allowed to make an argument based on whatever evidence is available.
e
It takes for ███████ ████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ████ ████ ███████████ ██ ██ ███████
This confuses sufficient and necessary conditions. The author assumes that if the handwriting isn’t Miller’s, then Miller is not the joker. But this doesn’t imply that if the handwriting were Miller’s, it would prove Miller was the joker.