In 1965 a prestigious university in South Africa started the

Question

In 1965 a prestigious university in South Africa started the first-ever African women’s studies curriculum that was modeled exclusively after Western feminist values. The ensuing furore was anything but pleasant. There was widespread denunciation for what the program propagated. Various groups and organizations protested tooth and nail, condemning the program from start to finish. As expected, in all the broadcast debates, critics dismissed the curriculum as a betrayal of national identity, an imitation of Western ideas, and a distraction from the real task of national unification and economic development. Even supporters of the curriculum underestimated its potential; they thought it would be merely another of the many Western ideas that had already proved useful in African culture, akin to airlines, electricity, and the assembly line. Whatever the stance of the critics or of supporters may have been, one fact stands undeniable: few academic programs had ever received such public attention in all of Africa.

In their analysis the founders of the program found that, like the Western feminist critique of the Freudian model of the human psyche, the African critique finds Freudian theory culture- bound, but in ways different from those cited by Western theorists. The African theorists claim that Freudian theory assumes the universality of the Western nuclear, male-headed family and focuses on the personality formation of the individual, independent of society. Such a concept projects the competitive model of Western society onto human personalities; in the African concept of personality there is no ideal attached to individualism or to the independent self.

The Western model of personality development does not explain major characteristics of the African personality, which is social and group- centered. The “self” is a social being defined by and acting in a group, and the well-being of both men and women is determined by the equilibrium of the group, not by individual self- assertion.

The founders also noted that, in such a context, what is recognized as “dependency” in Western psychiatric terms is not, in African terms, an admission of weakness or failure. In the kinship- based society of Africa, four generations may live in the same house; people can be sons and daughters all their lives, whereas in Western culture, the roles of husband and son, wife and daughter, are often incompatible.   1 
 1. It can be inferred from the passage that the broadcast media in South Africa considered the start of the women’s studies curriculum

A. Praiseworthy
B. Insignificant
C. Newsworthy
D. Imitative
E. Incomprehensible

2 
 2. Which of the following best summarizes the content of the passage?

A. A critique of a particular women’s studies program
B. A report about a particular women’s studies program
C. An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular women’s studies program
D. An analysis of the philosophy underlying women’s studies programs
E. An abbreviated history of African studies programs

Had a doubt in question 2 - please share answers.

ag821 · Answer

GMATNinja  : please help in question 2 - why is it report and not critique and what is the difference between the two?
In such cases how is one to identify whether to choose report / critique?

thisischelso · Answer

This one comes down to whether the author themselves are actually critiquing the program (aka is it their opinion?) or whether the author is reporting on the program (aka is the author just staying the facts as is). When you break down the passage, its look something like this:

P1: A feminist program was startetd in SA. Groups/organizations were in disagreement around aspects of the curriculum because of reason X, y, etc (one of which is on western ideals)

P2: Opening line starts with  "In their analysis the founders of the program found that..." , conveying that whatever you're about to read next isn't the opinion of the author's necessarily.

P3: Context on western ideals wrt to personality develop of African personalities.

P4: African families tend to be dependent on each other. So dependency isn't seen as a defficiency. Opening line "The founders also noted that,", conveying again, that whatever you're about to read isn't the author's opinion necessarily.

dhwanit2412 · Answer

can someone explain the first question as the media also found it imitative as mentioned all across the passage.

lordShelby · Answer

Can someone explain Q1 ? 
How is it not d) Imitative ?

sskoul09 · Answer

Media does not found it Imitative, critique does. As it is mentioned in the first para, that it got a lot of public attention and debates, So newsworthy.

Ayush8765 · Answer

I got both of them wrong and found the following explanations.
1.) The first question is asking about the attitude of media and not the critics.
2.)In the second one, critique would mean the author is giving opinions; while he is simply giving facts as observed by others.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In 1965 a prestigious university in South Africa started the

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In 1965 a prestigious university in South Africa started the

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