Joseph Glatthaars Forged in Battle is not the first excellent study

Question

Joseph Glatthaar’s  Forged in Battle  is not the first excellent study of Black soldiers and their White officers in the Civil War, but it uses more soldiers’ letters and diaries including rare material from Black soldiers—and concentrates more intensely on Black-White relations in Black regiments than do any of its predecessors. Glatthaar’s title expresses his thesis: loyalty, friendship, and respect among White officers and Black soldiers were fostered by the mutual dangers they faced in combat.

Glatthaar accurately describes the government's discriminatory treatment of Black soldiers in pay, promotion, medical care, and job assignments, appropriately emphasizing the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight. That chance remained limited throughout the war by army policies that kept most Black units serving in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions. Thus, while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great. Despite these obstacles, the courage and effectiveness of several Black units in combat won increasing respect from initially skeptical or hostile White soldiers.  As one White officer put it, “they have fought their way into the respect of all the army.”

In trying to demonstrate the magnitude of this attitudinal change, however, Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments.  “Prior to the war,” he writes of these men, “virtually all of them held powerful racial prejudices.” While perhaps true of those officers who joined Black units for promotion or other self-serving motives, this statement misrepresents the attitudes of the many abolitionists who became officers in Black regiments. Having spent years fighting against the race prejudice endemic in American society, they participated eagerly in this military experiment, which they hoped would help African Americans achieve freedom and postwar civil equality. By current standards of racial egalitarianism, these men's paternalism toward African Americans was racist. But to call their feelings “powerful racial prejudices” is to indulge in  generational chauvinism —to judge past eras by present standards.   1 
 1. The passage as a whole can best be characterized as which of the following?

(A) An evaluation of a scholarly study
(B) A description of an attitudinal change
(C) A discussion of an analytical defect
(D) An analysis of the causes of a phenomenon
(E) An argument in favor of revising a view

2 
 2. According to the author, which of the following is true of Glatthaar's  Forged in Battle  compared with previous studies on the same topic?

(A) It is more reliable and presents a more complete picture of the historical events on which it concentrates than do previous studies.
(B) It uses more of a particular kind of source material and focuses more closely on a particular aspect of the topic than do previous studies.
(C) It contains some unsupported generalizations, but it rightly emphasizes a theme ignored by most previous studies.
(D) It surpasses previous studies on the same topic in that it accurately describes conditions often neglected by those studies.
(E) It makes skillful use of supporting evidence to illustrate a subtle trend that previous studies have failed to detect.

3 
 3. The author implies that the title of Glatthaar's book refers specifically to which of the following?

(A) The sense of pride and accomplishment that Black soldiers increasingly felt as a result of their Civil War experiences
(B) The civil equality that African Americans achieved after the Civil War, partly as a result of their use of organizational skills honed by combat
(C) The changes in discriminatory army policies that were made as a direct result of the performance of Black combat units during the Civil War
(D) The improved interracial relations that were formed by the races' facing of common dangers and their waging of a common fight during the Civil War
(E) The standards of racial egalitarianism that came to be adopted as a result of White Civil War veterans' repudiation of the previous racism

4 
 4. The passage mentions which of the following as an important theme that receives special emphasis in Glatthaar's book?

(A) The attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units 
(B) The struggle of black units to get combat assignments
(C) The consequences of the poor medical care received by Black soldiers
(D) The motives of officers serving in Black units
(E) The discrimination that Black soldiers faced when trying for promotions

5 
 5. The passage suggests that which of the following was true of Black units' disease mortality rates in the Civil War?

(A) They were almost as high as the combat mortality rates of white units.
(B) They resulted in part from the relative inexperience of these units when in combat.
(C) They were especially high because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments.
(D) They resulted in extremely high overall casualty rates in black combat units.
(E) They exacerbated the morale problems that were caused by the army's discriminatory policies.

6 
 6. The author of the passage quotes the White officer in lines 23-24  As one White officer put it, “they have fought their way into the respect of all the army.” ] primarily in order to provide evidence to support the contention that

(A) virtually all White officers initially had hostile attitudes toward Black soldiers
(B) Black soldiers were often forced to defend themselves from physical attacks initiated by soldiers from White units
(C) the combat performance of Black units changed the attitudes of white soldiers toward Black soldiers
(D) White units paid especially careful attention to the performance of Black units in battle
(E) respect in the army as a whole was accorded only to those units, whether Black or White, that performed well in battle

7 
 7. Which of the following best describes the kind of error attributed to Glatthaar in lines 25-28  In trying to demonstrate the magnitude of this attitudinal change, however, Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments. ]?

(A) Insisting on an unwarranted distinction between two groups of individuals in order to render an argument concerning them internally consistent
(B) Supporting an argument in favor of a given interpretation of a situation with evidence that is not particularly relevant to the situation
(C) Presenting a distorted view of the motives of certain individuals in order to provide grounds for a negative evaluation of their actions
(D) Describing the conditions prevailing before a given event in such a way that the contrast with those prevailing after the event appears more striking than it actually is
(E) Asserting that a given event is caused by another event merely because the other event occurred before the given event occurred

8 
 8. Which of the following actions can best be described as indulging in " generational chauvinism " (lines 40-41) as that practice is defined in the passage?

(A) Condemning a present-day monarch merely because many monarchs have been tyrannical in the past.
(B) Clinging to the formal standards of politeness common in one's youth to such a degree that any relaxation of those standards is intolerable
(C) Questioning the accuracy of a report written by an employee merely because of the employee's gender.
(D) Deriding the superstitions accepted as "science" in past eras without acknowledging the prevalence of irrational beliefs today.
(E) Labeling a nineteenth-century politician as "corrupt" for engaging in once-acceptable practices considered intolerable today.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

QUESTION 7: First of all, great job using process of elimination! If you've found four wrong answers, then you've found the correct answer

Glatthaar suggests that the white officers had "powerful racial prejudices" before the war and that fighting alongside black soldiers during the war changed those prejudices (the black soldiers "fought their way into the respect of all the army"). In other words, Glatthaar suggests that the white officers were very racist before the war and much less racist after the war. But the author suggests that Glatthaar is exaggerating this change. The author says that the pre-war racism of many white officers was not as "powerful" a Glatthaar suggests. Many of those white officers were abolitionists who spent years fighting AGAINST racial prejudice even before the war started. Those officers may have gained respect for the black units as soldiers , but that doesn't necessarily mean that the officers went from being racist to not being racist. They may not have been very racist before the war even started. Thus, Glatthaar describes the conditions prevailing before the war (i.e. the prewar racism of white officers) in such a way that the contrast with their POST-war racism seems more striking (i.e. more noticeable) than it actually was. QUESTION 1: I assume you are referring to the first question... There are many clues from which we can infer that this is a scholarly study. For example, in the first sentence, the author refers to Glatthaar's work as an "excellent study of Black soldiers and their White officers in the Civil War." Later in the first paragraph the author says that, "Glatthaar’s title expresses his thesis " (a "thesis" could surely be the topic of a scholarly study). We are also told that Glatthaar's work "concentrates more intensely on Black-White relations in Black regiments than do any of its predecessors." So while the passage never explicitly refers to the work as a "scholarly study", it is clear that the work examines race relations in the Civil War era. This certainly sounds like a scholarly (or "academic") study. More importantly, choice (A) is better than any of the other choices, which you should try to eliminate using POE. QUESTION 4: Choice (A) is tempting, but take a second look at the last two sentences in paragraph #2. A White officer is quoted, but these sentences are discussing the attitudes of White soldiers , not abolitionist officers. Then, to demonstrate this "attitudinal change..., Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments." Yes, Glatthaar mentions the attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units but only to make a broader point about the shift in attitudes. In doing so, Glatthaar " misrepresents the attitudes of the many abolitionists who became officers in Black regiments." So the point of the 3rd paragraph is not that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to the attitudes of abolitionist officers. Instead, the point is that Glatthaar's description of their attitudes (i.e. 'virtually all of them held powerful racial prejudices') is misleading. Although Glatthaar certainly mentions the attitudes of these officers, were are not told that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to those attitudes. We are specifically told that Glatthaar appropriately emphasizes "the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight", so (B) is a much better answer. QUESTION 5: The author tells us that most Black units were kept serving "in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions. Thus , while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great." The use of the word "Thus" allows us to infer that because Black units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and NOT given as many opportunities to fight (i.e. in the front), their combat death rate was lower. Furthermore, because Black units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions, their mortality rate from disease was twice as great. Even though we don't know what specifically caused the higher disease rates in those jobs, we can infer that something about working in rear-echelon assignments and in labor battalions increased mortality rates from disease. In other words, we can infer that being assigned to these duties increased your chances of catching fatal diseases. We don't know why that is true, but we can infer that something about those duties (i.e. something inherent to those duties... the nature of those duties) made units assigned to those duties more likely to contract fatal diseases. Thus, the passage suggests (though it does not prove ) that the disease mortality rates of Black units during the Civil War were especially high because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments. Choice (C) is the best answer. I hope that helps!

Juz2play · Answer

Hi kartik222,

For question 7, the correct answer is (D) because the passages states," In trying to demonstrate the magnitude of this attitudenal change, however, Glatthaar seems to  exaggerate  the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments. “Prior to the war,” he writes of these men, “virtually all of them held powerful racial prejudices.”

The key word here is EXAGGERATE. This matches with choice (D) a it states," describing the conditions prevailing before a given event in such a way that the contrast with those prevailing after the event appears  more striking than it actually is ." "More striking that it actually is" is the key phrase in here that defines EXAGGERATE.

I agree with the OA provided by kartik222. Anyway, I already found the OA.

1. A 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. C
6. C 7. D 8. E

kartik222 · Answer

My .02,

I solved the RC and not appalled I had a similar opinion about the answer key provided here. I Google this passage and found this right answer key (hopefuly!) and I got 6/8 right, so I am just not copy pasting the key and giving vague reasons as to why these answers are correct, I am giving my own reasons. The two I got wrong, I know the reason!!

Please, don't hold it against me, if you don't agree with this key, it is what I found and I feel it's pretty close to the correct choice!

1/A
Pretty clear why this is correct so won't dig into this one.
2/B
REASON: Joseph Glatthaar’s Forged in Battle is not the first excellent study of Black soldiers and their White officers in the Civil War, but it uses  more soldiers’ letters and diaries including rare material  from Black soldiers— and concentrates more intensely on Black-White  relations  in Black regiments than do any of its predecessors. 
3/D
REASON: Glatthaar’s title expresses his thesis: loyalty, friendship, and respect among White officers and Black soldiers were fostered by the mutual dangers they faced in combat.
4/B
REASON: Glatthaar accurately describes the government's discriminatory treatment of Black soldiers in pay, promotion, medical care, and job assignments,  appropriately emphasizing the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight.  
5/C 
REASON:  Talking about the condition here--> That chance remained limited throughout the war by army policies that kept most Black units serving in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions. 
6/C
REASON:  attitude changed---> Despite these obstacles, the courage and effectiveness of several Black units in combat won increasing respect from initially skeptical or hostile White soldiers. As one White officer put it, “they have fought their way into the respect of all the army.”
7/D
--- I am not sure why D is correct, coz I chose A!
8/E
REASON:  Here the are saying what happened earlier is deemed inappropriate by today's standard, that's exactly what option is saying, "politician is deemed corrupt by today's standard"-->  By current standards of racial egalitarianism, these men's paternalism toward African Americans was racist. But to call their feelings “powerful racial prejudices” is to indulge in generational chauvinism—to judge past eras by present standards.

Thanks,

-K

EBITDA · Answer

5) The passage suggests that which of the following was true of 
Black units’ disease mortality rates in the Civil War?

A) They were almost as high as the combat mortality rates 
of White units. 
B) They resulted in part from the relative inexperience of 
these units when in combat. 
C) They were especially high because of the nature of these 
units’ usual duty assignments. 
D) They resulted in extremely high overall casualty rates in 
Black combat units. 
E) They exacerbated the morale problems that were caused 
by the army’s discriminatory policies.

Could someone reason why would he/she would discard option E?

Thank you so much.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

EBITDA , Look back at the context of the material on disease mortality. The author is saying that the black units were able to be courageous and effective despite this problem. There is no mention of morale problems, let alone any suggestion that disease morality exacerbated this problem (made it worse). If anything, this would be the opposite of the author's reasoning. Clever username, by the way.

origen87 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja ,

I was wondering could you please explain why Q5 OA is C? From the passage I was able to infer that Black units' disease mortality rates were high based on the following sentence from the passage "Thus, while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great". My question is how can we infer the bold part in the following sentence: "Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high  because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments. . I was confused on this latter part and ended up picking the wrong option because I was not able to infer that their mortality rates were high because of the nature of their duty assignments. Could you please help in regards to this? Would greatly appreciate it!

lichting · Answer

Can anyone please give me detail explaination of Q7? 
I can locate the relevant information - the "exaggerate" part but still don't know the meaning of option D in Q7. Though I could choose it by eliminating the other options

anish823 · Answer

How do we know that its referring to a scholarly study?

GMATNinja · Answer

I assume you are referring to the first question...

There are many clues from which we can infer that this is a scholarly study. For example, in the first sentence, the author refers to Glatthaar's work as an "excellent  study  of Black soldiers and their White officers in the Civil War." Later in the first paragraph the author says that, "Glatthaar’s title expresses his  thesis " (a "thesis" could surely be the topic of a scholarly study).

We are also told that Glatthaar's work "concentrates more intensely on Black-White relations in Black regiments than do any of its predecessors." So while the passage never explicitly refers to the work as a "scholarly study", it is clear that the work examines race relations in the Civil War era. This certainly sounds like a scholarly (or "academic") study.

More importantly, choice (A) is better than any of the other choices, which you should try to eliminate using POE.

I hope that helps!

Nived · Answer

Can someone explain question 5. It says that Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments.

According to the passage, Black units served in rear-echelon assignments and worked in labor battalions. So, what exactly was the issue with the nature of "rear-echelon assignments and labor battalions"? I had the impression that the working conditions and hygiene issues were there, but this was not really related to "nature of duty", but more related to the living conditions. Where did I get it wrong.

oasis90 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja

4. The passage mentions which of the following as an important theme that receives special emphasis in Glatthaar's book?

(A) The attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units 
(B) The struggle of black units to get combat assignments
(C) The consequences of the poor medical care received by Black soldiers
(D) The motives of officers serving in Black units
(E) The discrimination that Black soldiers faced when trying for promotions

can you please explain why choice A is incorrect? I know why B is correct but I can't find enough grounds to eliminate A. After all, there is a whole parg dedicated to it.

JS1290 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja ,

I was wondering could you please explain why Q5 OA is C? From the passage I was able to infer that Black units' disease mortality rates were high based on the following sentence from the passage "Thus, while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great". My question is how can we infer the bold part in the following sentence: "Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high  because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments. . I was confused on this latter part and ended up picking the wrong option because I was not able to infer that their mortality rates were high because of the nature of their duty assignments. Could you please help in regards to this? Would greatly appreciate it!

GMATNinja · Answer

Sorry for the delay on these questions! Feel free to use the  request verbal experts' reply  button so that we're a little bit more likely to see your question.

Choice (A) is tempting, but take a second look at the last two sentences in paragraph #2. A White officer is quoted, but these sentences are discussing the attitudes of White  soldiers , not abolitionist officers. Then, to demonstrate this "attitudinal change..., Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments."

Yes, Glatthaar  mentions  the attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units but only to make a broader point about the shift in attitudes. In doing so, Glatthaar " misrepresents  the attitudes of the many abolitionists who became officers in Black regiments." So the point of the 3rd paragraph is not that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to the attitudes of abolitionist officers. Instead, the point is that Glatthaar's description of their attitudes (i.e. 'virtually all of them held powerful racial prejudices') is misleading.

Although Glatthaar certainly mentions the attitudes of these officers, were are not told that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to those attitudes. We are specifically told that Glatthaar appropriately emphasizes "the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight", so (B) is a much better answer.

The author tells us that most Black units were kept serving "in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions.    Thus   , while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great."

The use of the word "Thus" allows us to infer that  because  Black units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and NOT given as many opportunities to fight (i.e. in the front), their combat death rate was lower. Furthermore,  because  Black units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions, their mortality rate from disease was twice as great.

Even though we don't know what specifically caused the higher disease rates in those jobs, we can infer that  something  about working in rear-echelon assignments and in labor battalions increased mortality rates from disease. In other words, we can infer that being assigned to these duties increased your chances of catching fatal diseases.

We don't know  why  that is true, but we can infer that  something  about those duties (i.e. something  inherent  to those duties... the  nature  of those duties) made units assigned to those duties more likely to contract fatal diseases. Thus, the passage  suggests  (though it does not  prove ) that the disease mortality rates of Black units during the Civil War were especially high because of the  nature  of these units' usual duty assignments.

Choice (C) is the best answer.

Vaishnavikethar · Answer

Hi GMATNinja, could you help in answering the 8th question.

GMATNinja · Answer

Sure! Here's the question:

And here's the statement being quoted:

First, let's put this sentence in context. It ends the second paragraph. The author wrote that paragraph to challenge Glatthaar's statement that virtually all white officers in Black regiments had "powerful racial prejudices" prior to the war.

The author claims that this statement indulges in generational chauvinism, because many of these officers were abolitionists who supported civil equality for African Americans. Even if these officers' paternalism towards Africans Americans would be considered racist today, the author claims that according to the standards of their time, these soldiers did NOT hold powerful racial prejudices.

OK, so we're looking for an answer choice where someone in the past is judged negatively by present-day standards that did not exist in their time. Let's start our process of elimination:

This choice involves judging someone in the present, not in the past. Eliminate (A).

This choice follows the behavior of one person from childhood to adulthood. It doesn't involve judging anyone in the past. Eliminate (B).

This choice describes judging a person based on their gender. It doesn't involve judging anyone in the past. Eliminate (C).

This choice is closer to the author's definition, but still off the mark. Yes, this action negatively judges people in the past, but it's not doing so according to a standard from the present day. Instead, it's negatively judging people in the past for a behavior that  also  exists in the present day. That's why we eliminate (D).

This choice is a perfect match! Negatively judging a past politician by present-day standards for corruption is very similar to negatively judging past officers by present-day standards for racial prejudice. Both cases ignore what standards for judgment were used in the past era, so they both fit the author's definition of generational chauvinism.

(E) is the only choice that reflects the author's definition in the passage. I hope this helps!

Sigmabeta · Answer

It took me 14min10sec to solve the passage.
Got 6/8 correct

can someone explain Q4 in detail, please?

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 4

Question 4 asks us to find which answer choice is directly mentioned in the passage. Additionally, it must be an "important theme that receives special emphasis."

Here are the answer choices:
 
According to the author, Glatthaar actually  misrepresents  the attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units. He does this by basically  ignoring  the attitudes of officers who "participated eagerly in this military experiment, which they hoped would help African Americans achieve freedom and postwar civil equality." Instead of focusing on the attitudes of abolitionist officers, he "seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments."

So, we can't say that the attitudes of abolitionist officers are an important theme in the book. (A) is out.

In the second paragraph, the author praises Glatthaar for "appropriately  emphasizing  the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight."

(B) is looking good.

Glatthaar does mention that Black units were discriminated against in regards to medical care. However, this isn't explored as an important theme of the book. The author mentions disease, but that's discussed as a consequence of the types of assignments given to Black units, and NOT as a consequence of poor medical care.

Eliminate (C).

Again, the author of the passage criticizes Glatthaar for NOT delving into the motives of officers who serve in Black units. Glatthaar just says they are racist, while the author of the passage talks about their motives.

(D) is out.

Glatthaar "accurately describes" the discrimination that Black soldiers faced when trying for promotions, but there's nothing telling us that this was an important theme that receives special emphasis.

Eliminate (E), and (B) is the correct answer to question 4.

I hope that helps!

agrasan · Answer

Hi experts  GMATNinja   KarishmaB   DmitryFarber

In question-7, is option C wrong because it goes in the opposite direction for the mentioned lines (by author)?

(C) Presenting a distorted view of the motives of certain individuals in order to provide grounds for a negative evaluation of their actions

bb · Answer

Hi. Kind of I guess but more specifically C) is wrong because Glatthaar is not exaggerating to negatively evaluate the officers' actions. He's not trying to malign their actions as officers; he's trying to emphasize the "magnitude of this attitudinal change."

So I dont know if it is going in the opposite direction but it is not the author's direction if that makes sense. C) attributes the reason (evaluation of actions) incorrectly. Hope it helps.

Joseph Glatthaars Forged in Battle is not the first excellent study

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Joseph Glatthaars Forged in Battle is not the first excellent study

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