Recent feminist scholarship concerning the United States in the 1920’s

Here is the video discussing this question in detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCmbMoWsaUc

Recent feminist scholarship concerning the United States in the 1920’s challenges earlier interpretations that assessed the twenties in terms of the unkept “promises” of the women’s suffrage movement. This new scholarship disputes the long-held view ... These feminist scholars also challenge the old view that ...

The passage tells you that the recent scholarship (knowledge) challenges earlier interpretations and gives a different view of achievements of suffrage.

(A) providing evidence indicating that feminist reformers of the 1920's failed to reach some of their goals

No evidence provided

(B) presenting scholarship that contrasts suffragist "promises" with the historical realities of the 1920's

Does not contrast with 'realities'. Presents the new scholarhship's view of suffrage.

(C) discussing recent scholarship concerning the achievements of women's suffrage during the 1920's and presenting an alternative view of those achievements

Yes, it discusses recent scholarship and its alternative view of women's suffrage's achievements.

(D) outlining recent findings concerning events leading to suffrage for women in the 1920's and presenting a challenge to those findings

Events leading to suffrage are not discussed.

(E) providing support for a traditional view of the success of feminist attempts to increase gender consciousness among women during the 1920's

Does not support the traditional view.

Answer (C)

Some Vocabulary
1. Suffrage - The right to vote in political elections
2. Deplore - To express strong disapproval

Summary of the Passage
1st Paragraph - The women's suffrage movement (WSM) from the '20s decade is the baseline for the discussion
1.a. The earlier assessment of WSM is challenged by the recent feminist scholars (RFS)
1.b. RFSs use the example of voting bloc to make their point that just because these blocs did not materialize does not mean that WSM failed
1.c. Having said that RFSs also challenge the view that women's vote would eliminate corruption
2nd Paragraph - RFSs overall view on the '20s decade in terms of legislative gains for women is presented here. This view also extends in the period post WSM
3rd Paragraph - The author's overall view is presented and focuses on how women gained autonomy. This view analysis the gains of women in '20s decade through a new lens

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

We need to consider all the three paragraphs while arriving at the main point. If we analyze my notes above, then the one-line takeaway is that - RFSs view on WSM is presented in the first two paragraphs and the author's view, which is different from RFSs view, is presented in the final paragraph. Only option C matches this takeaway. All other options capture only a part of the essence.

(C) discussing recent scholarship concerning the achievements of women's suffrage during the 1920's and presenting an alternative view of those achievements
(D) outlining recent findings concerning events leading to suffrage for women in the 1920's and presenting a challenge to those findings
This one's a trap option. To start with, the passage presents the view of the RFSs using the recent findings and not the other way round. Also, the author provides an alternate finding and does not question/challenge the RFSs' point-of-view

2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage disagrees with the "new scholarship" mentioned in lines 6-7 regarding the

We are asked about what the author disagrees with and the author's point-of-view is presented in the last paragraph - During this decade, however, there was intense activism aimed at achieving increased autonomy for women, broadening the spheres within which they lived their daily lives

Here the author talks about the entire decade and not specific to the movement. Only option C captures this essence

(C) degree to which the 1920's represented a period of decline for the feminist movement

3. The purpose of the second paragraph of the passage is to

The notes at this start of this post provide the answer to this question: 2nd Paragraph - RFSs overall view on the '20s decade in terms of legislative gains for women is presented here. This view also extends in the period post WSM

(D) explain a view held by feminist scholars

4. It can be inferred from the passage that recent scholars cite the words of Jane Addams primarily in order to

Asked whether women’s suffrage was a failure, these scholars cite the words of turn-of-the-century social reformer Jane Addams, “Why don’t you ask if suffrage in general is failing?”
RFSs presented their view on how the earlier assessment of WSM was not correct and when asked about the same, these scholars quoted the lines by Jane Addams

(E) suggest that the old view of women’s suffrage was inappropriate

5. It can be inferred that the analyses of the author of the passage and the scholars mentioned in lines 20–23 differ with regard to which of the following?

RFSs - After the mid-1920’s, few successes could be claimed by feminist reformers: little could be seen in the way of legislative victories
Author - there was intense activism aimed at achieving increased autonomy for women, broadening the spheres within which they lived their daily lives

(A) The criteria they use to evaluate the success of the feminist movement during the 1920s
As can been observed from the lines above, the RFSs used legislative victories whereas the author uses the criteria of autonomy to gauge the progress made during the decade

(D) Their definitions of what constitutes a legislative victory
This one's a trap answer choice. If we read the RFSs line closely then it does not elaborate or define anything, it simply states that very few legislative victories could be made

6. The “new scholarship” mentioned in the first paragraph suggests which of the following concerning the “promises” mentioned in lines 4–5?

The highlighted part of the notes from the start of this post provide the answer to this question
1st Paragraph - The women's suffrage movement (WSM) from the '20s decade is the baseline for the discussion
1.a. The earlier assessment of WSM is challenged by the recent feminist scholars (RFS)
1.b. RFSs use the example of voting bloc to make their point that just because these blocs did not materialize does not mean that WSM failed
1.c. Having said that RFSs also challenge the view that women's vote would eliminate corruption

(A) Failure to keep these promises is not a measure of the success of the suffrage movement

• Recent feminist challenges traditional assumption.
• Traditional assumption: evaluated unkept “promises” of the suffrage movement. - result of the evaluation: bad.
• What is the promises that the movement should have keep: materializing a women’s voting bloc and bringing moral, corruption-free governance.
• Why traditional assumption assessed not keeping this promises is bad: because doing so, the movement failed (to have long-term political gain).
• What is the recent feminist’s position: suffrage movement did not failed. It was the period 1920’s itself difficult to gain long-term political gain.
• Then what’s the causes of the failure of the movement that recent feminist hold?: the period of 1920’s itself had problems.
• Then what’s the author of the passage’s voice?: he corrects the recent feminist’s view, saying the period of 1920’s wasn’t so bad.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja and other experts , please , could you explain Q2 to me?
I didnt understand the official explanation given here.

Thank you in advance.

Question 2

Let's take a look at what we can take from the passage that would be helpful in answering this question.

This question can be solved by looking at the contrasting views of this "new scholarship" presented in the second and third paragraphs. In the second paragraph, we're given the view of the scholars involved in the "new scholarship". We're told that:

• "these scholars still present the 1920’s as a period of decline" for the feminist movement
• the movement "lost its cohesiveness, and gender consciousness waned"
• by the middle of the 1920s, the movement could claim few successes and little legislative progress had been made

It is not until the final paragraph that we are given the author's view on this scholarship. This paragraph says there was "intense activism aimed at achieving increased autonomy for women" in the 1920s, and we're given several examples of the wider aims and specific goals of this activism.

Using this information, we're asked to infer which of the answer choices illustrates the author's disagreement with this "new scholarship".

Let's take a look at each answer choice in turn and see which we can eliminate based on the information above. Looking at (A) first:
The author's disagreement with the scholarship, as described in the third paragraph, doesn't mention the "promises" of the movement. The author appears to dispute the degree of effort being made by those in the feminist movement, not the output of their work.

Therefore, the author is not disputing whether the "promises" of the movement remained unkept and we can rule out (A).

Now, let's look at (B):
As mentioned in the explanation for (A), the author appears to dispute the effort being made by the feminists of the 1920s. They do not dispute the outcomes achieved by the feminist movement in this decade.

The author is not disputing the effects that suffrage for women had on the morality of governance. (B) is not the answer to this question.

(C) tells us:
While the second paragraph tells us the scholars presenting the new scholarship "still present the 1920’s as a period of decline" for the feminist movement, the author appears to dispute this in the third paragraph.

In this paragraph, the author tells us that "there was intense activism" among the women in the movement. They go on to provide examples of the aims of this activism, and some of the specific goals pursued by women in this decade.

The striving for equal opportunities presented by the author in the third paragraph suggests they see the women in the movement as continuing to work hard. This gives the impression that the author does not believe the movement was in decline or that gender consciousness had waned.

(C) looks good for now, let's hold onto it while we look at (D) and (E).

(D) says:
The author does not mention any legislation passed, or attempted to be passed, by feminist reformers during the 1920s in the third paragraph. Therefore, we don't know the author's views on the degree of legislative success achieved by the reformers in this decade.

Since we don't know the author's views, we cannot say this is the reason why the author disagrees with the new scholarship. Let's eliminate (D).

Finally, (E) tells us:
Similarly to some of the other answers, there is no mention of the presence or lack of a women's voting bloc in the third paragraph where the author gives his views. Since there is no mention of a women's voting bloc in this paragraph, we cannot know the author's views on the accuracy of the view mentioned in (E).

If we don't know the author's views, we cannot say this is the reason why they disagree with the new scholarship. Let's cross out (E).

This leaves us with (C) as the only answer that hasn't been eliminated -- therefore, (C) is our answer.

I hope that helps!

Gmat ninja, thanks a lot, it did really help me. One more request, please provide as many CR, SC, RC explanations as possible. Because sometimes, I cant decide between two last left answer choices and cant find experts' reasonable explanations.

once again, thank you a lot

Summary:
- Feminist scholars dispute the view that since women's voting block did not materialize, suffrage did not produce long term political results for women.
- They also dispute the view that claimed suffrage to be a failure for not delivering on promises made
- In some aspects, these female scholars still presented this period as a period in decline -- little progress was made in legislation.
- However, during this decade there was intense activism where more opportunities for women were established.
______________________________

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) providing evidence indicating that feminist reformers of the 1920's failed to reach some of their goals
(B) presenting scholarship that contrasts suffragist "promises" with the historical realities of the 1920's
(C) discussing recent scholarship concerning the achievements of women's suffrage during the 1920's and presenting an alternative view of those achievements
(D) outlining recent findings concerning events leading to suffrage for women in the 1920's and presenting a challenge to those findings
(E) providing support for a traditional view of the success of feminist attempts to increase gender consciousness among women during the 1920's

This question is fairly straightforward -- it's a main idea question. The author discusses recent scholarship and presents a different view of those achievements.
_____________________

2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage disagrees with the "new scholarship" mentioned in lines 6-7 regarding the

(A) degree to which the "promises" of the suffrage movement remained unkept
(B) degree to which suffrage for women improved the morality of governance
(C) degree to which the 1920's represented a period of decline for the feminist movement
(D) degree of legislative success achieved by feminist reformers during the 1920's
(E) accuracy of the view that a women's voting bloc did not materialize once suffrage was achieved

Paragraph 2:


The feminist scholars still presented this period as a period of decline. The author certainly does not agree with this idea.
_____________________

3. The purpose of the second paragraph of the passage is to

(A) suggest a reason why suffragist "promises" were not kept
(B) contrast suffragist "promises" with the reality of the 1920's
(C) deplore the lack of successful feminist reform in 1920's
(D) explain a view held by feminist scholars
(E) answer the question asked by Jane Addams

The purpose is to explain a view held by feminist scholars. The 2nd paragraph does not suggest, contrast, deplore, or answer. Clearly D.
_____________________

4. It can be inferred from the passage that recent scholars cite the words of Jane Addams primarily in order to

(A) suggest that women’s achievement of suffrage brought about changes in government that were not taken into account by early interpretations
(B) point out contradictions inherent in the goals of the women’s suffrage movement
(C) show why a women’s voting bloc was not formed when women won the right to vote
(D) emphasize the place of social reform movements in the struggle for suffrage for women
(E) suggest that the old view of women’s suffrage was inappropriate


The scholars are cite the words of Jane Addams to suggest that the old view of women's suffrage was inappropriate -- that it was not only a women's issue.
_____________________

5. It can be inferred that the analyses of the author of the passage and the scholars mentioned in lines 20–23 differ with regard to which of the following?

(A) The criteria they use to evaluate the success of the feminist movement during the 1920s
(B) Their interpretations of the “promises” of the suffragist movement
(C) The suggestions they make for achieving feminist goals
(D) Their definitions of what constitutes a legislative victory
(E) Their estimations of the obstacles preventing women’s having achieved a voting bloc in the 1920s

Seems like a 750 level passage

The difficulty level of this passage should be as such in my opinion:

Question #1: 650
Question #2: 700-750
Question #3: 700
Question #4: 700
Question #5: 650
Question #6: 700

Overall: 700

Thanks for this [quote="VeritasKarishma"], could you please also provide an explanation of the Q.4 in this?

Hello Experts,
VeritasKarishma GMATNinja

3. The purpose of the second paragraph of the passage is to
Why Q3 C is incorrect?
(C) deplore the lack of successful feminist reform in 1920's
I agree that deplore is a strong word but if we look at the gist of the 2nd para - 2nd para presents that after suffrage, the feminist movement lost its cohesiveness and few successes (lack of successful cases) were claimed by feminist reformers. We can infer that there was a lack of successful reforms.

(D) explain a view held by feminist scholars
For D, I felt that merely presenting or explaining a view cannot be purpose of a paragraph because it is mostly true for any para. The para presents or explains a view held by someone (authors/scholars etc.)

Thanks!

There is a big difference between these two statements that I may make.

- 1920s was a period of decline. (the purpose of this statement is to suggest that 1920s witnessed a decline)
- these scholars present the 1920’s as a period of decline. (the purpose of this statement is to give the view of the scholars)

I may or may not agree with the view. That I could write about later. But the statement above presents the view of the scholar. I do not automatically embrace it by presenting it. I may oppose it in my next paragraph saying "But the scholars are mistaken and here is why ...etc"

Entire second paragraph tells us how scholars view the 1920s.

"This is a VERY HARD passage."
your words are a big relief. Otherwise, one after another wrong answers were giving me depression.

Hello, everyone. I happened across this passage in my studies today, and, after working through the question set, I can appreciate why, according to the timer statistics for each question, fewer than three out of every hundred people should be able to pass through the gauntlet unscathed. Because I do not see a full treatment of each question provided by an Expert, I will share my thoughts for the curious reader. Just check out the spoiler to a given question for my analysis.

QUESTION ONE


QUESTION TWO


QUESTION THREE


QUESTION FOUR


QUESTION FIVE


QUESTION SIX


This was quite an undertaking, possibly my second lengthiest post ever (behind my eight-question full analysis of another difficult RC passage). But if it helps a few readers go from decent to spectacular at tackling RC questions, or if a few more people can get through all six questions without a blemish, so much the better.

Good luck with your studies, everyone.

- Andrew

As I'm facing a lot of problems getting the correct answer so kindly help me out how to identify the correct answer and what those ques really need

Hello, vaibhav98chandel. I have written a full analysis of each question in the post just above yours. Just check out the spoilers to the different questions. Other Experts have provided their thoughts on certain questions as well. One comment I would like to make based on your short post is that the Verbal task is much more about understanding how to disfavor answers than it is learning how to identify correct answers. There is no single type of answer that will always be correct. You have to lean on contextual clues, the question stem, and the answer choices themselves to see which ones can be disproved.

If you find the RC task difficult, you might want to try combing through GMAT Ninja's Reading Comprehension Resource Collection.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

Let’s understand the passage first. Mind you, when I say “understand”, I mean let’s skim through the passage to look for the topic sentence, transitional words and other cues about the flow of the information. We can always scan the passage later for details depending on what the questions ask of us.


1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A primary purpose question asks you to infer why the author has written the essay. Our “map” has told us that the purpose of the passage is to talk about the views of the recent feminist scholars about the women’s suffrage movement. They have challenged a few views and have introduced their own view. The answer should reflect this. Let’s check…

A. providing evidence indicating that feminist reformers of the 1920's failed to reach some of their goals The passage states that some of the goals were not reached. But the author hasn’t written this passage to provide any evidence. Eliminate!

B. presenting scholarship that contrasts suffragist "promises" with the historical realities of the 1920's The recent scholars have challenged the earlier interpretations. One can even say that they have mentioned historical realities of the 1920’s. But the passage has not presented any scholarship. Eliminate!

C. discussing recent scholarship concerning the achievements of women's suffrage during the 1920's and presenting an alternative view of those achievements This is exactly what our map indicates. Select!

D. outlining recent findings concerning events leading to suffrage for women in the 1920's and presenting a challenge to those findings No recent findings have been referred to in the passage. Neither has the author challenged any findings. The passage is talking about the views of recent feminist scholars. Eliminate!

E. providing support for a traditional view of the success of feminist attempts to increase gender consciousness among women during the 1920's The traditional view does not say that feminist attempts to increase gender consciousness among women during the 1920's was a success. This option doesn’t even make sense! Eliminate!


2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage disagrees with the "new scholarship" mentioned in lines 6-7 regarding the

To answer this question let’s simplify the info needed. Keep in mind that just because the question specifies lines 6-7, does not mean that the views of the new scholarship is only mentioned there. The “new scholarship” in line 6-7disputes long-held views and even feel that the 1920’s presented a period of decline. However, in the third paragraph, the author with the use of “however” implies that he disagrees with the new scholarship’s view and that he feels that this decade saw intense activism aimed at achieving increased autonomy. In other words, the author feels that the 1920’s was not as much a period of decline as the new scholarship has pointed out. The answer choice should reflect this.

A. degree to which the "promises" of the suffrage movement remained unkept The author has not expressed any disagreement with reference to this point. Eliminate!

B. degree to which suffrage for women improved the morality of governance The author has not expressed any disagreement with reference to this point. Eliminate!

C. degree to which the 1920's represented a period of decline for the feminist movement Bingo! The author feels that the 1920’s was not as much a period of decline as the new scholarship has pointed out.

D. degree of legislative success achieved by feminist reformers during the 1920's The author has not expressed any disagreement with reference to this point. Eliminate!

E. accuracy of the view that a women's voting bloc did not materialize once suffrage was achieved The author has not expressed any disagreement with reference to this point. Eliminate!


3. The purpose of the second paragraph of the passage is to

To identify the purpose of the second paragraph, we need to trace the flow of the information. The first paragraph is presenting the view of the new scholars and so is the second paragraph. The answer should reflect this.

A. suggest a reason why suffragist "promises" were not kept Trick option alert! The fact that the 1920’s were a period of decline might have been the reason why the promises were not kept. But his is not what the question is asking. The question is asking why the author wrote this paragraph. Eliminate!

B. contrast suffragist "promises" with the reality of the 1920's The second paragraph refers to the 1920’s but it does not contrast suffragist "promises" with the reality of the 1920's. Eliminate!

C. deplore the lack of successful feminist reform in 1920's This paragraph does present the feminist reform in a negative light, but the author has not written this paragraph with this intention. He has clearly just presented the views of the new scholarship. Eliminate!

D. explain a view held by feminist scholars Select!

E. answer the question asked by Jane Addams Just because jane Addams has been mentioned at the end of the first paragraph does not mean that the next paragraph is answering the question that she asked in the earlier paragraph. Eliminate!


4. It can be inferred from the passage that recent scholars cite the words of Jane Addams primarily in order to

Let’s trace the flow of information to understand why Jane Addams was mentioned. The second last sentence of the Jane Addams paragraph says “These feminist scholars also challenge the old view that pronounced suffrage a failure for not delivering on the promise that the women’s vote  would bring about moral, corruption-free governance.” Jane Addams’ questions implies that suffrage in general isn't failing and that the success of suffrage shouldn't be assigned to one key goal - a moral, corruption-free governance. Her words have been mentioned to elaborate on the fact that feminist scholars challenged the old view about women suffrage and to point out

A. suggest that women’s achievement of suffrage brought about changes in government that were not taken into account by early interpretations No connection at all. Eliminate!

B. point out contradictions inherent in the goals of the women’s suffrage movement No connection at all. Eliminate!

C. show why a women’s voting bloc was not formed when women won the right to vote A lot of people choose this option because “women’s voting bloc” looks so familiar. But no connection at all. Eliminate!

D. emphasize the place of social reform movements in the struggle for suffrage for women No connection at all. Eliminate!

E. suggest that the old view of women’s suffrage was inappropriate Exactly what our analysis says! Select!



5. It can be inferred that the analyses of the author of the passage and the scholars mentioned in lines 20–23 differ with regard to which of the following?

This is as good as a repetition of Question no. 2. The scholars feel that the 1920’s presented a period of decline. However, in the third paragraph, the author with the use of “however” implies that he disagrees with the new scholarship’s view and that he feels that this decade saw intense activism aimed at achieving increased autonomy. In other words, the author feels that the 1920’s was not as much a period of decline as the new scholarship has pointed out. The answer choice should reflect this.

A. The criteria they use to evaluate the success of the feminist movement during the 1920s Exactly what our analysis says! Buzzz!

B. Their interpretations of the “promises” of the suffragist movement The analysis of the author and the scholars don’t specifically differ about this. Eliminate!

C. The suggestions they make for achieving feminist goals No such suggestions have been made. Eliminate!

D. Their definitions of what constitutes a legislative victory No such definitions have been given. Eliminate!

E. Their estimations of the obstacles preventing women’s having achieved a voting bloc in the 1920s No such estimations have been given. Eliminate!


6. The “new scholarship” mentioned in the first paragraph suggests which of the following concerning the “promises” mentioned in lines 4–5?

The first two lines of the passage clearly tell us the answer.

A. Failure to keep these promises is not a measure of the success of the suffrage movement. On the dot!

B. Failure to keep these promises caused the feminist movement to lose cohesiveness during the 1920s. This is referring to almost the opposite of what is the case. Eliminate!

C. Failure to keep these promises led recent feminist scholars to re-evaluate the success of the suffrage movement. We can’t really infer why the recent feminists re-evaluated the success of the suffrage movement. Eliminate!

D. These promises included securing for women the right to hold office and the right to serve on juries. No such references have been made. Eliminate!

E. These promises were of little importance in winning suffrage for women. The promises were made after won suffrage. So this option doesn’t even make sense here. Eliminate!

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