Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany's 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an occupation which, in Delany's work,...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany's 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an occupation which, in Delany's work, is not ________: nearly a dozen of the characters that populate his novels are poets or writers.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
infallible
atypical
lucrative
tedious
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany's 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet" |
|
| "an occupation which, in Delany's work, is not ______:" |
|
| "nearly a dozen of the characters that populate his novels are poets or writers." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Poetry is not uncommon as a profession for characters in Delany's novels, as evidenced by the many poet and writer characters throughout his work.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces a poet character, makes a claim about how poetry functions as an occupation in Delany's broader body of work, then supports that claim with evidence about the frequency of poet/writer characters across his novels.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The blank describes what poetry as an occupation is NOT in Delany's work
- The evidence tells us that nearly a dozen characters are poets or writers
- If many characters share this profession, then poetry is common or typical in his novels
- Therefore, the blank should be filled with a word meaning unusual or uncommon - something that contrasts with the idea of being frequent or normal
infallible
✗ Incorrect
- "Infallible" means incapable of making mistakes or being wrong
- This doesn't create a logical relationship with the evidence about character frequency
atypical
✓ Correct
- "Atypical" means not typical, unusual, or uncommon
- Creates perfect logical flow: poetry is not atypical (unusual) because nearly a dozen characters are poets
lucrative
✗ Incorrect
- "Lucrative" means profitable or money-making
- The evidence about character frequency has no connection to financial success
tedious
✗ Incorrect
- "Tedious" means boring or monotonous
- The evidence about how many characters are poets doesn't relate to whether poetry is interesting or boring