New York stood at the center of the momentous processes that recast Am

Question

New York stood at the center of the momentous processes that recast American society in the nineteenth century. Once a modest seaport, the city early took the lead in developing new forms of commerce and mass production; by 1860 it was both the nation's premier port and its largest manufacturing city. The appearance of new social classes was both cause and result of industrial development and commercial expansion. Wealth from investments in trade and manufacturing ventures supported the emergence of an urban bourgeoisie; the expansion of capitalist labor arrangements brought into being a class of largely impoverished wage workers. The resulting divisions fostered, on each side, new and antagonistic political ideas and social practices.

We know most about the male participants in these conflicts , workingmen and employers. Politically, bourgeois men upheld their right to protect, improve upon, and increase the private property on which rested, they believed, their country's welfare. In return, many workingmen affirmed a belief in the superior abilities of those who worked with their hands—as opposed to the idle, acquisitive, parasitical owners of property—to direct American society in accordance with republican values of social equality, civil virtue, and yeomanry that they inherited from the Revolution.

Class transformation was related to, but not synonymous with, the thorough-going transformation of the gender system in the first half of the nineteenth century: that is, the changes in all those arrangements of work, sexuality, parental responsibilities, psychological life, assigned social traits, and internalized emotions through which the sexes defined themselves respectively as men and women. Women of the emerging bourgeoisie articulated new ideas about many of these aspects of their lives. Designating themselves moral guardians of their husbands and children, women became the standard-bearers of piety, decorum, and virtue in Northern society. They claimed the home as the sphere of society where they could most effectively exercise their power. In their consignment to the household as the sole domain of proper female activity, women suffered a constriction of their social engagements; at the same time, they gained power within their families that also vested them with greater moral authority in their own communities. While the cult of domesticity spoke to female interests and emerged from altered relations between men and women, it also contained within it conflicts of class. As urban ladies increased their contacts with the working poor through Protestant missions and charity work, they developed domestic ideology as part of a vision of a reformed city, purged of the supposed perfidies of working-class life. Domesticity quickly became an element of bourgeois self-consciousness. In confronting the working poor, (soy reformers created and refined their own sense of themselves as social and spiritual superiors capable of remolding the city in their own image. From the ideas and practices of domesticity they drew many of the materials for their ideal of a society that had put to rest the disturbing conflicts of class.    1 
 1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with discussing

A. the authority possessed by middle-class women in New York both in public and in private 
B. the transformation of New York into an industrial and commercial center of activity 
C. social conflict in New York, in terms of class and gender, as a result of economic expansion 
D. the social values of the middle class in New York, particularly the cult of domesticity 
E. the attempt of the middle class in New York to reform the working class

2 
 2. The author states, " We know most about the male participants in these conflicts " primarily in order to

A. challenge past studies because they have largely ignored the female participants 
B. preface a debate over the motivating factors for class conflict 
C. propose possible reasons as to why only men's roles have been examined 
D. emphasize the impact that class conflict had on industrial development 
E. allude to a later discussion of the women who were active in such conflicts

3 
 3. According to the passage, middle-class men were similar to working-class men in that each group

A. perceived the other to be an obstruction to industrial and commercial expansion 
B. placed a great deal of weight on private ownership and the entrepreneurial spirit 
C. responded to the changing economy with both excitement and aversion 
D. felt threatened by the activity of women who sought to lay claim to the home 
E. considered itself responsible for the well-being and prosperity of the country

4 
 4. According to the passage, bourgeois women did which of the following by taking charge of the home?

A. Both enlarged the scope of their authority and circumscribed their power 
B. Portrayed their challenge to male authority as an act necessary to preserve morality 
C. Reconstructed the duties of parents as well as the role of children 
D. Increased their missionary activity intended to assist the working class 
E. Set out to reform the city, in particular the working class

5 
 5. According to the passage

I. certain Americans felt that property ownership was in the best interest of the whole country 
II. some men who engaged in manual labor believed that those in wealthier classes did not contribute to society 
III. the Republican party, which was formed after the American Revolution, believed strongly in social equality

A. I,II,and III
B. II and III
C. I and III
D. I and II
E. None of the above

6 
 6. Based on the facts about social change described in the passage, which of the following could be an accurate characterization of someone living in New York City in the nineteenth century?

I. A wealthy woman who believes in service to the poor as an important element in leading a truly virtuous life 
II. A factory worker who is able to find friends who respect his belief in old-fashioned values 
III. A woman, married to a successful investor, who is validated after questioning unethical choices her husband makes

A. I and II
B. II and III
C. I, II, and III
D. I and III
E. II and III

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 268 Date: 07 Aug-2023
 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #1

The support for the answer to this primary purpose question is provided by the statements in the passage that “wealth from investments in trade… supported… the expansion of capitalist labor arrangements” and that “the resulting divisions fostered… new and antagonistic political ideas and social practices.” Choice (A) is recycled language, as the public and private activities of middle-class women are one of the aspects the author discusses, but do not fully express the author’s purpose. Choice (B) is recycled language, as the transformation of New York is only the background of the elements the author discusses. Choice (D) is recycled language, as “the social values of the cult of domesticity” are one of the aspects the author discusses, but do not fully express the author’s purpose. Choice (E) is a memory trap, as the attempts at reform are a source of tension, but do not fully express the author’s purpose. The correct answer is (C).

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #2

The support for the answer to this purpose question is provided by the statement in the passage that “class transformation was related to… the thorough-going transformation of the gender system,” which leads into the discussion of women of the emerging bourgeoisie. Choices (A) and (C) can be eliminated, as the words “ignored” and “only” are extreme language that are not supported by the text, which states only that “we know most about the male participants.” Choices (B) and (D) are reversals, as the author indicates greater knowledge about the male participants in order to foreshadow a discussion of female participants. The correct answer is (E).

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #3

The support for the answer to this retrieval question is provided by the statement in the passage that “bourgeois men upheld their right to… improve upon… private property and in return, many workingmen affirmed a belief in the… abilities of those who worked with their hands… to direct… society in accordance with… values.” Choice (A) is recycled language, as the passage does not provide support that working-class men felt that bourgeois men were an obstruction to… expansion. Choice (B) can be eliminated, as the claim that each group valued private ownership is extreme language that is not supported by the text, which credits bourgeois men with the value for private property. Choice (C) is a memory trap, as the events in the passage may have provoked both excitement and aversion, but these qualities are not indicated by the text. Choice (D) is a memory trap, as the phrase “gain power within their families” does not indicate that the men were threatened by this power. The correct answer is (E).

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #4

The support for the answer to this retrieval question is provided by the statement in the passage that "in their consignment to the household...women suffered a constriction of their social engagements and that at the same time, they gained power within their families that also vested them with greater moral authority in their own communities." Choice (B) can be eliminated, 
as the phrase "challenge to male authority" is extreme language that is not supported by the text, which does not indicate that the activities of women were designed to challenge male power. Choice (C) is a memory trap, as the reconstruction referenced in the passage did not specifically apply to parent-child roles. Choice (D) is a memory trap, as the reference to Protestant missions does not indicate missionary activity. Choice (E) can be eliminated, as the phrase "set out to reform the city" is extreme language that is not supported by the text, which states that the women had the vision of a reformed city. The correct answer is (A)

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #5

The support for the answer to this retrieval question is provided by the statements in the passage that "bourgeois men upheld their right to...increase the private property on which rested...their country's welfare," and that workingmen believed themselves superior to the "parasitical owners of property." Choice (C) is a memory trap, as the republican values referenced in the passage are not the same as the republican party. The correct answer is D.

Carcass · Answer

OE QUESTION #6

This evaluate question requires applying the concepts from the passage to a new situation. Choice (A) is recycled language, as service to the poor in order to lead a truly virtuous life is not supported as the motivation of the women in the passage. The correct answer is choices B.

Devayusssh · Answer

Please tell about ques 5 and ques 6

Posted from my mobile device

Ritik25 · Answer

Answers to questions #5 and #6 are loosely explained and are not convincingly proven correct in the slightest. The fact that some working class members believe that those who work with their hands have "superior ability" to direct American society than the middle class doesn't in any way justify a conclusion that they think the latter straight up do not contribute to society at all.

Not convinced with #6 either, can someone explain better why statement 1 is incorrect?

Not convinced with #6 either, can someone explain better why statement 1 is incorrect?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Discussed here Question #5 https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-york-sto ... l#p3248757 Question #6 https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-york-sto ... l#p3248758

Carcass · Answer

New York stood at the center of the momentous processes that recast American society in the nineteenth century.

NY was the epicenter of a process to renew American society in the 1800

Once a modest seaport, the city early took the lead in developing new forms of commerce and mass production; by 1860 it was both the nation's premier port and its largest manufacturing city.

Just facts: NY from a small agglomerate to an important hub

The appearance of new social classes was both cause and result of industrial development and commercial expansion.

We have new social classes such as the labor forces as a result of the expansion during the century

Wealth from investments in trade and manufacturing ventures supported the emergence of an urban bourgeoisie; the expansion of capitalist labor arrangements brought into being a class of largely impoverished wage workers. The resulting divisions fostered, on each side, new and antagonistic political ideas and social practices.

New classes arose and at the same time this brought contraposition among them of ideas and visions

We know most about the male participants in these conflicts, workingmen and employers. Politically, bourgeois men upheld their right to protect, improve upon, and increase the private property on which rested, they believed, their country's welfare.

The middle class moved toward the protection of their own rights

In return, many workingmen affirmed a belief in the superior abilities of those who worked with their hands—as opposed to the idle, acquisitive, parasitical owners of property—to direct American society in accordance with republican values of social equality, civil virtue, and yeomanry that they inherited from the Revolution.

Workingmen were somehow superior to the lords of some kind of property, maybe inherited.

Class transformation was related to, but not synonymous with, the thorough-going transformation of the gender system in the first half of the nineteenth century: that is, the changes in all those arrangements of work, sexuality, parental responsibilities, psychological life, assigned social traits, and internalized emotions through which the sexes defined themselves respectively as men and women.

All these transformations were strongly related to the features above enlisted

Women of the emerging bourgeoisie articulated new ideas about many of these aspects of their lives. Designating themselves moral guardians of their husbands and children, women became the standard-bearers of piety, decorum, and virtue in Northern society.

Women in particular emerged as some kind of emblem to protect these new classes

They claimed the home as the sphere of society where they could most effectively exercise their power.

The household was at the center of everything on which women had power

In their consignment to the household as the sole domain of proper female activity, women suffered a constriction of their social engagements; at the same time, they gained power within their families that also vested them with greater moral authority in their own communities.

This had a double effect: one one hand women who had power in their home then suffered to have some sort of influence OUTSIDE of this sphere as a single person but gained, on the other hand, respect through their family in the local communities

While the cult of domesticity spoke to female interests and emerged from altered relations between men and women, it also contained within it conflicts of class. As urban ladies increased their contacts with the working poor through Protestant missions and charity work, they developed domestic ideology as part of a vision of a reformed city, purged of the supposed perfidies of working-class life.

The women had also a role to forge the ideology that the family was at the center of this new city (NY)

Domesticity quickly became an element of bourgeois self-consciousness. In confronting the working poor, (soy reformers created and refined their own sense of themselves as social and spiritual superiors capable of remolding the city in their own image. From the ideas and practices of domesticity they drew many of the materials for their ideal of a society that had put to rest the disturbing conflicts of class.

Complex sentence related also to the previous one: women set the household at the center of an improved society, working against the negative sides that we had from a conflict among classes.

Carcass · Answer

5. According to the passage

I. certain Americans felt that property ownership was in the best interest of the whole country

Yes true. we have (as I explained above) the following sentence

In return, many workingmen affirmed a belief in the superior abilities of those who worked with their hands— as opposed to the idle, acquisitive, parasitical owners of property —to direct American society in accordance with republican values of social equality, civil virtue, and yeomanry that they inherited from the Revolution.

II. some men who engaged in manual labor believed that those in wealthier classes did not contribute to society

Again  many workingmen affirmed a belief in the superior abilities of those who worked with their hands

This is also true

III. the Republican party, which was formed after the American Revolution, believed strongly in social equality

Not enough of talking if not at all of the RP in the passage

A. I,II,and III
B. II and III
C. I and III
D. I and II
E. None of the above

Carcass · Answer

6. Based on the facts about social change described in the passage, which of the following could be an accurate characterization of someone living in New York City in the nineteenth century?

I. A wealthy woman who believes in service to the poor as an important element in leading a truly virtuous life

Not really: in the passage what we do know is that the women worked against the perfidies of the working class.  a truly virtuous life  not sure..............

II. A factory worker who is able to find friends who respect his belief in old-fashioned values

This could be true based on this sentence

the expansion of capitalist labor arrangements brought into being a class of largely impoverished wage workers. The resulting divisions fostered, on each side, new and antagonistic political ideas and social practices.

Conversely, the workers could think that the old days were better than the new one, and the expansion of NY

III. A woman, married to a successful investor, who is validated after questioning unethical choices her husband makes

This is possible because the women were at the center of the household. we assume they would defend the house at any cost

Answer is B

simran01 · Answer

How can we assume about the old fashioned values? nothing was explicitly mentioned in the passage about this.

simran01 · Answer

"...their own sense of themselves as social and spiritual superiors capable of remolding the city in their own image."
According to the above line, the virtous life of rich women can be inferred for st(1) of Q 6

Why can't we consider it right?

KHannigan · Answer

RE: Q5  
There was an outstanding question above about 'old-fashioned values'. I believe the evidence for this lies in:
 "workingmen ...   ... values ... that they inherited from the Revolution."

P1: They had a set of values
P2: Those values were inherited from the Revolution
P3: The Revolution occurred ~80 years prior
C1: The values are ~80 years old
C2: They are old-fashioned values

However I agree that "old-fashioned" doesn't necessarily mean old. Old-fashioned implies a juxtaposition to newer, typically less conservative, values. However the passage does also provide this by way of juxtaposition to the values of the newer bourgeois class, so I believe ultimately the inference is valid.

RE: Q6  
In my view (I) is also supported by the text, as follows:

I. A wealthy woman who believes in service to the poor as an important element in leading a truly virtuous life.

"  ... women became the standard-bearers of ... virtue ... ."

P1: Women represented (attested to being a member of and leader of) and advocated (advanced/recommended) virtue.

"... ladies increased their contacts   with the working poor through Protestant missions and charity work..."

P2: Women undertook service to the poor.

"  themselves as social and spiritual superiors capable of remolding the city in their own image."

P3: They believed their behaviors were virtuous.
P4: They intended to make others act like them.

C1: From P1+P3+P4, women wanted to make others virtuous through encouraging behaviors that they undertook.
C2: From P2+C1, women wanted to make others virtuous by encouraging acts such as undertaking service to the poor.

I. A wealthy woman who believes in service to the poor as an important element in leading a truly virtuous life.

I think it's not a stretch. If the question was asking whether "there must" be a women in the city who believes this, it would be incorrect. It is possible that all women in the city served the poor for non-ethical reasons, and it was because of other reasons that they saw themselves as virtuous. Or perhaps it is possible that women believed all people lived virtuously, just some more than others, so the exclusion implied by "truly" is extreme. But "could be an accurate characterization" is a much lower bar to clear, and this item being true would be more consistent with the way rules for extremes and inference are applied in other questions with similar wording.

New York stood at the center of the momentous processes that recast Am

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New York stood at the center of the momentous processes that recast Am

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