The term Tabula rasa was developed mainly by John Locke; saying that when children are born they are in a neutral state!
I would say this would classify as a downward comparison as the person is talking about Mark who has a poorer job situation than him and this could be used to bolster the speaker's ego or to knock poor Mark or could just be an observation.
The element that is most likely to be featured in a work of realistic fiction is "well-defined character suggested by actual experience." This would provide the most realistic character.
I took the test the answer is C.
