Question 5
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GMATNinjaTwo GMATNinja KarishmaB AndrewNPlease help me Experts
Can you please explain Q.5 in detail? Also what "in part" means in the E option?
I have already gone through all comments but didn't get a thorough explanation of Q.5.
By the way below is my reasoning for Q.5? Please Please check this also
A) We don't know What Du Bois had consistently rejected in the past hence wrong
B) Passage doesn't mention the views of trotter hence we can't conclude from this option. Wrong
C) Passage doesn't mention the long terms goals of Du Bois explicitly hence wrong
D) I marked this correct (Reason: After seeing the discrimination, he suggested that strategy i.e. to proclaim their solidarity with White Americans for the duration of the First World War. )
E) I marked this wrong because I thought advocate means suggest hence option is saying: Strategy was suggested by Du Bois in part, which means some part of the strategy is suggested by Du Bois but that's not the case full strategy is suggested by Du bois hence wrong
Thank You
Question 5 asks about "the strategy that Du Bois's 1918 editorial urged African Americans to adopt during the First World War."
That strategy was to "stop agitating for equality and to proclaim [...] solidarity with White Americans."
Why did Du Bois argue for this strategy? We learn of two reasons in the second paragraph:
1) "government officials had threatened African American journalists with censorship if they continued to voice grievances."
2) "Du Bois believed that African Americans’ contributions to past war efforts had brought them some legal and political advances."
Here's (D):
Quote:
D. It was advocated by Du Bois in response to his recognition of the discrimination faced by African Americans during the war.
Discrimination is mentioned in the last sentence of the passage, and it actually led Du Bois to
reverse his 1918 position. When he learned that African Americans faced discrimination in the military, he went back to a more confrontational approach.
So, Du Bois definitely didn't come up with his 1918 strategy
in response to discrimination. This discrimination actually led to the END of the 1918 strategy.
(D) is out for question 5.
Here's (E):
Quote:
E. It was advocated by Du Bois in part because of his historical knowledge of gains African Americans had made during past wars.
This fits nicely with the second reason listed above! Du Bois "believed that African Americans’ contributions to past war efforts had brought them some legal and political advances."
The "in part" doesn't mean that it only accounts for part of the strategy. It just means that it's not the only
reason that Du Bois had to advocate for the strategy.
The other reason is the first one listed above: "government officials had threatened African American journalists with censorship if they continued to voice grievances." So, the "in part" bit fits with the info in the passage.
(E) is the correct answer to question 5.
I hope that helps!