The rich analyses of Fernand Braudel and his fellow Annales historians

Question

Project RC Butler 2020  -  Participate and win GMAT Club Tests.   
Passage # 14, Date: 07-Apr-2020
 This post is a part of Project RC Butler 2020 .  Click here for Details

The rich analyses of Fernand Braudel and his fellow Annales historians have made significant contributions to historical theory and research. In a departure from traditional historical approaches, the Annales historians assume (as do Marxists) that history cannot be limited to a simple recounting of conscious human actions, but must be understood in the context of forces that underlie human behavior. Braudel was the first Annales historian to gain widespread support for the idea that history should synthesize data from social sciences, especially economics, to provide a broader historical view of human societies over time (although Febvre and Bloch, founders of the Annales school, originated this approach).

Braudel conceived of history as the dynamic interaction of three temporalities. The first of these, the evenementielle, involved short-lived dramatic "events," such as battles, revolutions, and the actions of great men, which had preoccupied traditional historians like Carlyle. Conjonctures was Braudel's term for the larger, cyclical processes that might last up to half a century. The longue duree, a historical wave of great length, was for Braudel the most fascinating of the three temporalities. Here he focused on those aspects of everyday life that might remain relatively unchanged for centuries. What people ate, what they wore, their means and routes of travel—for Braudel these things create "structures" that define the limits of potential social change for hundreds of years at a time.

Braudel's concept of the longue duree extended the perspective of historical space as well as time. Until the Annales school, historians had taken the juridicial political unit—the the nation-state, duchy, or whatever—as their starting point. Yet, when such enormous time spans are considered, geographical features may have more significance for human populations than national borders. In his doctoral thesis, a seminal work on the Mediterranean during the reign of Philip II, Braudel treated the geohistory of the entire region as a "structure" that exerted myriad influences on human lifeways since the first settlements on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

And so the reader is given such arcane information as the list of products that came to Spanish shores from North Africa, the seasonal routes followed by Mediterranean sheep and their shepherds, and the cities where the best ship timber could be bought.

Braudel has been faulted for the imprecision of his approach. With his Rabelaisian delight in concrete detail, Braudel vastly extended the realm of relevant phenomena; but this very achievement made it difficult to delimit the boundaries of observation, a task necessary to beginning any social investigation. Further, Braudel and other Annales historians minimize the differences among the social sciences. Nevertheless, the many similarly designed studies aimed at both professional and popular audiences indicate that Braudel asked significant questions which traditional historians had overlooked.    1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

A. show how Braudel's work changed the conception of Mediterranean life held by previous historians.
B. evaluate Braudel's criticisms of traditional and Marxist historiography
C. contrast the perspective of the longue duree with the actions of major historical figures
D. illustrate the relevance of Braudel's concepts to other social sciences
E. outline some of Braudel's influential conceptions and distinguish them from conventional approaches

2 
 2. The author refers to the work of Febvre and Bloch in order to:

A. illustrate the limitations of the Annales tradition of historical investigation
B. suggest the relevance of economics to historical investigation
C. debate the need for combining various sociological approaches
D. show that previous Annales historians anticipated Braudel's focus on economics
E. demonstrate that historical studies provide broad structures necessary for economic analysis

3 
 3. According to the passage, all of the following are aspects of Braudel's approach to history EXCEPT that he:

A. attempted to unify various social sciences
B. studied social and economic activities that occurred across national boundaries
C. pointed out the link between increased economic activity and the rise of nationalism
D. examined seemingly unexciting aspects of everyday life
E. visualized history as involving several different time frames

4 
 4. The passage suggests that, compared to traditional historians, Annales historians are:

A. more interested in other social sciences than in history
B. more critical of the achievements of famous historical figures
C. more skeptical of the validity of most economic research
D. more interested in the underlying context of human behavior provided by social structure
E. more inclined to be dogmatic in their approach to history

5 
 5. The author is critical of Braudel's perspective for which of the following reasons?

A. It seeks structures that underlie all forms of social activity.
B. It assumes a greater similarity among the social sciences than actually exists.
C. It fails to consider the relationship between short-term events and long-term social activity.
D. It clearly defines boundaries for social analysis.
E. It attributes too much significance to conscious human actions.

6 
 6. The passage implies that Braudel would consider which of the following as exemplifying the longue durée?

I. The prominence of certain crops in the diet of a region
II. The annexation of a province by the victor in a war
III. A reduction in the population of an area following a disease epidemic

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

7 
 7. Which of the following statements is most in keeping with the principles of Braudel’s work as described in the passage?

A. All written history is the history of social elites.
B. The most important task of historians is to define the limits of potential social change.
C. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
D. People’s historical actions are influenced by many factors that they may be unaware of.
E. History is too important to be left to historians.

AnirudhaS · Answer

Answers are in  bold .

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:
A. show how Braudel's work changed the conception of Mediterranean life held by previous historians.
B. evaluate Braudel's criticisms of traditional and Marxist historiography
C. contrast the perspective of the longue duree with the actions of major historical figures
D. illustrate the relevance of Braudel's concepts to other social sciences
 E. outline some of Braudel's influential conceptions and distinguish them from conventional approaches

Explanation of question 1 
Primary purpose of the passage can be ascertained from the tone of the passage. The tone of the author here is describing someone's work and even justifying the merits of it. It is also describing how it differs from the conventional approaches. E is the closest choice.
Let us however see what the other options are. 
A - too specific
B - wait what? surely not. Out.
C - historical figures vs longue duree? Either I have not understood the passage at all or this choice is definitely wrong!
D - too specific 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. The author refers to the work of Febvre and Bloch in order to:
A. illustrate the limitations of the Annales tradition of historical investigation
B. suggest the relevance of economics to historical investigation
C. debate the need for combining various sociological approaches
 D. show that previous Annales historians anticipated Braudel's focus on economics 
E. demonstrate that historical studies provide broad structures necessary for economic analysis

Explanation of question 2 
I am not going to go into the details of why the others are wrong. It is pretty straight forward that it tells you Braudel wasn't the first, which means other historians anticipated it before. A, B, C, E are completely missing the point.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According to the passage, all of the following are aspects of Braudel's approach to history EXCEPT that he:
A. attempted to unify various social sciences
B. studied social and economic activities that occurred across national boundaries
 C. pointed out the link between increased economic activity and the rise of nationalism 
D. examined seemingly unexciting aspects of everyday life
E. visualized history as involving several different time frames

Explanation of question 3 
A, B, D, and E are all mentioned in the passage. The answer is arrived at by POE. 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. The passage suggests that, compared to traditional historians, Annales historians are:
A. more interested in other social sciences than in history
B. more critical of the achievements of famous historical figures
C. more skeptical of the validity of most economic research
 D. more interested in the underlying context of human behavior provided by social structure 
E. more inclined to be dogmatic in their approach to history

Explanation of question 4 
Well in this answer C and D are close choices. lets go through each.
C - oh wait, they advocate the use of economic data to further their historical research. This is out then.
D - In the paragraph - "but must be understood in the context of forces that underlie human behavior." Cool so this is our answer.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. The author is critical of Braudel's perspective for which of the following reasons?
A. It seeks structures that underlie all forms of social activity.
 B. It assumes a greater similarity among the social sciences than actually exists. 
C. It fails to consider the relationship between short-term events and long-term social activity.
D. It clearly defines boundaries for social analysis.
E. It attributes too much significance to conscious human actions.

Explanation of question 5 
It is stated in the passage - "Further, Braudel and other Annales historians  minimize the differences among the social sciences ." So must be choice B.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. The passage implies that Braudel would consider which of the following as exemplifying the longue durée?
I. The prominence of certain crops in the diet of a region
II. The annexation of a province by the victor in a war
III. A reduction in the population of an area following a disease epidemic

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

Explanation of question 6 
Quick pre-thinking of what longue duree is and what will braudel suggest. Longue duree is little-little things over vast time-frames which never changes. Also it is not dependent on national boundaries but geographical boundaries. Ok so now lets go through each of the sentences.
I - A region is a geographical location. Diet of the region will remain unchanged (due to climate/location etc. ) Ok this Braudel will agree with Keep this in.
II - Nope, not dependent on national boundaries. Must be larger.
III - A disease is going to last only a few years if that. To use the words of the passage, this would be classified as a  evenementielle temporality . Think I am enjoying these RCs far too much!
Only I is correct then. Answer A.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Which of the following statements is most in keeping with the principles of Braudel’s work as described in the passage?
A. All written history is the history of social elites.
B. The most important task of historians is to define the limits of potential social change.
C. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
D. People’s historical actions are influenced by many factors that they may be unaware of.
 E. History is too important to be left to historians.

Explanation of question 7 
We should ideally reach POE to reach to the answer. The other choices are quite weak. E is our answer because in the passage it is stated - "In a departure from traditional historical approaches, the Annales historians assume (as do Marxists) that  history cannot be limited to a simple recounting of conscious human actions , but must be understood in the context of forces that underlie human behavior.". The underlined part is what traditional historians do, hence it can be inferred that history is too important to be left to historians.

KhulanE · Answer

SiffyB · Answer

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:
 
A. show how Braudel's work changed the conception of Mediterranean life held by previous historians.
B. evaluate Braudel's criticisms of traditional and Marxist historiography
C. contrast the perspective of the longue duree with the actions of major historical figures
D. illustrate the relevance of Braudel's concepts to other social sciences
  E. outline some of Braudel's influential conceptions and distinguish them from conventional approaches

The main motive behind the passage was to outline Braudel's work while distinguishing it with the work of traditional historians. (A) is out because his work pertaining to the Mediterranean life is discussed only in passage 3 and 4 and do not encompass the extent of the whole passage. (B) is out because the author does not evaluate anything. (C) is out because again its scope is limited to one paragraph and also because it is inconsistent with the passage. (D) is out because the author does not comment on the relevance of Braudel's concepts to other social sciences.
 
 2. The author refers to the work of Febvre and Bloch in order to:
 
A. illustrate the limitations of the Annales tradition of historical investigation
B. suggest the relevance of economics to historical investigation
C. debate the need for combining various sociological approaches
  D. show that previous Annales historians anticipated Braudel's focus on economics
  E. demonstrate that historical studies provide broad structures necessary for economic analysis

The author references the founders of Annales to show that upcoming Annales historians would also have a similar inclination towards including social sciences, especially economics, to better understand human actions.

3. According to the passage, all of the following are aspects of Braudel's approach to history EXCEPT that he:
 
A. attempted to unify various social sciences
B. studied social and economic activities that occurred across national boundaries
  C. pointed out the link between increased economic activity and the rise of nationalism 
 D. examined seemingly unexciting aspects of everyday life
E. visualized history as involving several different time frames

All the other options are mentioned somewhere in the passage, however, no reference to the connection between economic activity and rise of nationalism is made. Thus, the correct choice is option (C)

4. The passage suggests that, compared to traditional historians, Annales historians are:
 
A. more interested in other social sciences than in history
B. more critical of the achievements of famous historical figures
C. more skeptical of the validity of most economic research
  D. more interested in the underlying context of human behavior provided by social structure
  E. more inclined to be dogmatic in their approach to history

This is stated in the first paragraph of the passage: " but must be understood in the context of forces that underlie human behavior..". Option (D) is merely a rewording of this sentence.

5. The author is critical of Braudel's perspective for which of the following reasons?
 
A. It seeks structures that underlie all forms of social activity.
  B. It assumes a greater similarity among the social sciences than actually exists.
  C. It fails to consider the relationship between short-term events and long-term social activity.
D. It clearly defines boundaries for social analysis.
E. It attributes too much significance to conscious human actions.

As stated in the last paragraph: "Further, Braudel and other Annales historians minimize the differences among the social sciences..". Thus, this means that Braudel assumes a greater similarity among the social sciences. This is vividly stated in Option (B).

6. The passage implies that Braudel would consider which of the following as exemplifying the longue durée?
 
I. The prominence of certain crops in the diet of a region
II. The annexation of a province by the victor in a war
III. A reduction in the population of an area following a disease epidemic

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

Braudel, in this study of longue durée, focused on those aspects of everyday life that might remain relatively unchanged for centuries. Thus, only option (A) fits the bill as what people eat in a region is something that stays constant for a long time. Both (B) and (C) is not a long term phenomena but might just encompass maybe a few years.

7. Which of the following statements is most in keeping with the principles of Braudel’s work as described in the passage?
 
A. All written history is the history of social elites.
  B. The most important task of historians is to define the limits of potential social change. 
 C. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
D. People’s historical actions are influenced by many factors that they may be unaware of.
E. History is too important to be left to historians.

Braudel thought of history as the dynamic interaction of three temporalities. Thus, for him, that was the most important task of a historian. Thus, option (B) is the correct choice. (A),, (C), and (E) are not mentioned anywhere in the passage. While (D) may seem familiar, it states that people who do those actions maybe be unaware of them - this is not stated. It is merely stated that the historians studying those actions should consider the underlying forces behind those actions.

bM22 · Answer

1.  E  - Its clearly mentioned in the whole of the passage that the author tries to differentiate Braudel's analyses from the conventional approaches that other historians used, as he mentions at last "Nevertheless, the many similarly designed studies aimed at both professional and popular audiences indicate that Braudel asked significant questions which traditional historians had overlooked."

2.  D   - As mentioned at the end of the first paragraph (although Febvre and Bloch, founders of the Annales school, originated this approach).

3.  C  - All the other points are clearly mentioned in the passage, except for C, since its no where mentioned that he studied the link b/w economic activity and the rise of nationalism.

4.  D  - As mentioned in the the 1st para from Line 1 to Line 7, that Annales historians were more inclined towards understanding the human behavior that underlined certain event as compared to traditional historians.

5.  B  - As mentioned in the last passage : "  Further, Braudel and other Annales historians minimize the differences among the social sciences.  ", clearly implies that they assumed great similarities among the social sciences. This can also be done by elimination options.

6.  A  - For I - its mentioned in the passage that Braudel was more concerned with what they ate and what their diet was.  For II  - it cannot be an example as mentioned in the 3rd para: " more significance for human populations than national borders. ".  For III  : 2nd and 3rd para clearly mention that in case of 3rd temporal, he was only concerned with everyday aspects of life as in the passage:"  Here he focused on those aspects of everyday life that might remain relatively unchanged for centuries ".

7.  D  - Makes most sense, and can be easliy inferred from the passage.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OAs of this RC are posted now, if anyone has any question let me know.

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

abcdddddd  and  AnirudhaS  both got 6/7 correct. Reasoning by  abcdddddd  is best here  AnirudhaS  is second this time.  bm2201  you too have done good work.

Thanks and regards

inesserra · Answer

Hi  SajjadAhmad  which level are these questions?
It took me 11 minutes to read and answer them all correct, I am afraid that's a long time.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Difficulty Levels of questions on this RC are as follow

1. 600
2. 650
3. 600
4. 450
5. 700
6. 600
7. 550

Overall = 600

11 Minutes are fine for this RC.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The rich analyses of Fernand Braudel and his fellow Annales historians

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The rich analyses of Fernand Braudel and his fellow Annales historians

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards