LSAT Question Explanation
PT 105, Section 1, Question 2
Identify the RoleArgument structure
Tennyson's line was not a reference to Darwin's theory of evolution.
Tennyson's poem was published in 1850, before Darwin's theory was published in 1859. Also, the poem is actually referring to a different theory.
Explanation
The question asks us what role is played by the fact that Tennyson's line was published before Darwin's theory. That claim is a premise (there's no support for it, the author just tells us) that supports the conclusion. It's evidence that Tennyson wouldn't have even known about Darwin's theory, so he couldn't have been referencing Darwin with the line from his poem.
Answer choices
The author doesn't make any claims about whether Darwin alone should be credited with the theory of evolution.
The claim in the question stem doesn't tell us what was the dominant theory in the early 19th century.
This explains how the claim in the question stem fits into the argument. The claim tells us that Tennyson wouldn't have known about Darwin's theory when the poem was published, so wasn't referencing him.
This was never suggested.
The claim in the question stem doesn't indicate this at all. Tennyson may have been very well versed in the dominant theories of the time, those theories just weren't Darwin's.