Most scholars of Mexican American history mark César Chávezs unionizi

Question

Most scholars of Mexican American history mark
César Chávez’s unionizing efforts among Mexican
and Mexican American farm laborers in California as
the beginning of Chicano political activism in the
  (5)   1960s. By 1965, Chávez’s United Farm Workers
Union gained international recognition by initiating a
worldwide boycott of grapes in an effort to get
growers in California to sign union contracts. The
year 1965 also marks the birth of contemporary
  (10)   Chicano theater, for that is the year Luis Valdez
approached Chávez about using theater to organize
farm workers. Valdez and the members of the
resulting Teatro Campesino are generally credited by
scholars as having initiated the Chicano theater
  (15)   movement, a movement that would reach its apex in
the 1970s.

In the fall of 1965, Valdez gathered a group of
striking farm workers and asked them to talk about
their working conditions. A former farm worker
  (20)   himself, Valdez was no stranger to the players in the
daily drama that was fieldwork. He asked people to
illustrate what happened on the picket lines, and the
less timid in the audience delighted in acting out their
ridicule of the strikebreakers. Using the farm
  (25)   workers’ basic improvisations, Valdez guided the
group toward the creation of what he termed “ actos ,”
skits or sketches whose roots scholars have traced to
various sources that had influenced Valdez as a
student and as a member of the San Francisco Mime
  (30)   Troupe. Expanding beyond the initial setting of
flatbed-truck stages at the fields’ edges, the  acto 
became the quintessential form of Chicano theater in
the 1960s. According to Valdez, the acto should
suggest a solution to the problems exposed in the
  (35)   brief comic statement, and, as with any good political
theater, it should satirize the opposition and inspire
the audience to social action. Because actos were
based on participants’ personal experiences, they had
palpable immediacy.

(40)   In her book  El Teatro Campesino , Yolanda
Broyles-González rightly criticizes theater historians
for having tended to credit Valdez individually with
inventing actos as a genre, as if the striking farm
workers’ improvisational talent had depended entirely
  (45)   on his vision and expertise for the form it took. She
traces especially the actos’ connections to a similar
genre of informal, often satirical shows known as
carpas that were performed in tents to mainly
working-class audiences. Carpas had flourished
  (50)   earlier in the twentieth century in the border area of
Mexico and the United States. Many participants in
the formation of the Teatro no doubt had substantial
cultural links to this tradition and likely adapted it to
their improvisations. The early development of the
  (55)   Teatro Campesino was, in fact, a collective
accomplishment; still, Valdez’s artistic contribution
was a crucial one, for the resulting actos were neither
carpas nor theater in the European tradition of
Valdez’s academic training, but a distinctive genre
  (60)   with connections to both.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) Some theater historians have begun to challenge the once widely accepted view that in creating the Teatro Campesino, Luis Valdez was largely uninfluenced by earlier historical forms.
(B) In crediting Luis Valdez with founding the Chicano theater movement, theater historians have neglected the role of César Chávez in its early development.
(C) Although the creation of the early material of the Teatro Campesino was a collective accomplishment, Luis Valdez’s efforts and expertise were essential factors in determining the form it took.
(D) The success of the early Teatro Campesino depended on the special insights and talents of the amateur performers who were recruited by Luis Valdez to participate in creating actos.
(E) Although, as Yolanda Broyles-González has pointed out, the Teatro Campesino was a collective endeavor, Luis Valdez’s political and academic connections helped bring it recognition.

2 
 2. The author uses the word “immediacy” (line 39) most likely in order to express

(A) how little physical distance there was between the performers in the late 1960s actos and their audiences
(B) the sense of intimacy created by the performers’ technique of addressing many of their lines directly to the audience
(C) the ease with which the Teatro Campesino members were able to develop actos based on their own experiences
(D) how closely the director and performers of the Teatro Campesino worked together to build a repertoire of actos
(E) how vividly the actos conveyed the performers’ experiences to their audiences

3 
 3. The second sentence of the passage functions primarily in which one of the following ways?

(A) It helps explain both a motivation of those who developed the first actos and an important aspect of their subject matter.
(B) It introduces a major obstacle that Valdez had to overcome in gaining public acceptance of the work of the Teatro Campesino.
(C) It anticipates and counters a possible objection to the author’s view that the actos developed by Teatro Campesino were effective as political theater.
(D) It provides an example of the type of topic on which scholars of Mexican American history have typically focused to the exclusion of theater history.
(E) It helps explain why theater historians, in their discussions of Valdez, have often treated him as though he were individually responsible for inventing actos as a genre.

4 
 4. The passage indicates that the early actos of the Teatro Campesino and the carpas were similar in that

(A) both had roots in theater in the European tradition
(B) both were studied by the San Francisco Mime Troupe
(C) both were initially performed on farms
(D) both often involved satire
(E) both were part of union organizing drives

5 
 5. It can be inferred from the passage that Valdez most likely held which one of the following views?

(A) As a theatrical model, the carpas of the early twentieth century were ill-suited to the type of theater that he and the Teatro Campesino were trying to create.
(B) César Chávez should have done more to support the efforts of the Teatro Campesino to use theater to organize striking farm workers.
(C) Avant-garde theater in the European tradition is largely irrelevant to the theatrical expression of the concerns of a mainly working-class audience.
(D) Actors do not require formal training in order to achieve effective and artistically successful theatrical performances.
(E) The aesthetic aspects of a theatrical work should be evaluated independently of its political ramifications.

6 
 6. Based on the passage, it can be concluded that the author and Broyles-González hold essentially the same attitude toward

(A) the influences that shaped carpas as a dramatic genre
(B) the motives of theater historians in exaggerating the originality of Valdez
(C) the significance of carpas for the development of the genre of the acto
(D) the extent of Valdez’s acquaintance with carpas as a dramatic form
(E) the role of the European tradition in shaping Valdez’s contribution to the development of actos

7 
 7. The information in the passage most strongly supports which one of the following statements regarding the Teatro Campesino?

(A) Its efforts to organize farm workers eventually won the acceptance of a few farm owners in California.
(B) It included among its members a number of individuals who, like Valdez, had previously belonged to the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
(C) It did not play a major role in the earliest efforts of the United Farm Workers Union to achieve international recognition.
(D) Although its first performances were entirely in Spanish, it eventually gave some performances partially in English, for the benefit of non-Spanish-speaking audiences.
(E) Its work drew praise not only from critics in the United States but from critics in Mexico as well.

8 
 8. The passage most strongly supports which one of the following?

(A) The carpas tradition has been widely discussed and analyzed by both U.S. and Mexican theater historians concerned with theatrical performance styles and methods.
(B) Comedy was a prominent feature of Chicano theater in the 1960s.
(C) In directing the actos of the Teatro Campesino, Valdez went to great lengths to simulate or recreate certain aspects of what audiences had experienced in the carpas.
(D) Many of the earliest actos were based on scripts composed by Valdez, which the farm-worker actors modified to suit their own diverse aesthetic and pragmatic interests.
(E) By the early 1970s, Valdez was using actos as the basis for other theatrical endeavors and was no longer directly associated with the Teatro Campesino.

kalpama · Answer

can any one explain 4th one??

keets02 · Answer

in line 46-48:   She   traces especially the actos’ connections to a  similar     genre  of informal, often  satirical shows  known as   carpas that were performed in tents to mainly   working-class audiences.  
 it mentions clearly that the similarity between them is the satirical expression, hence Option:    (D) both often involved satire

icandoit4u · Answer

can anyone explain question 7 ? how is it comedy? it though satire and comedy are different

guddo · Answer

7. The information in the passage most strongly supports which one of the following statements regarding the Teatro Campesino?

The passage says the United Farm Workers gained international recognition in 1965 by starting a worldwide grape boycott. It also says Teatro Campesino began later that same year, when Valdez approached Chávez about using theater to organize farm workers.  So Teatro Campesino was important to Chicano theater and farm-worker organizing, but not to the union’s earliest international recognition effort .

(A) Its efforts to organize farm workers eventually won the acceptance of a few farm owners in California.

Wrong. The passage says the boycott aimed to get growers to sign union contracts, but it does not say Teatro Campesino won acceptance from farm owners.

(B) It included among its members a number of individuals who, like Valdez, had previously belonged to the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Wrong. The passage says Valdez had been a member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, but it does not say other Teatro members had been.

(C) It did not play a major role in the earliest efforts of the United Farm Workers Union to achieve international recognition.

Correct. The UFW gained international recognition through the grape boycott in 1965. Teatro Campesino began when Valdez later approached Chávez about using theater to organize farm workers. So the passage supports that Teatro Campesino was not central to that  earliest international recognition .

(D) Although its first performances were entirely in Spanish, it eventually gave some performances partially in English, for the benefit of non-Spanish-speaking audiences.

Wrong. The passage says nothing about language use in performances.

(E) Its work drew praise not only from critics in the United States but from critics in Mexico as well.

Wrong. The passage does not discuss critical reception in either country.

Answer: (C)

Waddup · Answer

Are we talking about the second line of para 1 in Ques 3 or the is it para 2?

egmat · Answer

Hi Waddup,

Good question to pin down before anything else. "The  second sentence of the passage " means the passage as a whole, so it's the second sentence of  paragraph 1  - not paragraph 2.

That sentence is:

"By 1965, Chávez's United Farm Workers Union gained international recognition by initiating a worldwide boycott of grapes in an effort to get growers in California to sign union contracts."

Whenever a question says "the second sentence of the passage," it counts from the very first line of the whole passage. If it meant a specific paragraph, it would say so (e.g., "the second sentence of the second paragraph").

Why this matters for answer (A)

Once you're locked onto the right sentence, (A) clicks. That sentence describes the  strike / grape boycott  the union ran to pressure growers. Later, paragraph  2  shows Valdez gathering  striking farm workers  to act out the  picket lines  and their ridicule of strikebreakers, and notes that actos were meant to  inspire social action  (organizing).

So the second sentence does two things that (A) names:

-  Motivation  - the actos grew out of the effort to support that union/strike organizing.
-  Subject matter  - the strike, picket lines, and strikebreakers became what the early actos were  about .

That's exactly what (A) captures: it "helps explain both a motivation of those who developed the first actos and an important aspect of their subject matter."

So: count from the start of the passage, land on the grape-boycott sentence, and (A) follows directly.

Answer: A

maaz_ahmad · Answer

Can someone explain how in Q.2, how option E is more apt than option C?

maaz_ahmad · Answer

In Q.8, how is option D wrong ?

egmat · Answer

Hi maaz_ahmad,

Good question to test, because (D) is built to  sound  reasonable until you check it against how the actos were actually made.

Here is the key line (lines  24 - 26 ):

"Using the farm workers'  basic improvisations , Valdez  guided  the group toward the creation of what he termed 'actos.'"

Notice the direction of creation here. The raw material came  from the farm workers  (their improvisations, their personal experiences on the picket lines), and Valdez  shaped  that material. The passage even calls the early development "a  collective accomplishment ."

Why (D) reverses this

Choice (D) says the actos "were based on  scripts composed by Valdez , which the farm-worker actors  modified ." That flips the process on its head:

- The passage has the  workers improvising first , and Valdez guiding - not Valdez writing scripts that workers then tweak.
- There is  no mention of scripts  at all; the whole emphasis is on improvisation drawn from real experience ("they had palpable immediacy").
- "To suit their own diverse aesthetic and pragmatic interests" is also never stated - that's invented detail.

So (D) fails on  two  counts: it  reverses  who originated the material, and it  adds  specifics the text doesn't give. Either one is enough to kill it.

Compare that to the correct answer  (B) , which only restates what the passage clearly supports: the acto was "the quintessential form of Chicano theater in the 1960s," and it was built on "brief comic statement" and satire - so comedy was a prominent feature of 1960s Chicano theater.

Quick habit to lock in: whenever a choice describes a  process , check the  arrow direction  in the passage. Here the arrow runs workers - Valdez (improvise, then guide), and (D) draws it Valdez - workers (script, then modify).

Answer: B

guddo · Answer

3. The second sentence of the passage functions primarily in which one of the following ways?

The second sentence says that Chávez’s union gained recognition through a grape boycott meant to pressure California growers to sign union contracts. This gives the labor-organizing context in which Teatro Campesino began. It helps explain why theater was used to organize farm workers and why the early actos focused on strikes, picket lines, and strikebreakers.

(A) It helps explain both a motivation of those who developed the first actos and an important aspect of their subject matter.

This is correct. The sentence explains the labor struggle that motivated the creation of the first actos and also helps explain their subject matter: farm workers, strikes, growers, and strikebreakers.

(B) It introduces a major obstacle that Valdez had to overcome in gaining public acceptance of the work of the Teatro Campesino.

This is incorrect. The sentence does not discuss public acceptance of Teatro Campesino.

(C) It anticipates and counters a possible objection to the author’s view that the actos developed by Teatro Campesino were effective as political theater.

This is incorrect. The sentence gives historical context, not a response to an objection.

(D) It provides an example of the type of topic on which scholars of Mexican American history have typically focused to the exclusion of theater history.

This is too strong. The passage does not say scholars ignored theater history because they focused on labor activism.

(E) It helps explain why theater historians, in their discussions of Valdez, have often treated him as though he were individually responsible for inventing actos as a genre.

This is incorrect. That issue is discussed later, in relation to Broyles-González’s criticism, not in the second sentence.

Answer: (A)

We are talking about the  second sentence of paragraph 1 , not paragraph 2.

It is the sentence that starts: “By 1965, Chávez’s United Farm Workers Union...”

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

1 paragraph:  the author is providing historical background and context. The author is describing the origins of Chicano theater and introducing the key figures and movement.

Summary: he rise of Chicano political activism in the 1960s, especially through César Chávez's labor movement, provided the context for the birth of contemporary Chicano theater. Luis Valdez and Teatro Campesino are generally credited with starting this theater movement.

2 paragraph:  the author is describing how actos were created, giving examples of their content, and explaining their purpose and significance.

Summary: Valdez worked with striking farm workers to create "actos," short political skits based on workers' experiences. These performances became a defining form of Chicano theater because they encouraged social action and reflected real-life struggles

3 paragraph:  Presenting and evaluating a scholarly argument. The author is introducing a counterpoint/revision to the traditional view, analyzing influences, and qualifying Valdez's role by emphasizing collaboration.

Summary: Although Valdez is often credited with inventing actos, Yolanda Broyles-González argues that the form also drew heavily from the farm workers' contributions and from the earlier tradition of carpas. The resulting genre was a collaborative creation that blended multiple influences.

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage? 
A) Some theater historians have begun to challenge the once widely accepted view that in creating the Teatro Campesino, Luis Valdez was largely uninfluenced by earlier historical forms.
WRONG: This focuses only on the debate about Valdez's originality and the influence of earlier forms such as carpas. That issue appears mainly in the final paragraph and does not capture the passage's overall main point.
(B) In crediting Luis Valdez with founding the Chicano theater movement, theater historians have neglected the role of César Chávez in its early development.
WRONG: Chávez provides historical context, but the passage does not argue that historians have neglected his role in the development of Chicano theater.
(C) Although the creation of the early material of the Teatro Campesino was a collective accomplishment, Luis Valdez’s efforts and expertise were essential factors in determining the form it took.
 CORRECT:  This accurately summarizes the author's conclusion. The passage emphasizes both the collective contributions of the farm workers and the crucial artistic role Valdez played in shaping the actos.
(D) The success of the early Teatro Campesino depended on the special insights and talents of the amateur performers who were recruited by Luis Valdez to participate in creating actos.
WRONG: The passage recognizes the performers' contributions but does not claim that the success of the Teatro Campesino depended primarily on them.
(E) Although, as Yolanda Broyles-González has pointed out, the Teatro Campesino was a collective endeavor, Luis Valdez’s political and academic connections helped bring it recognition.
WRONG: The passage does not discuss Valdez's political or academic connections as the source of the Teatro Campesino's recognition.

2. The author uses the word “immediacy” (line 39) most likely in order to express 
(A) how little physical distance there was between the performers in the late 1960s actos and their audiences
WRONG: "Immediacy" refers to the content and impact of the performances, not the physical distance between performers and audience.
(B) the sense of intimacy created by the performers’ technique of addressing many of their lines directly to the audience
WRONG: The passage never mentions actors speaking directly to the audience.
(C) the ease with which the Teatro Campesino members were able to develop actos based on their own experiences
WRONG: "Immediacy" does not mean ease or speed of creation.
(D) how closely the director and performers of the Teatro Campesino worked together to build a repertoire of actos
WRONG: The word does not refer to collaboration among the performers.
(E) how vividly the actos conveyed the performers’ experiences to their audiences
 CORRECT:  Because the actos were based on the participants' real experiences, they felt authentic and vivid to audiences.
________________________________________
 3. The second sentence of the passage functions primarily in which one of the following ways? 
(A) It helps explain both a motivation of those who developed the first actos and an important aspect of their subject matter.
 CORRECT:  The grape boycott explains the labor struggle that motivated the farm workers and provided the material that became the subject matter of the actos.
(B) It introduces a major obstacle that Valdez had to overcome in gaining public acceptance of the work of the Teatro Campesino.
WRONG: No obstacle is introduced in that sentence.
(C) It anticipates and counters a possible objection to the author’s view that the actos developed by Teatro Campesino were effective as political theater.
WRONG: The sentence does not anticipate or answer any objection.
It provides an example of the type of topic on which scholars of Mexican American history have typically focused to the exclusion of theater history.
WRONG: The sentence is not about the interests of scholars.
(E) It helps explain why theater historians, in their discussions of Valdez, have often treated him as though he were individually responsible for inventing actos as a genre.
WRONG: The sentence has nothing to do with historians' treatment of Valdez.

4. The   passage indicates that the early actos of the Teatro Campesino and the carpas were similar in that 
(A) both had roots in theater in the European tradition
WRONG: The passage associates European theatrical traditions with Valdez's training, not with carpas.
(B) both were studied by the San Francisco Mime Troupe
WRONG: The passage never says this.
(C) both were initially performed on farms
WRONG: Carpas were performed in tents for working-class audiences.
(D) both often involved satire
 CORRECT : Carpas are described as "often satirical," and Valdez believed that actos should "satirize the opposition."
(E) both were part of union organizing drives
WRONG: Only the actos were directly connected to union organizing.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that Valdez most likely held which one of the following views? 
(A) As a theatrical model, the carpas of the early twentieth century were ill-suited to the type of theater that he and the Teatro Campesino were trying to create.
WRONG: The passage suggests that the actos were influenced in part by the tradition of carpas.
(B) César Chávez should have done more to support the efforts of the Teatro Campesino to use theater to organize striking farm workers.
WRONG: The passage provides no criticism of Chávez.
(C) Avant-garde theater in the European tradition is largely irrelevant to the theatrical expression of the concerns of a mainly working-class audience.
WRONG: Valdez drew on aspects of his European theatrical training.
(D) Actors do not require formal training in order to achieve effective and artistically successful theatrical performances.
 CORRECT:  Valdez developed actos from the improvisations of ordinary farm workers, suggesting that he believed effective theater could be created without formal acting training.
(E) The aesthetic aspects of a theatrical work should be evaluated independently of its political ramifications.
WRONG: Valdez viewed theater as a political tool intended to inspire social action.

6. Based on the passage, it can be concluded that the author and Broyles-González hold essentially the same attitude toward 
(A) the influences that shaped carpas as a dramatic genre
WRONG: The passage does not discuss what shaped carpas.
(B) the motives of theater historians in exaggerating the originality of Valdez
WRONG: Neither the author nor Broyles-González discusses historians' motives.
C) the significance of carpas for the development of the genre of the acto
WRONG: While both acknowledge the influence of carpas, this choice is too narrow and does not capture their shared view most accurately.
(D) the extent of Valdez’s acquaintance with carpas as a dramatic form
WRONG: The passage does not discuss how familiar Valdez was with carpas.
E) the role of the European tradition in shaping Valdez’s contribution to the development of actos
 CORRECT : Both ultimately recognize that the actos emerged from multiple influences, including Valdez's European theatrical training and the carpa tradition.

7. The information in the passage most strongly supports which one of the following statements regarding the Teatro Campesino? 
(A) Its efforts to organize farm workers eventually won the acceptance of a few farm owners in California.
WRONG: The passage provides no evidence that farm owners accepted the union's demands.
(B) It included among its members a number of individuals who, like Valdez, had previously belonged to the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
WRONG: Only Valdez is mentioned as having been associated with the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
(C) It did not play a major role in the earliest efforts of the United Farm Workers Union to achieve international recognition.
 CORRECT:  The United Farm Workers Union gained international recognition through the grape boycott in 1965 before the Teatro Campesino was formed later that year.
(D) Although its first performances were entirely in Spanish, it eventually gave some performances partially in English, for the benefit of non-Spanish-speaking audiences.
WRONG: The passage never discusses the language of the performances.
(E) Its work drew praise not only from critics in the United States but from critics in Mexico as well.
WRONG: The passage does not mention critical reception.

Anshika10 · Answer

can someone please explain answer 6?

guddo · Answer

6. Based on the passage, it can be concluded that the author and Broyles-González hold essentially the same attitude toward

The passage says Broyles-González argues that actos were not invented by Valdez alone; they had important roots in carpas and in the improvisations of striking farm workers. The author agrees with her, saying she “rightly” criticizes theater historians and that Teatro Campesino was a collective accomplishment.  So both agree  that carpas were important in the development of the  acto .

(A) the influences that shaped carpas as a dramatic genre

This is not supported. The passage discusses how carpas influenced actos, not what influenced carpas themselves.

(B) the motives of theater historians in exaggerating the originality of Valdez

This is not supported. Broyles-González criticizes theater historians, and the author agrees, but neither discusses their motives.

(C) the significance of carpas for the development of the genre of the acto

This is correct.   Broyles-González traces the actos’ connection to carpas, and the author accepts that view while also saying actos became a distinct genre.

(D) the extent of Valdez’s acquaintance with carpas as a dramatic form

This is not supported. The passage does not say how familiar Valdez personally was with carpas.

(E) the role of the European tradition in shaping Valdez’s contribution to the development of actos

This is not supported as a shared view. The author mentions Valdez’s European academic training, but the passage does not say Broyles-González focused on that influence.

Answer: (C)

egmat · Answer

Hi Anshika10,

This one trips people up because you have to track  who says what , not just what's true. The question asks for the single point where the author and Broyles-González  agree , so let's line up their views.

What Broyles-González says (para 3):  She criticizes historians for crediting Valdez alone, and she "traces especially the actos'  connections  to a similar genre... known as  carpas " (lines  46 - 49 ). So her big point is that carpas mattered to how the acto took shape.

What the author says right after:  The author endorses exactly that - "Many participants... no doubt had substantial cultural links to this tradition and  likely adapted it  to their improvisations," and the resulting actos had "connections to" carpas (lines  51 - 60 ).

So the one thing they clearly  share  is the view in  (C): the significance of carpas for the development of the acto.

Why (E) is the trap here

(E) is about the  European tradition's  role in Valdez's contribution. Notice where that idea comes from: it's the  author's  own closing point - "neither carpas nor theater in the European tradition... but a distinctive genre with connections to both" (lines  57 - 60 ). Broyles-González never weighs in on the European side; her focus is carpas. Since we can't show  both  hold that view, (E) fails.

That's the key move: (E) may be a  true  statement about the author, but the question needs a view held by  both  people - and only the carpas point is attributed to each of them.

Quick check on the others: (A) and (D) - the passage never discusses what shaped carpas or how well Valdez knew them; (B) - neither person discusses historians'  motives . Only (C) is a stance you can pin on both. So  (C)  is right.

Answer: C

Most scholars of Mexican American history mark César Chávezs unionizi

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Most scholars of Mexican American history mark César Chávezs unionizi

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