Which route treats a critic's view as an argument to test?

• Read the claim, copy it, end the discussion
• Read the claim, test it, revise your argument
• Read the claim, reject it, ignore the evidence

Before responding to a critic in your planning notes, what gives your investigation a focus?

• A working claim of your own
• A copied conclusion from the critic
• A complete list of the critic's books

A critic discusses the ending only. Paraphrasing that view as a claim about every chapter preserves its scope.

A paragraph argues that a narrator's praise is ironic. A critic reads the praise literally. How can the writer use that view?

• Add the critic's biography without connecting it to irony
• Quote the critic at length without examining the praise
• Test the literal reading against the paragraph's evidence

A critic claims every action of a hero is driven by greed. One scene supports this; two clearly show other motives. Which response fits that evidence?

• Accept the whole claim and omit the other motives
• Accept its fit to one scene and explain its limits
• Reject the whole claim and omit the greed scene

An accurately copied critical quotation still needs a source reference so readers can locate its context.

An essay reports agreement with every critic it mentions but gives no textual reasons for that agreement. What is missing?

• An explanation of why the critical claims hold
• A rule requiring disagreement with every critic
• A longer quotation from each critic mentioned

Omar finds joyful words after quoting a critic who reads the poem as despairing throughout. What should he do before deciding that the critic's claim is too broad?

• Remove the joyful words so his first reading stays intact
• Treat any joyful word as proof that the whole poem is happy
• Read the joyful words in context beside the despairing passages