Jacob Burckhardts view that Renaissance European women stood on

Question

Jacob Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European women “stood on a footing of perfect equality” with Renaissance men has been repeatedly cited by feminist scholars as a prelude to their presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s inequality. In striking contrast to Burckhardt, Joan Kelly in her famous 1977 essay, “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” argued that the Renaissance was a period of economic and social decline for women relative both to Renaissance men and to medieval women. Recently, however, a significant trend among  feminist scholars  has entailed a rejection of both Kelly’s dark vision of the Renaissance and Burckhardt’s rosy one. Many recent works by these scholars stress the ways in which differences among Renaissance women—especially in terms of social status and religion—work to complicate the kinds of generalizations both Burckhardt and Kelly made on the basis of their observations about upper-class Italian women.

The trend is also evident, however, in works focusing on those middle- and upper-class European women whose ability to write gives them disproportionate representation in the historical record. Such women were, simply by virtue of their literacy, members of a tiny minority of the population, so it is risky to take their descriptions of their experiences as typical of “female experience” in any general sense. Tina Krontiris, for example, in her fascinating study of six Renaissance women writers, does tend at times to conflate “women” and “women writers,” assuming that women’s gender, irrespective of other social differences, including literacy, allows us to view women as a homogeneous social group and make that group an object of analysis. Nonetheless, Krontiris makes a significant contribution to the field and is representative of those authors who offer what might be called a cautiously optimistic assessment of Renaissance women’s achievements, although she also stresses the social obstacles Renaissance women faced when they sought to raise their “oppositional voices.” Krontiris is concerned to show women intentionally negotiating some power for themselves (at least in the realm of public discourse) against potentially constraining ideologies, but in her sober and thoughtful concluding remarks, she suggests that such verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed; women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them.   1 
RC00313-01.
 1. The author of the passage discusses Krontiris primarily to provide an example of a writer who

A. is highly critical of the writings of certain Renaissance women
B. supports Kelly’s view of women’s status during the Renaissance
C. has misinterpreted the works of certain Renaissance women
D. has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly
E. has studied Renaissance women in a wide variety of social and religious contexts

2 
RC00313-02.
 2. According to the passage, Krontiris’s work differs from that of the scholars mentioned in highlight text in which of the following ways?

A. Krontiris’s work stresses the achievements of Renaissance women rather than the obstacles to their success.
B. Krontiris’s work is based on a reinterpretation of the work of earlier scholars.
C. Krontiris’s views are at odds with those of both Kelly and Burkhardt.
D. Krontiris’s work focuses on the place of women in Renaissance society.
E. Krontiris’s views are based exclusively on the study of a privileged group of women.

3 
RC00313-03.
 3. According to the passage, feminist scholars cite Burckhardt’s view of Renaissance women primarily for which of the following reasons?

A. Burckhardt’s view forms the basis for most arguments refuting Kelly's point of view.
B. Burckhardt’s view has been discredited by Kelly.
C. Burckhardt’s view is one that many feminist scholars wish to refute.
D. Burckhardt’s work provides rich historical evidence of inequality between Renaissance women and men.
E. Burckhardt’s work includes historical research supporting the arguments of the feminist scholars.

4 
RC00313-04.
 4. It can be inferred that both Burckhardt and Kelly have been criticized by the scholars mentioned in highlight text for which of the following?

A. Assuming that women writers of the Renaissance are representative of Renaissance women in general
B. Drawing conclusions that are based on the study of an atypical group of women
C. Failing to describe clearly the relationship between social status and literacy among Renaissance women
D. Failing to acknowledge the role played by Renaissance women in opposing cultural stereotypes
E. Failing to acknowledge the ways in which social status affected the creative activities of Renaissance women

5 
RC00313-05.
 5. The author of the passage suggests that Krontiris incorrectly assumes that

A. social differences among Renaissance women are less important than the fact that they were women
B. literacy among Renaissance women was more prevalent than most scholars today acknowledge
C. during the Renaissance, women were able to successfully oppose cultural stereotypes relating to gender
D. Renaissance women did not face many difficult social obstacles relating to their gender
E. in order to attain power, Renaissance women attacked basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them

6 
RC00313-06.
 6. The last sentence in the passage serves primarily to

A. suggest that Krontiris’s work is not representative of recent trends among feminist scholars
B. undermine the argument that literate women of the Renaissance sought to oppose social constraints imposed on them
C. show a way in which Krontiris’s work illustrates a “cautiously optimistic"assessment of Renaissance women’s achievements
D. summarize Krontiris’s view of the effect of literacy on the lives of upper- and middle-class Renaissance women
E. illustrate the way in which Krontiris’s study differs from the studies done by Burckhardt and Kelly

7 
RC00313-08.
 7. The author of the passage implies that the women studied by Krontiris are unusual in which of the following ways?

A. They faced obstacles less formidable than those faced by other Renaissance women.
B. They have been seen by historians as more interesting than other Renaissance women.
C. They were more concerned about recording history accurately than were other Renaissance women.
D. Their perceptions are more likely to be accessible to historians than are those of most other Renaissance women.
E. Their concerns are likely to be of greater interest to feminist scholars than are the ideas of most other Renaissance women.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The author of the passage discusses Krontiris primarily to provide an example of a writer who

A. is highly critical of the writings of certain Renaissance women  Krontiris is not highly critical of Renaissance women

B. supports Kelly's view of women's status during the Renaissance  Krontiris rejects Kelly's view

C. has misinterpreted the works of certain Renaissance women  Krontiris has not misinterpreted the works. His work focused only on a certain class of women who were literate.

D. has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly   Krontiris has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly

E. has studied Renaissance women in a wide variety of social and religious contexts  The passage does not state this.

According to the passage, Krontiris's work differs from that of the scholars mentioned in line 12 in which of the following ways?

A. Krontiris's work stresses the achievements of Renaissance women rather than the obstacles to their success.  Krontiris discusses both achievements and obstacles faced by Renaissance women.

B. Krontiris's work is based on a reinterpretation of the work of earlier scholars.  Out of context.

C. Krontiris's views are at odds with those of both Kelly and Burkhardt.  This was not a difference; it was a similarity. Feminist scholars including Krontiris were at odds to the views of Kelly and Burkhardt.

D. Krontiris's work focuses on the place of women in Renaissance society.  Out of context.

E. Krontiris's views are based exclusively on the study of a privileged group of women.   Krontiris work is based only on literate women.

According to the passage, feminist scholars cite Burckhardt's view of Renaissance women primarily for which of the following reasons?

A. Burckhardt's view forms the basis for most arguments refuting Kelly's point of view.  This is not the reason feminist scholars have cited Burckhardt's view of Renaissance

B. Burckhardt's view has been discredited by Kelly.  This is not the reason feminist scholars have cited Burckhardt's view of Renaissance

C. Burckhardt's view is one that many feminist scholars wish to refute.   The first sentence clearly indicates that this is why feminist scholars cite Burckhardt's view of Renaissance women

D. Burckhardt's work provides rich historical evidence of inequality between Renaissance women and men.  This is not the reason feminist scholars have cited Burckhardt's view of Renaissance

E. Burckhardt's work includes historical research supporting the arguments of the feminist scholars.  This is not the reason feminist scholars have cited Burckhardt's view of Renaissance

It can be inferred that both Burckhardt and Kelly have been criticized by the scholars mentioned in red for which of the following?

A. Assuming that women writers of the Renaissance are representative of Renaissance women in general  Feminist scholars do not assume this.

B. Drawing conclusions that are based on the study of an atypical group of women   The passage mentions that “generalizations both Burckhardt and Kelly made on the basis of their observations about upper-class Italian women”, which was an atypical group of women.

C. Failing to describe clearly the relationship between social status and literacy among Renaissance women  Passage states that feminist scholars have made analysis of the relationship between social status and literacy.

D. Failing to acknowledge the role played by Renaissance women in opposing cultural stereotypes  This is not why Burckhardt and Kelly have been criticized by the scholars

E. Failing to acknowledge the ways in which social status affected the creative activities of Renaissance women  Out of context

The author of the passage suggests that Krontiris incorrectly assumes that

A. social differences among Renaissance women are less important than the fact that they were women   The passage states that Krontiris assumes that women’s gender, irrespective of other social differences, including literacy, allows us to view women as a homogeneous social group and make that group an object of analysis.

B. literacy among Renaissance women was more prevalent than most scholars today acknowledge  This can’t be inferred

C. during the Renaissance, women were able to successfully oppose cultural stereotypes relating to gender  In contrast, Krontiris suggests that such verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed (restricted)

D. Renaissance women did not face many difficult social obstacles relating to their gender she also  In contrast, Krontiris stresses on the social obstacles Renaissance women faced when they sought to raise their "oppositional voices”

E. in order to attain power, Renaissance women attacked basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them also  In contrast, Krontiris suggests that such verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed; women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them.

The last sentence in the passage serves primarily to

A. suggest that Krontiris's work is not representative of recent trends among feminist scholars  Not relevant

B. undermine the argument that literate women of the Renaissance sought to oppose social constraints imposed on them  Krontiris does not undermine the argument. She takes a cautiously optimistic stand.

C. show a way in which Krontiris's work illustrates a "cautiously optimistic" assessment of Renaissance women's achievements   The last line indicates that she has not taken a firm stand that leans either way. Her stance is indeed “cautiously optimistic”

D. summarize Krontiris's view of the effect of literacy on the lives of upper- and middle-class Renaissance women  Not relevant

E. illustrate the way in which Krontiris's study differs from the studies done by Burckhardt and Kelly  Not relevant

The author of the passage implies that the women studied by Krontiris are unusual in which of the following ways?

A. They faced obstacles less formidable than those faced by other Renaissance women.  This comparison is not what has made the women studied by Krontiris unusual

B. They have been seen by historians as more interesting than other Renaissance women.  This is not what has made the women studied by Krontiris unusual

C. They were more concerned about recording history accurately than were other Renaissance women.  This is not what has made the women studied by Krontiris unusual

D. Their perceptions are more likely to be accessible to historians than are those of most other Renaissance women.   The passage states that middle- and upper-class European women’s ability to write gave them disproportionate representation in the historical record implying that the perception of the women studied by Krontiris are more likely to be accessible to historians

E. Their concerns are likely to be of greater interest to feminist scholars than are the ideas of most other Renaissance women.  This is not what has made the women studied by Krontiris unusual

- Nitha Jay

tkorzhan1995 · Answer

GMATNinja , can you please explain why C is not correct? According to 1st par, feminist scholars stresses the ways in which differences among Renaissance women in terms of social status and religion complicated generalization made by B and K. Since social status and religion are used to complicate generalization made by B and K, I assumed that B and K failed to consider social status and literacy. Can you please explain where I am getting wrong with my analysis?

What atypical group of women B and K drew their conclusion upon?

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 4 
 
Take another look at the exact language of (C):
 
(C) talks about the relationship BETWEEN social status and literacy among Renaissance women. That's very different than failing to consider social status and literacy AT ALL, as you've stated in your analysis.

The relationship between social status and literacy is discussed in the second paragraph, and is actually a criticism directed at Krontiris. Krontiris relies on the writings of Renaissance women, and sometimes fails to acknowledge that these women must have been upper class and thus not representative of women in general.

Burckhardt and Kelly based their work on "upper-class Italian women," but we have no idea whether these women were literate. So, Burckhardt and Kelly really can't be criticized for failing to discuss the relationship between literacy and social class, because we don't know whether their work was flawed in the same way as Krontiris' work.

Eliminate (C).

Here's (B):
 
At the end of paragraph 1, we learn that recent scholars reject both Burckhardt and Kelly's views. These new scholars discuss complicating factors such as "social status and religion," which correct the " generalizations  both Burckhardt and Kelly made on the basis of their observations about  upper-class Italian women. "

From this, we can infer that Burckhardt and Kelly drew conclusions based on an atypical group of women.

(B) is the correct answer to question 4.

I hope that helps!

Tanchat · Answer

Dear Expert,

RC00313-01. The author of the passage discusses Krontiris primarily to provide an example of a writer who

A.is highly critical of the writings of certain Renaissance women
B.supports Kelly???s view of women???s status during the Renaissance
C.has misinterpreted the works of certain Renaissance women
D.has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly
E.has studied Renaissance women in a wide variety of social and religious contexts

Which part of passage or what phrase that we can imply K has rejected the views of both Burckhardt and Kelly ?

nayas96 · Answer

3. According to the passage, feminist scholars cite Burckhardt’s view of Renaissance women primarily for which of the following reasons?

A.Burckhardt’s view forms the basis for most arguments refuting Kelly's point of view.
B.Burckhardt’s view has been discredited by Kelly.
C.Burckhardt’s view is one that many feminist scholars wish to refute.
D.Burckhardt’s work provides rich historical evidence of inequality between Renaissance women and men.
E.Burckhardt’s work includes historical research supporting the arguments of the feminist scholars.

In the passage, there are two references of femisnist scholar, as given in the lines shown below:

" Jacob Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European women “stood on a footing of perfect equality” with Renaissance men has been repeatedly cited by feminist scholars as a prelude to their presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s inequality. " --- This line says that feminist scholar cited Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European to explain about the rich historical evidence of women's inequality, which is technically option (D)

"Recently, however, a significant trend among feminist scholars has entailed a rejection of both Kelly’s dark vision of the Renaissance and Burckhardt’s rosy one." ---- This line is actually the explaination for option (C)

Just as an observation, all the other question where it has been mentioned "feminist scholar" has the words "highlighted text", clearing which feminist scholar they are talking about.

Is the difference because the option talks about Renaissance women and men and the passage talks about women's inequality?

Kindly please help me solve this issue.
 Sajjad1994   KarishmaB   BillyZ   egmat   GMATNinja

KarishmaB · Answer

The question doesn't say 'highlighted text' because it doesn't need to say it. It is talking about the feminist scholars who cited Burckhardt’s view. We know who those scholars are.

Jacob Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European women “stood on a footing of perfect equality” with Renaissance men has been repeatedly cited by feminist scholars as a prelude to their presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s inequality.

They are the ones who mentioned it as a prelude to their presentation and proceeded to give evidence of why he was wrong.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 1 
 
Let's start by identifying the author's main purpose in each paragraph:

Paragraph 1: To point out a recent trend in feminist scholarship on Renaissance women -- more specifically, that many scholars have rejected both Burckhadt's "rosy" view and Kelly's "dark" view.   Paragraph 2: To provide an example of one of these recent scholars (Tina Krontiris), who offers a "cautiously optimistic" view on Renaissance women, while also stressing the "social obstacles" they faced.

Let's now consider question #1:

Based on our breakdown of the passage, we see the author discusses Tina Krontiris to provide an example of the recent trend mentioned in the first paragraph. In other words, Krontiris is mentioned as an example of a scholar who rejects both Burckhardt's rosy view and Kelly's dark view.

Let's take a look at (D):

This captures the author's purpose in discussing Krontiris, so (D) is correct.

I hope that helps!

woohoo921 · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB 
For question 498 (According to the passage, feminist scholars cite Burckhardt's view of Renaissance women primarily for which of the following reasons?). I found the explanation as to why Choice B is wrong to be a bit vague??in the OG/what has already been discussed on this form. To clarify, is Choice B wrong because Burckhardt's view is not just discredited by Kelly but by OTHER feminist scholars on a broader sense???I was a bit confused because the way the text leads into Kelly's view in that Kelly is an example of a feminist scholar who disagrees, so I initially chose Choice B. I am gently confirming that Choice B is a bit myopic and does not incorporate the OTHER feminist scholars who also have a view?

For question 600 (The author of the passage suggests that Krontiris incorrectly assumes that), I am confused on Choice A's wording. The passage does not seem to say that social differences among Renaissance women are "less important" than the fact that they were women. Instead, Krontiris just seems to look at women as a whole. If it was an important area to Krontiris, would she have studied women of different social classes? Any further insight on this would be greatly appreciated.??

For question 601 (the last sentence in the passage serves primarily to), does the sentence start on line 44? I realize that this may be a silly question, but there is a semicolon included as an independent clause, so I am not sure if the last line is just the part after the semicolon or if it the last sentence starts at line 44. Also, would someone be able to further break down what it means that "women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them"? What is an example of this (e.g., women did not attack the belief that women were supposed to attend to men, etc.?). The OG is also a bit vague in indicating why Choice E is incorrect in that "this does mark a significant departure from both Burckhardt and Kelly, but the distinction between their work and that of other feminist scholars is marked more clearly earlier in the passage."??Is Choice E an example of an answer being "okay" but not the "best" one among the options?

Thank you for bearing through this!

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 3 
 
Notice this question is asking for the reason feminist scholars cite Burckhardt's view of Renaissance women. Going to the passage, we see that feminist scholars have rejected "both Kelly’s dark vision of the Renaissance and Burckhardt’s rosy one." This tells us that feminist scholars mention Burckhardt in order to reject him. This lines up well with answer choice (C).

Let's now consider (B):

It's true that Kelly sought to discredit Burckhardt. But the "feminist scholars" mentioned in the passage don't cite Burckhardt  because  Kelly discredited him. They mention Burckhardt in order to discredit him  themselves .

From another angle: notice that Joan Kelly is not one of the "feminist scholars" the passage refers to. In fact, the "feminist scholars" referred to in the passage want to "refute" Kelly. So while Kelly argue against Burckhardt, we wouldn't want to confuse Kelly with the "feminist scholars."

Question 5 
To analyze question 5, consider the following points made in the second paragraph:

It is "risky" to take writing by middle and upper-class women as "typical of 'female experience' in any general sense."   As example of this risky approach -- Krontiris assumes that "women’s gender, irrespective of other social differences, allows us to view women as a homogeneous social group."

So Krontiris assumes that women's gender alone allows us to view them as a "homogenous social group." But the author considers this approach "risky." In fact, the author suggests that we shouldn't generalize about the "female experience" just based on the writing of middle and upper-class women.

Now here's (A) again:

The author tells us that Krontiris wrongly assumes that women's gender should allow us to view them as a homogenous social group. But this assumption ignores the fact that we can't generalize about women just based on the views of middle and upper-class women. So because Krontiris wrongly assumes that social differences are less important than gender, (A) is correct.

Question 6 
As semicolons don't create new sentences, you should consider everything starting with "Krontiris is concerned..." all the way to the end of the passage as the "last sentence."

Regarding the phrase "women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them," the example you cite looks great. An ideology that oppresses women might be that "women should attend to men," and the passage suggests that women seldom attacked these kinds of ideas.

Let's now consider answer choice (C):

In the second-to-last sentence, the author tells us that Krontiris's significant contribution was to offer a "cautiously optimistic assessment of Renaissance women's achievements." Next, the last sentence provides an example to back up this statement. More specifically, the last sentence shows how Krontiris's argument is  optimistic,  since her argument shows women "negotiating some power for themselves." At the same time, the last sentence shows that Krontiris's optimism is  cautious,  since she points out that "women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them."

Since this lines up well with (C), it's correct.

Let's now consider (E):

The last sentence absolutely  does  illustrate the way in which Krontiris's study differs from Burckhardt's and Kelly's. However, this is definitely not the  purpose   of the sentence. By this point in the passage, the author is no longer primarily concerned with Burckhardt and Kelly. Rather, the author is exploring the ideas of Krontiris, and the last sentence supports the view that her work is "cautiously optimistic."

So because (E) does not capture the author's "primary purpose" in the last sentence, it's incorrect.

I hope that helps!

Namangupta1997 · Answer

Hi  ThatDudeKnows

The last line of the passage is after a semi-colon. My failure to understand whether the last line is an opinion of Krontiris or the author himself really impeded my ability to arrive at the answer. The last line is an independent statement. If we see the structure of the passage, it seems like a continuation of Krontiris's thoughts. It could also be a comment made by the author on Krontiris's interpretation on women. How can we be sure?

ThatDudeKnows · Answer

Namangupta1997

Interesting question. You don't note in your message which of the passage questions tripped you up as a result of the semicolon confusion. Which one got you?

My answer to your direct question is that I don't know that it matters. The author seems to share the view with Krontiris that women, literate or not, faced social obstacles in raising their "oppositional voices," and that verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly restricted. So, the part after the semicolon is a logical next step for both the author and Krontiris. If Krontiris and the author disagreed about the point, I think we'd see some clarity about to whom that last bit applies.

achloes · Answer

KarishmaB   GMATNinja

I decided to go with D as the passage clearly states that Burckhardt's view was repeatedly cited as prelude to feminist scholars' presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s inequality. Does this not sufficiently tell us why his work was cited?

Also, I couldn't justify option C as I was unable to find any support for it.

Appreciate your help!

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 3 
 
Take another look at the exact language of the first sentence of the passage:

"Jacob Burckhardt’s view that Renaissance European women “stood on a footing of  perfect equality ” with Renaissance men has been repeatedly cited by feminist scholars as a prelude to their presentation of rich historical evidence of women’s  inequality .

What's happening is this: Burckhardt made a bold statement that women were totally  equal  during the Renaissance. Feminist scholars quote him, and then launch into their OWN presentation about how  wrong  Burckhardt was. They argue that women were actual NOT equal -- they just include Burckhardt at the beginning to really highlight how off-base his statement was.

So, feminist scholars are definitely not citing Burckhadrt because his work "provides rich historical evidence of inequality between Renaissance women and men." Their  own  work provides the rich evidence, and they mention Burckhardt because they think he's kind of an idiot.

Eliminate (D).

As for (C), the above analysis shows feminist scholars refuting Burckhardt’s view, and there's more evidence later in the same paragraph when the author describes "a significant trend among feminist scholars   has entailed a rejection of both Kelly’s dark vision of the Renaissance and Burckhardt’s rosy one."

(C) is the correct answer for question 3.

I hope that helps!

zoezhuyan · Answer

dear experts,  avigutman ,  AndrewN , MartyTargetTestPrep ,  RonTargetTestPrep

I am afraid I did get the role of Tina Krontiris in the passage, and her view different with that feminist scholar or Jacob Burckhardt or Joan Kelly

from the paragraph 1, we know JK rejected JB, feminist scholars rejected both views of JK and JB, the view of scholars can be seen in a trend

from paragraph 2, TK is an example of trend that focus on middle-upper women.

above all, we can infer TK is on the same side feminist scholars who rejected view of both JB and JK.
so Tk is as a positive example of the trend, if we view the view of feminist scholars is positive.

then , what I confused is that why a positive example will have an incorrect assumption.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

The author presents the trend overall as positive but cites Tina Krontiris as an example of someone who has been involved in that trend but has made an incorrect assumption, "that women’s gender, irrespective of other social differences, including literacy, allows us to view women as a homogeneous social group and make that group an object of analysis."

SnorLax_7 · Answer

Hi,  MartyMurray   GMATNinja   ChiranjeevSingh   AnishPassi   KarishmaB   EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Kindly can you let me know what is the use of 'subordinate clause' starting from 'although she also stresses..' if she already captured the balance view in 'cautiously optimistic assesment'.

I rejected C because I thought C was only pointing on 1 view (cautious positive one) and not the other one (negative view). and E, though not primarly put to serve that purpose, is still making sense.

pls can you let me know where I am going wrong ?

Thanks !

MartyMurray · Answer

Notice that the clause starting with "although" is about the fact that she "stresses the  social obstacles  Renaissance women faced," whereas the preceding part of the sentence is about a different topic, the fact that she offers "a cautiously optimistic assessment of Renaissance women’s  achievements ."

So, the cautiously optimistic assessment is of "achievements," and what she "stresses" is "social obstacles."

Thus, we have a contrast between the two parts of the sentence: her optimistic assessment of "achievements" is contrasted with her stress on "social obstacles," in other words a stress on issues.

Do you have the sentences straight? I'm just wondering whether you have confused the next to last sentence with the last one.

SnorLax_7 · Answer

MartyMurray  Thanks for the kind response. No, I am not confused there.

if above is the case, then the last line which also includes "but in her sober and thoughtful concluding remarks, she suggests that  such verbal opposition  to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed; women seldom attacked the basic assumptions in the ideologies that oppressed them." is primarily supporting the whole previous sentence and not just 'cautiously optimistic assessment'. 
I think I am not wrong to assume that "such verbal opposition" in the last sentence is referring to “oppositional voices.” in the previous sentence.

Pls correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks !

MartyMurray · Answer

It's correct that "such verbal opposition" in the last sentence is referrring to "oppostional voices" in the previous sentence.

At the same time, that doesn't mean that the last sentence is illustrating the entire previous sentence. Rather, the last sentence mentions the "verbal opposition" in showing how Krontiris’s work illustrates a “cautiously optimistic"assessment of Renaissance women’s achievements.
 
Here's the last sentence of the passage:

Krontiris is concerned to show women intentionally negotiating some power for themselves (at least in the realm of public discourse) against potentially constraining ideologies, but in her sober and thoughtful concluding remarks, she suggests that such verbal opposition to cultural stereotypes was highly circumscribed; ....

We see that the last sentence is about just her "cautiously optimistic assessment." It says that she showed that they "negotiated SOME power" while, at the same time, their verbal opposition was "circumscribed." What she showed represents a "cautiously optimistic assessment."

The fact that the last sentence mentions "constraining ideologies," "verbal opposition," and "cultural stereotypes" doesn't mean that it doesn't show how Krontiris’s work illustrates a “cautiously optimistic"assessment. She mentioned those things in the process of providing her assessment.

So, (C) accurately describes what the last sentence serves to do.

(E) is incorrect because, although the last sentence does indicate how Krontiris's work differed from that of Burckhardt and Kelly, the purpose of the last sentence is not to illustrate that difference. So, (E) does not describe what the last sentence "serves to" do.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Jacob Burckhardts view that Renaissance European women stood on

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Jacob Burckhardts view that Renaissance European women stood on

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