In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays, the late Sara

1. For the main idea or the primary purpose, focus on the following:

(i) The first and the last sentences of the first para and if there are many paras , may be the beginning of the second para.

"In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays, the late Sarah Eisenstein has focused attention on the evolution of working women’s values from the turn of the century to the First World War."
....
"Eisenstein insists that as a group working-class women were not able to come to collective consciousness of their situation until they began entering the labor force, because domestic work tended to isolate them from one another."

(ii) The first and the last sentences of the last para

"Unfortunately, Eisenstein’s unfinished study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail, offering tantalizing hints rather than an exhaustive analysis."
...
"While raising important questions, Eisenstein’s essays do not provide definitive answer, and it remains for others to take up the challenges they offer."

Choice B is the closest because we can see that what is being done is an evaluation of an approach. Others don't fit.

2. The relevant part for this question is:

"Eisenstein argues that turn-of-the-century women neither wholly accepted nor rejected what she calls the dominant “ideology of domesticity,” but rather took this and other available ideologies—feminism, socialism, trade unionism—and modified or adapted them in light of their own experiences and needs. "

D best fits the above.

3. The relevant parts for this question are:

(i) The start

"In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays, the late Sarah Eisenstein has focused attention on the evolution of working women’s values from the turn of the century to the First World War."

(ii) Any shift from what is being presented

"Eisenstein to some extent challenges the recent, controversial proposal by Leslie Tentler that for women the work experience only served to reinforce the attractiveness of the dominant ideology. "

(iii) The end

"Most importantly, her work aims to demonstrate that "

Choice C best describes the organization

4. The relevant parts for this question are:

"Unfortunately, Eisenstein’s unfinished study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail, offering tantalizing hints rather than an exhaustive analysis"

"She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker."

Choice B would best address the inadequacies mentioned by the author.
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Hi All,

Took me 7 minutes to crack this one, and i would consider this as a relatively easy passage.

Explainations:
249. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) criticize a scholar’s assumptions and methodology
(B) evaluate an approach to women’s study -
(C) compare two sociological theories
(D) correct a misconception about feminist theory
(E) defend an unpopular ideology

Strong contenders are A and B. The rest can easily be eliminated.
As far as A is concerned the author is not out rightly criticizing Eisenstein’s work.
He rather is studying her approach, the underlying assumption and the shortcomings.
Hence, B.


250. It can be inferred from the passage that, in Eisenstein’s view, working women at the turn of the century had which of the following attitudes toward the dominant ideology of their time?
(A) They resented the dominant ideology as degrading.
(B) They preferred the dominant ideology to other available ideologies.
(C) They began to view the dominant ideology more favorably as a result of their experiences in the labor force.
(D) They accepted some but not all aspects of the dominant ideology.
(E) They believed that the dominant ideology isolated them from one another.

Strong contenders are C and D.
However in C the entire sentence is not true. We cannot infer that the women considered the dominant ideology as "more FAVORABLE".
Like C, B suffers from the same shortcomings. The passage does not mention that the women preferred other available ideologies over dominant ideologies.
A is clearly incorrect as the passage mentions that the women neither accepted not rejected the dominant ideology.
E is not what the women believed, it was Eisenstein’s view.
Hence D is the answer



251. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?
(A) A chronological account of a historical development is presented, and then future developments are predicted.
(B) A term is defined according to several different schools of thought, and then a new definition is formulated.
(C) A theory is presented, an alternative viewpoint is introduced, and then the reasoning behind the initial theory is summarized.
(D) A tentative proposal is made, reasons for and against it are weighed, and then a modified version of the proposal is offered.
(E) A controversy is described, its historical implications are assessed, and then a compromise is suggested.

In any passage that you read, try to get the structure and the main point ideas right.
In my opinion, most GMAT RC passages have atleast one question on the aforementioned themes.
The answer has to be C, as the passage clearly presents a theory and then the alternate view point (that of Tentler) is discussed.
The rest of the options can easily be eliminated if you inculcate the practice to read to identify the structure/mainpoint.


252. Which of the following would the author of the passage be most likely to approve as a continuation of Eisenstein’s study?
(A) An oral history of prominent women labor organizers
(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century
(C) An assessment of what different social and political groups defined as the dominant ideology in the early twentieth century
(D) A theoretical study of how socialism and feminism influenced one another at the turn of the century
(E) A documentary account of labor’s role in the introduction of women into the labor force


In the final passage the author mentions a shortcoming in Eisenstien's work.
- " She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker" . Further she mentions "Eisenstein’s essays do not provide definitive answer, and it remains for others to take up the challenges they offer".
Clearly further work should focus on the works of the subjects being studied as narrated my the subjects themselves.
(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century - seems befitting.



Regards,
Chechaxo

I'm weak at RCs. This what I got when I tried
C - Passage talks about two theories
D - ..century women neither wholly accepted nor rejected what .. (2nd line)
B - If you focus on only the last part A) future prediction B) new definition C) summary of intial theory D) Modified Proposal E) Compromise
A - ..the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers...(2nd para 2nd-3rd line)

Spent 7 mins out of which 2 mins I spent on reading

Dear Prasannajeet,

It is wise to start a little slowly so that you get a grip on where the passage is heading. After the first para you can increase your speed and slow down again at the last para. This way you get a sense of what the author is trying to say without spending too much time on reading the passage.

For each question try to spot where in the passage what is asked in the question, is discussed. You can almost always get the answer by reading that 1 or 2 sentences in the passage. But you have to read them carefully considering the relevance of each word, as casual reading is likely to trap you. This will not really take a lot of time as you are focusing on a very small part.

If you follow the above method you should be able to complete the questions within the time actually required.
_________________

Guys

A heads up, I struggle with RC and my questions might be overly dumb. So I appreciate the patience and input. Here are my confusions. Also as mikemcgarry says to make a conscious effort to learn, dig deep and provide your reasoning so that an expert can help understand where the student is heading with his/her thinking and can help you better!

Question 1 - B vs
249. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) criticize a scholar’s assumptions and methodology
(B) evaluate an approach to women’s study - The reason I marked this option wrong is that the author is not trying to evaluate some approach to women's study but rather author is describing one study with a contradiction to other and later highlighting more about the first(SE's) study. Maybe this answer choice captures the more holistic picture of the whole passage then option b. Is that the case?
(C) compare two sociological theories- I see that the author mentioned about two people. SE & TL. Para-1 It seemed to me that author did compare one approach to the other to show the difference in each one of them. In Para-2 he elaborated on the shortcoming of SE's approach and mentions that SE's essays sort of propose others to take up the challenges these essays offer. Now am I thinking to narrowly, or Am I not understanding the literal meaning of Sociological?
(D) correct a misconception about feminist theory
(E) defend an unpopular ideology


252. Which of the following would the author of the passage be most likely to approve as a continuation of Eisenstein’s study? - I thought that to answer this question, I should find something that author will agree with something that will provide the right way to move forward in order to strengthen the depth and evidence of SE's approach.
(A) An oral history of prominent women labor organizers - She(SE) did not believe that labor organizers are the true representative. So learning about their oral history won't do us any good.
(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century- what will this analysis give us. The domesticated and real point of view of the women at that time. How will that make a relevant contribution in taking the study of SE further? Is it because we will know the grassroots of how women actually felt and intern this gives us better evidence to process SE's study?
(C) An assessment of what different social and political groups defined as the dominant ideology in the early twentieth century. - what matters is not how the political and social groups defined dominant ideology but how women of that time reacted to the dominant ideology.
(D) A theoretical study of how socialism and feminism influenced one another at the turn of the century- Even if we did find a theory of how feminism and socialism influenced one another. How would that help us in strengthening and furthering SE's study? so No.
(E) A documentary account of labor’s role in the introduction of women into the labor force- Wouldn't this provide more reasons about how women actually accepted or rejected the dominant ideology

8 mins 45 seconds, including 4 mins to read . All correct

1.The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) criticize a scholar’s assumptions and methodology -- Incorrect -- Unfortunately, Eisenstein’s unfinished study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail, offering tantalizing hints rather than an exhaustive analysis. Whatever Eisenstein’s overall plan may have been, in its current form her study suffers from the limited nature of the sources she depended on. -- the second paragraph does state a few cons of Eisenstein’s study but that is not the purpose
(B) evaluate an approach to women’s study - Correct
(C) compare two sociological theories -- Incorrect - only a part of the first paragraph
(D) correct a misconception about feminist theory -- Incorrect
(E) defend an unpopular ideology -- Incorrect -- there is no mention of any unpopular ideology


2. It can be inferred from the passage that, in Eisenstein’s view, working women at the turn of the century had which of the following attitudes toward the dominant ideology of their time?
Eisenstein argues that turn-of-the-century women neither wholly accepted nor rejected what she calls the dominant “ideology of domesticity,” but rather took this and other available ideologies—feminism, socialism, trade unionism—and modified or adapted them in light of their own experiences and needs.
(D) They accepted some but not all aspects of the dominant ideology. -- Correct

3.Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?
(C) A theory is presented, an alternative viewpoint is introduced, and then the reasoning behind the initial theory is summarized. -- Correct
Eisenstein theory is presented , Tentler theory is introduced and then reasoning in support of Eisenstein theory

4. Which of the following would the author of the passage be most likely to approve as a continuation of Eisenstein’s study?
Whatever Eisenstein’s overall plan may have been, in its current form her study suffers from the limited nature of the sources she depended on. She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker. And there is less than adequate attention given to the differing values of immigrant groups that made up a significant proportion of the population under investigation.
(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century - Correct
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the turn of the century - The term is most often used to indicate a distinctive time period either before or after the beginning of a century or both before and after. I think they are tlking about a period 1900 to 1914.

P1 - SE talks about working women's values period. work gives consciousness. SE vs LT. working women = a distinct social group capable of defining their collective circumstance. this change came from work outside domestic zone. Eisenstein insists that as a group working-class women were not able to come to collective consciousness of their situation

P2 - many questions are unanswered in SE's study.

Main Idea - In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays,SE talk about revolution of women's situation pre-world war I era.

--------------------------------------------
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) criticize a scholar’s assumptions and methodology - yes true but it is small part of 1st para.
(B) evaluate an approach to women’s study - Though she admired the progress and essence of working women, she was not fully convinced with the status she achieved. this could be an answer as both positive and negatives are being worked up.
(C) compare two sociological theories - incorrect.
(D) correct a misconception about feminist theory - again a part of first para.
(E) defend an unpopular ideology - incorrect.

--------------------------------------------
2. It can be inferred from the passage that, in Eisenstein’s view, working women at the turn of the century had which of the following attitudes toward the dominant ideology of their time?
Pre-think - on the basis of passage, we need to find SE's view for working women at turn of century. This part would be useful "women neither wholly accepted nor rejected what she calls the dominant “ideology of domesticity,”".

(D) They accepted some but not all aspects of the dominant ideology. - Correct.

--------------------------------------------
3. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?

Pre-think: Refer to P1. A theory is given by SE. An alternative theory is given by LT, which SE opposes, by giving reasons behind it.overall evaluate a theory.

(C) A theory is presented, an alternative viewpoint is introduced, and then the reasoning behind the initial theory is summarized. --- on the same lines as pre-thinking.

---------------------------------------------
4. Which of the following would the author of the passage be most likely to approve as a continuation of Eisenstein’s study?

Pre-think: SE gave a theory. but theory is not complete. (In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays). Also, 2nd para says that "study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail". Also she has taken the reference from others for presenting her theory.(She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker.) As this part tells us she studied writings of wage-work women.
So what we know so far we need to think what one should do next. Fill these gaps. how? Studying the sources, that gave inspiration to SE would be a good start. Study them in depth would give a good idea for SE's study.

(A) An oral history of prominent women labor organizers --- this has no concern with SE's study.
(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century --- on the lines of pre-thinking.
(C) An assessment of what different social and political groups defined as the dominant ideology in the early twentieth century --- too wide assesment.
(D) A theoretical study of how socialism and feminism influenced one another at the turn of the century --- Yes at some point it take turn to influence the study. and it will give some depth too. but it is too narrow. not pronouncing the full depth in study. in other words many parts will be open with this choice. So B is better option then this.
(E) A documentary account of labor’s role in the introduction of women into the labor force --- this will probably create a parallel thread. but not explore SE's study in depth.

hi, Can some one explain why answer for Q4 is B, it wasn't mentioned that source of further study has to be An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century

Hi SALAKSHYA,

B for Question 4 can be inferred from: "Most importantly, her work aims to demonstrate that wage-work enabled women to become aware of themselves as a distinct social group capable of defining their collective circumstance.........Unfortunately, Eisenstein’s unfinished study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail, offering tantalizing hints rather than an exhaustive analysis." and
"She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker. ".

Implication being that Eisenstein’s study lacks details about the female wage workers, whom she points out in her study and what would help to bridge that missing analysis would be letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century, since she used the speeches and writings of the reformers and labor organizers.


Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Hello experts,

For Q1 (primary purpose), is A just too strong? Although the author provides his/her opinion on SE in the 2nd paragraph, he/she doesn't outright just criticize SE. The author merely provides her thoughts on how the study wasn't fully developed b/c it missed X?

Also as a rule of thumb, how would you recommend avoiding such traps? Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Hi samgyupsal,

Though A is a close contender, I wouldn't say author is criticizing the scholar's assumption, as the author can been seen trying to understand Eisenstein's approach, by evaluating how Eisenstein focused attention on the evolution of working women’s values and what details are missing in them. If it would have been criticism, the analysis would have been more focused on the negative aspect's of the essay and not a simple evaluation. You could in a sense say that A is a little strong, and we cannot infer any criticism on a close read.



Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Hi thank you for the quick response!

I see what you mean by "the analysis would have been more focused on the negative aspects..." However, maybe my knowledge gap is with the words themselves within answer choice B -- particularly, "evaluate." Wouldn't an author have to understand both sides of an argument? (i.e., both positive and negative) As you mentioned, the analysis has addressed the negative aspect, but where has it addressed the positive aspect(s)?

(Or is my interpretation of the word "evaluate" incorrect?)

Hey,

Author has mentioned the negative aspects, but doesn't seem to be bent upon calling the study useless, or completely insufficient. The author first analyses her study, by evaluating her approach and assumptions and then end the analysis mentioning that it : "While raising important questions, Eisenstein’s essays do not provide definitive answer, and it remains for others to take up the challenges they offer.".
Regarding the choice of words: "Evaluate" would mean to author tries to understand what led Eisenstein to study evolution of working women’s values from the turn of the century to the First World War, her analysis, assumptions, and approach which is exactly what we can infer from the passage.

If it would have been "criticism", we would have more view points, similar to the last para, and less of the analysis of approach.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

4. Which of the following would the author of the passage be most likely to approve as a continuation of Eisenstein’s study?

(A) An oral history of prominent women labor organizers ----- Labor organisers were not considered the representative group and hence we wouldnt want the oral history of them


(B) An analysis of letters and diaries written by typical female wage earners at the turn of the century --Eisenstein’s unfinished study does not develop these ideas in sufficient depth or detail, offering tantalizing hints rather than an exhaustive analysis. She uses the speeches and writings of reformers and labor organizers, who she acknowledges were far from representative, as the voice of the typical woman worker.

Hence, this is the correct answer

(C) An assessment of what different social and political groups defined as the dominant ideology in the early twentieth century ------- And there is less than adequate attention given to the differing values of immigrant groups that made up a significant proportion of the population under investigation.

So they wanted to give attention to Immigrant groups but not different political and social groups

(D) A theoretical study of how socialism and feminism influenced one another at the turn of the century - not mentioned in the passage
(E) A documentary account of labor’s role in the introduction of women into the labor force -not mentioned in the passage

VeritasKarishma, GMATNinja

Can you review my analysis
Thanks

why it is right

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja



Why is C not the right choice? In 2nd paragraph the author mentions about the lack of attention to immigrant groups (different social groups)

Question 4

While it’s true that the author of the passage may support further study on the differing values of particular immigrant groups, he/she does not indicate that there is any debate as to the dominant ideology in the early twentieth century. In fact, Eisenstein, with whom the author tends to agree, identifies the dominant ideology as that of domesticity.

While it’s possible that different social and political groups adhered to different ideologies, there’s little evidence to support the idea that those groups would not identify the “ideology of domesticity” as dominant in the early twentieth century. There seems to be consensus on that matter, or at the very least, the author is not interested in the debate. For that reason, we can eliminate (C).

I hope that helps!
_________________

GMATIntensive GMATNinja karishma chiranjeev


Can you please help explain the 1st question? What exactly is evaluation, because as per my understanding it would mean a proper pro & cons analysis of something. In the current passage, evaluation in its true sense is not carried out.

Also, option C mention theories, are theories & views different. Is it correct to say that the theory was x and then 2 scholars provided their views on the same?

In an unfinished but highly suggestive series of essays, the late Sarah Eisenstein has focused attention on the evolution of working women’s values from the turn of the century to the First World War. Eisenstein argues that turn-of-the-century women neither wholly accepted nor rejected what she calls the dominant “ideology of domesticity,” but rather took this and other available ideologies—feminism, socialism, trade unionism—and modified or adapted them in light of their own experiences and needs. In thus maintaining that wage-work helped to produce a new “consciousness” among women, Eisenstein to some extent challenges the recent, controversial proposal by Leslie Tentler that for women the work experience only served to reinforce the attractiveness of the dominant ideology. According to the Tentler, the degrading conditions under which many female wage earners worked made them view the family as a source of power and esteem available nowhere else in their social world. In contrast, Eisenstein’s study insists that wage-work had other implications for women’s identities and consciousness. Most importantly, her work aims to demonstrate that wage-work enabled women to become aware of themselves as a distinct social group capable of defining their collective circumstance. Eisenstein insists that as a group working-class women were not able to come to collective consciousness of their situation until they began entering the labor force, because domestic work tended to isolate them from one another.

From the highlighted portion of the first paragraph, clearly, the author of the passage and consequently the main idea behind is to calculate the value of something. I.E an evaluation of what X said and what Y replied in contrast

(A) criticize a scholar’s assumptions and methodology

No critics in the passage. They show on their own what they think on a particular issue

(B) evaluate an approach to women’s study

Correct. From the highlighted portions and then the details we do have as support of their respective positions, we do know that there is an evaluation

(C) compare two sociological theories

no comparison and even less than this: we do not have theories.

(D) correct a misconception about feminist theory

Again not a specific theory nor a misconception

(E) defend an unpopular ideology

completely off

if you want to have an idea what means to find the main idea of a passage I suggest to read this https://greprepclub.com/forum/gre-readi ... 20658.html My introduction to Rc passages
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