PrepTest 149, Section 2, Question 26
The novelist and social theorist Charlotte Perkins Gilman,(435 more words not shown)
The passage can most accurately(8 more words not shown)
- Aa defense of(16 more words not shown)
- Ba description of(18 more words not shown)
- Can explication of(16 more words not shown)
- Da defense of(18 more words not shown)
- Ean introduction to(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We have been exploring what Gilman thought, where she fit in a larger debate, and what she wanted people to do. The author explains her position without setting out to prove that her proposals are right.
What we’re looking for
So look for a description of a writer's role and ideas. A defense would require something more: reasons from the author for accepting those ideas or rejecting an opposing account.
Working the answers
- A
We learn the activist group's principles, but the author does not defend them. Reporting that people in this camp believed collective action could change society is different from arguing that they were correct.
- BCorrect
The writer is Gilman. The controversy concerns how Darwin's scientific theory should be applied to society. The author places her within that disagreement, explains her activist position, and describes the social changes she advocated. This captures both the central person and the descriptive approach.
- C
The two camps provide the setting, but Gilman is the main subject. After introducing their difference, the author follows her ethical views and practical proposals. An account centered on the theoretical disagreement would leave out most of that work.
- D
We are not given rival interpretations of Gilman to choose between. The author explains her views, rather than defending one interpretation and rejecting another.
- E
There is some background about evolutionary ideas, which makes this worth checking. But we are not being taught a general scientific theory and then shown Gilman's version of the science. The account largely assumes that background and concentrates on what she does with evolutionary ideas in the social realm. It is a description of her contribution, not a scientific introduction.
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