In classical tragedy, a recognition scene typically resolves uncertainty for both the protagonist and the audience. Critics disagree, however, about whether this clarifying effect or the protagonist’s acquisition of decisive knowledge should define the convention. In Maren Okafor’s novel The Glass Harbor, the protagonist discovers that her letters were forged, but the discovery makes several earlier episodes newly uncertain for readers. An effect-centered definition would exclude the scene; because that definition best captures the reader’s experience, some critics regard the exclusion as decisive. ______ explanatory value for one feature of a text need not determine classification by another feature: under a plot-centered definition, the scene still qualifies as a recognition scene.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions involving multiple viewpoints, track both attribution and scope. Determine whether the sentence after the blank supports, restates, results from, or qualifies the preceding claim; here, the shift from some critics’ conclusion to a limitation on that conclusion requires a concessive transition.
Hints
Track the attribution
Notice that the claim immediately before the blank is presented as the view of some critics rather than as the passage’s final conclusion.
Compare the scopes
One claim concerns how well a definition captures the reader’s experience; the next concerns whether that definition must control classification by plot structure.
Identify the logical turn
Look for a transition that introduces a limitation that remains valid despite the rationale presented in the preceding sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the competing definitions
The passage distinguishes an effect-centered definition, which focuses on whether readers gain clarity, from a plot-centered definition, which focuses on whether the protagonist acquires decisive knowledge.
Track the attributed argument
Some critics consider the effect-centered definition decisive because it best captures the reader’s experience. Under that definition, Okafor’s scene would be excluded from the recognition convention.
Determine the final sentence’s function
The final sentence qualifies those critics’ conclusion: although the effect-centered definition has explanatory value, that value need not control classification based on plot structure. A concessive transition is therefore required.