Voodoo

Once again, NO. The passage is entirely descriptive of what Lesbock thinks and of what Buel & Buel think. A single "change of direction word" (but, yet, nevertheless, although, however, etc. etc.) is simply not enough to indicate the gigantic shift away from the descriptive mode (author talking about these other authors) to a more direct argumentative mode (authors tells us directly what she thinks). Especially on the GMAT, we would need a much larger, more pronounced, transition to mark such a major change in mode.

Once again, read the Book Review in the Sunday NYT. Read that, and keep a log of all the examples of how those articles switch from descriptions of what the book author says to the opinions of the writer of the article. Do not ask anything else about this issue, and do not argue for or against anything concerning this issue, until you do the hard work of researching this in the field for yourself. No abstract rules can replace experiencing it for yourself.

Does that make sense?

Mike
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Dear jlgdr,
There are several questions here. Please give the question number of the question about which you are asking.
Thanks,
Mike
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Dear akankshasoneja
Here is the text of question #81.

81. The passage suggests that Buel and Buel’s biography of Mary Fish provides evidence for which of the following views of women’s history?
(A) Women have lost power in relation to men since the colonial era.
(B) Women of the colonial era were not as likely to be concerned with their status as were women in the nineteenth century.
(C) The colonial era was not as favorable for women as some historians have believed.
(D) Women had more economic autonomy in the colonial era than in the nineteenth century.
(E) Women’s occupations were generally more respected in the colonial era than in the nineteenth century.

Tell me, what do you understand what do you not understand? What is your choice for the answer, and what don't you understand about the OA?

Mike
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Hi Mike

Not clear on why D is not the correct option in line with your thought process. Could you please help me on that ?

Dear himanshujovi,
I'm happy to help.

Here's what the passage says: "Lebsock, meanwhile, attempts not only to write the history of women in one southern community, but also to redirect two decades of historiographical debate as to whether women gained or lost status in the nineteenth century as compared with the eighteenth century. .... She examines several different aspects of women’s status, helping to refine and resolve the issues. She concludes that while women gained autonomy in some areas, especially in the private sphere, they lost it in many aspects of the economic sphere."
So, in going from the 18th century to the 19th century, "women gained autonomy ... in the private sphere," so 19th cent. women had more autonomy, more independence, in the private sphere than did the 18th cent. women.

Now, the tricky thing about the question is that the comparison is historically backwards --- "compared to nineteenth-century American women, eighteenth-century American women" were more what? Well, the 19th century women had more personal autonomy, so the 18th century women must have had less personal autonomy. Thus, (C) is the exact opposite of what the passage says.

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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Hi mikemcgarry,

Could you please tell why option B is incorrect in this question. I read through your reasoning for the correct option E but still could not reject option B. Would appreciate your help.

Hi Gmatninja, Gmatninja2.
I believe majority of passage covers Lebsock's work in detail
however I was not able to understand whether the middle portion of
passage refers to 18th or 19th century? Furthermore, how can delivering babies
be a job which can be taken up by men.
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Regarding the second question, "delivering" a baby is not the same as "giving birth" to a baby. For example, if a doctor (often an OB-GYN, or "obstetrician-gynecologist", in the US) is present to assist with the birth, that doctor is said to "deliver" the baby, while the mother, of course, is the one who "gives birth" to the child.

The middle portion deals with the "historiographical debate as to whether women gained or lost status in the nineteenth century as compared with the eighteenth century." Because this portion is comparing women's status in the nineteenth century to their status in the eighteenth century, this section actually deals with BOTH centuries.

For example, consider the following excerpt: "while women gained autonomy in some areas, especially in the private sphere, they lost it in many aspects of the economic sphere." This means that during the eighteenth century women had MORE autonomy in many aspects of the economic sphere than they would later have in the nineteenth century. Similarly, women owned a higher proportion of real estate in the nineteenth century than they did in the eighteenth century.

I hope that helps!
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HI mikemcgarry, GMATNinja

According to the passage, Lebsock’s work differs from Buel and Buel’s work in that Lebsock’s work
(A) uses a large number of primary sources
(B) ignores issues of women’s legal status
(C) refuses to take a position on women’s status in the eighteenth century
(D) addresses larger historiographical issues
(E) fails to provide sufficient material to support its claims

OA is D why not E?
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Dear NandishSS,

I'm happy to respond.

The passage clearly says: "Buel and Buel’s biography of Mary Fish (1736–1818) makes little effort to place her story in the context of recent historiography on women. Lebsock, meanwhile, attempts not only to write the history of women in one southern community, but also to redirect two decades of historiographical debate . . . " Thus, Lebsock is dealing with the modern historiographical debate, whereas Buel and Buel seemed to avoid that entirely. This is a big difference, and (D) summarizes this.

The passage also says, "Buel and Buel’s biography provides ample raw material for questioning the myth, fostered by some historians, of a colonial golden age in the eighteenth century" --therefore, Buel and Buel provided at least some material to support their claim. Was it "sufficient" material to support their claim? That's unclear, but certainly the author makes no claim one way or the other on this point. (E) is not supported.

Always remember that a person was writing this passage, and this person had opinions. The GMAT is always interested in those opinions. Right at the beginning, the author sets up this strong P vs. Q contrast between the two works. Furthermore, the language "makes little effort" is about as strong and emphatic as academic writing gets! The author is clearly showing an opinion here, and that's what the question is getting at.

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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P1 - two theories around a topic given. then compared for different aspect.
---------------------------------

76. The primary purpose of the passage is to - first go i fee none are options, lets drill to best answer.
(A) examine two sides of a historiographical debate --- true two sides are there. and both are examining some facts.but that is not the whole picture.
(B) call into question an author’s approach to a historiographical debate --- two authors are there.
(C) examine one author’s approach to a historiographical debate --- again two authors are there.
(D) discuss two authors’ works in relationship to a historiographical debate ---- yes two authors and their work.
(E) explain the prevalent perspective on a historiographical debate ---- only talking about 2nd half of the p1.

Out of A and D actually both are not covering full para graphs. but when we look for big picture we can easily eliminate A. D is best possible answer.
--------------------------------

77. The author of the passage mentions the supervision of schools primarily in order to
Pre-thinking - "These certain jobs were taken over by men." E is best answer on these lines.

(E) illustrate how the answers to questions about women’s status depend on particular contexts ---
-------------------------------

78. With which of the following characterizations of Lebsock’s contribution to the controversy concerning women’s status in the nineteenth-century United States would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?
lines to look for - she shows that the debate itself depends on frame of reference: in many respects,
(B) Lebsock has demonstrated the importance of frame of reference in answering questions about women’s status.
--------------------------------

79. According to the passage, Lebsock’s work differs from Buel and Buel’s work in that Lebsock’s work
(D) addresses larger historiographical issues
--------------------------------

80. The passage suggests that Lebsock believes that compared to nineteenth-century American women, eighteenth-century American women were
prethinking - Lebsock's view, about eighteenth-century American women in comparison to nineteenth-century American women
Lines to look for - women gained autonomy in some areas, especially in the private sphere, they lost it in many aspects of the economic sphere. More importantly, she shows that the debate itself depends on frame of reference: in many respects, women lost power in relation to men, for example, as certain jobs (delivering babies, supervising schools) were taken over by men. Yet women also gained power in comparison with their previous status, owning a higher proportion of real estate, for example
(A) in many respects less powerful in relation to men
(B) more likely to own real estate
(C) generally more economically independent - they lost it in many aspects of the economic sphere in nineteenth-century - this means that they were more economically independent in eighteenth-century.
(D) more independent in conducting their private lives
(E) less likely to work as school superintendents
--------------------------------

81. The passage suggests that Buel and Buel’s biography of Mary Fish provides evidence for which of the following views of women’s history?
lines to look for - provides ample raw material for questioning the myth, fostered by some historians, of a colonial golden age in the eighteenth century
(C) The colonial era was not as favorable for women as some historians have believed.
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76. D
discuss two authors’ works in relationship to a historiographical debate.
Buel and Buel Vs. Lebsock

77. E
More importantly, she [Lebsock]shows that the debate itself depends on frame of reference: in many respects, women lost power in relation to men, for example, as certain jobs (delivering babies, supervising schools) were taken over by men.

78. B
she [Lebsock] shows that the debate itself depends on frame of reference: in many respects, women lost power in relation to men, for example, as certain jobs (delivering babies, supervising schools) were taken over by men

79. D
Lebsock, meanwhile, attempts not only to write the history of women in one southern community, but also to redirect two decades of historiographical debate...

80. C
Lebsock concludes that while women gained autonomy in some areas, especially in the private sphere, they lost it in many aspects of the economic sphere...

81. C
Buel and Buel’s biography provides ample raw material for questioning the myth, fostered by some historians, of a colonial golden age in the eighteenth century but does not give the reader much guidance in analyzing the controversy over women’s status.

This is a very difficult RC passage! Got only 3/6. Although some of the members clearly explained why each answer is correct, the reasoning behind each question is very subtle and given the average of 2 minutes per question + reading the passage, the time pressure gets the best of us and hampers our ability to logically comprehend.

79. According to the passage, Lebsock’s work differs from Buel and Buel’s work in that Lebsock’s work
(A) uses a large number of primary sources
(B) ignores issues of women’s legal status
(C) refuses to take a position on women’s status in the eighteenth century
(D) addresses larger historiographical issues
(E) fails to provide suffi cient material to support its claims

Please help me with q79. Why is (E) incorrect?

question 3 is hard. this is tone question. we have read a long text to find out just ONE word, which tell the tone of the passage. "importantly" is word which tell us the tone of the passage.

for many hard problem, only ONE WORD in the long text can give us the answer.

mikemcgarry

Hi,

I got confused about the century which Lesbock was describing.How do we know which century's women is she describing.
This is in reference to question 80.

Thanks
Sreeraj Janardhanan

How frequently do you read the Book Review in the Sunday NYT? That's an excellent place to get a sense of authors of articles talking about authors of books, and there you frequently see an interchange between description of what the book author said vs. the article author's own commentary on the subject matter. There is no substitute for reading. There is no magical formula for GMAT RC that can take the place of a long-standing habit of reading.
[/quote]

Hi Mike! Could you please suggest other good reading resources ?

I took 13 minutes' time including(reading the passage) and got all answers correct. Is it good ??

Got all right except first question. can someone please explain the The primary purpose of the passage