In her account of unmarried womens experiences in colonial

Question

In her account of unmarried women’s experiences in colonial Philadelphia, Wulf argues that educated young women, particularly (5) Quakers, engaged in resistance to patriarchal marriage by exchanging poetry critical of marriage, copying verse into their commonplace books. Wulf suggests that this (10) critique circulated beyond the daughters of the Quaker elite and middle class, whose commonplace books she mines, proposing that Quaker schools (15) brought it to many poor female students of diverse backgrounds.

Here Wulf probably overstates Quaker schools’ impact. At least three years’ study would be (20) necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes. In 1765, the year Wulf uses to demonstrate the diversity of (25) Philadelphia’s Quaker schools, 128 students enrolled in these schools. Refining Wulf’s numbers by the information she provides on religious affiliation, gender, and (30) length of study, it appears that only about 17 poor non-quaker girls were educated in Philadelphia’s Quaker schools for three years or longer. While Wulf is correct that (35) a critique of patriarchal marriage circulated broadly, Quaker schools probably cannot be credited with instilling these ideas in the lower classes. Popular literary satires (40) on marriage had already landed on fertile ground in a multiethnic population that embodied a wide range of marital beliefs and practices. These ethnic- and (45) class-based traditions themselves challenged the legitimacy of patriarchal marriage.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. argue against one aspect of Wulf’s account of how ideas critical of marriage were disseminated among young women in colonial Philadelphia
B. discuss Wulf’s interpretation of the significance for educated young women in colonial Philadelphia of the poetry they copied into their commonplace books
C. counter Wulf’s assertions about the impact of the multiethnic character of colonial Philadelphia’s population on the prevalent views about marriage
D. present data to undermine Wulf’s assessment of the diversity of the student body in Quaker schools in colonial Philadelphia
E. challenge Wulf’s conclusion that a critique of marriage was prevalent among young women of all social classes in colonial Philadelphia

2 
 2. According to the passage, which of the following was true of attitudes toward marriage in colonial Philadelphia?

A. Exemplars of a critique of marriage could be found in various literary forms, but they did not impact public attitudes except among educated young women.
B. The diversity of the student body in the Quaker schools meant that attitudes toward marriage were more disparate there than elsewhere in Philadelphia society.
C. Although critical attitudes toward marriage were widespread, Quaker schools’ influence in disseminating these attitudes was limited.
D. Criticisms of marriage in colonial Philadelphia were directed at only certain limited aspects of patriarchal marriage.
E. The influence of the wide range of marital beliefs and practices present in Philadelphia’s multiethnic population can be detected in the poetry that educated young women copied in their commonplace books.

3 
 3. The author of the passage implies which of the following about the poetry mentioned in the first paragraph?

A. Wulf exaggerates the degree to which young women from an elite background regarded the poetry as providing a critique of marriage.
B. The circulation of the poetry was confined to young Quaker women.
C. Young women copied the poetry into their commonplace books because they interpreted it as providing a desirable model of unmarried life.
D. The poetry’s capacity to influence popular attitudes was restricted by the degree of literacy necessary to comprehend it.
E. The poetry celebrated marital beliefs and practices that were in opposition to patriarchal marriage.

4 
 4. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s basis for saying that Wulf overstates Quaker schools’ impact (line 17-18)?

A. The information that Wulf herself provided on religious affiliation and gender of students is in fact accurate.
B. Most poor, non-Quaker students enrolled in Quaker schools had completed one or two years’ formal or informal schooling before enrolling.
C. Not all of the young women whose commonplace books contained copies of poetry critical of marriage were Quakers.
D. The poetry featured in young women’s commonplace books frequently included allusions that were unlikely to be accessible to someone with only three years’ study in school.
E. In 1765 an unusually large proportion of the Quaker schools’ student body consisted of poor girls from non-Quaker backgrounds.

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Dear Kritesh I'm happy to help. :-)

The first paragraph tells us about this researcher Wulf and her claim that the anti-marriage poetry these educated young women wrote was so influential. In the second paragraph is skeptical about Wulf's claims for a several reasons. One is that folks would have to be at a certain literacy level to read this poetry, and only a small percentage of the lower-class women would have been at that level. 3) The author of the passage implies which of the following about the poetry mentioned in the first paragraph? B. The circulation of the poetry was confined to young Quaker women. This is a little too extreme. Some of the lower-class women could read it, just not many of them. D. The poetry’s capacity to influence popular attitudes was restricted by the degree of literacy necessary to comprehend it. Absolutely! This poetry didn't influence a large number of people because many people didn't have the skills to read it. For question #3, OA = (D) 4) Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s basis for saying that Wulf overstates Quaker schools’ impact (line 17-18) ? B. Most poor, non-Quaker students enrolled in Quaker schools had completed one or two years’ formal or informal schooling before enrolling. The author's argument hinges on the fact that most students did not have enough schooling to achieve the literacy level necessary to read the poetry. Well, if folks always studied a couple years before coming to the Quaker school, then all of the students who completed just one year at the Quaker school would have three years of literacy--thus, the impact of this poetry would be more widespread. This is a devastating objection to the author's argument. C. Not all of the young women whose commonplace books contained copies of poetry critical of marriage were Quakers. It seems both Quakers and non-Quakers were in that school, so as along as everyone was interacting in one place, it doesn't matter who was Quaker and who wasn't. E. In 1765 an unusually large proportion of the Quaker schools’ student body consisted of poor girls from non-Quaker backgrounds. In a way, this strengthens the author's argument. If, say, 90% of the the students were poor girls with low literacy skills, then close to 90% of the students wouldn't have been able to read the poetry. Thus, the poetry's influence would not have been widespread. This strengthen's the author's argument and question #4 is asking for a weakener. For question #4, OA = (B) Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

GMATNinja · Answer

csaluja , I think your confusion might come from a misread of the question. Let's take a closer look at the exact language in the question:

In this question, "mentioned in the first paragraph" modifies "poetry," and does not apply to the rest of the sentence. So, we are  not  looking strictly in the first paragraph for our answer, but searching in the entire passage for an implication about  the poetry mentioned in the first paragraph  -- specifically, the poetry that's "critical of marriage". But we're looking for implications about that poetry wherever they might appear in the passage.

The second paragraph explains that the poetry required at least three years of education to understand, and only a small number of poor non-Quaker girls achieved that length of study in Quaker schools. With that in mind, we can choose answer (D).

Answer choice (E) can be rejected because of the details in its wording:

The author states that the poetry was " critical of marriage ," and that women exchanged the poetry as an act of resistance against patriarchal marriage. The author never states that the poetry  celebrates  any type of marital beliefs or practices, patriarchal or otherwise.

I hope this answers your question!

11MBA · Answer

4. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s basis for saying that Wulf overstates Quaker schools’ impact (line 17-18)?

I don't think the response to the this question should be E. It should be B.

E states that an unusually large percentage of the school's population were poor girls from non-Quaker backgrounds. This does not tell us anything. It does not say the author is wrong in her estimate bc as far as we know the percentage enrolled in 1765 can be an unusually large percentage compared with previous years, even if it is low percentage overall.

B is the correct answer because the author states that only 17 of the poor, non-Quaker students had 3 or more years of schooling at the Quaker schools. 3 years being the minimum education required to understand the poetry. If the poor, non-Quaker students had some schooling before enrolling in the Quaker school then we know that more than the 17 out of 128 students had 3+ years of education, and can thus understand the poetry.

JarvisR · Answer

Time taken 8 mins:
Q-2,3 got wrong in rush.

The primary purpose of the passage is to
 A. argue against one aspect of Wulf’s account of how ideas critical of marriage were disseminated among young women in colonial Philadelphia
>>proposing that Quaker shools (15) brought it to many poor female students of diverse backgrounds.
Here Wulf probably overstates Quaker schools’ impact. 
B. discuss Wulf’s interpretation of the significance for educated young women in colonial Philadelphia of the poetry they copied into their commonplace books
C. counter Wulf’s assertions about the impact of the multiethnic character of colonial Philadelphia’s population on the prevalent views about marriage
D. present data to undermine Wulf’s assessment of the diversity of the student body in Quaker schools in colonial Philadelphia
E. challenge Wulf’s conclusion that a critique of marriage was prevalent among young women of all social classes in colonial Philadelphia

16. According to the passage, which of the following was true of attitudes toward marriage in colonial Philadelphia?
A. Exemplars of a critique of marriage could be found in various literary forms, but they did not impact public attitudes except among educated young women.
B. The diversity of the student body in the Quaker schools meant that attitudes toward marriage were more disparate there than elsewhere in Philadelphia society.
 C. Although critical attitudes toward marriage were widespread, Quaker schools’ influence in disseminating these attitudes was limited.
>> Its a must be true question and correct answer needs to be supported by argument. Overall para says that 
ulf suggests that this (10) critique circulated beyond the daughters of the Quaker elite and middle class
While Wulf is correct that (35) a critique of patriarchal marriage circulated broadly, Quaker schools probably cannot be credited with instilling these ideas in the lower classes
Popular literary satires (40) on marriage had already landed on fertile ground in a multiethnic population ...
 D. Criticisms of marriage in colonial Philadelphia were directed at only certain limited aspects of patriarchal marriage.
E. The influence of the wide range of marital beliefs and practices present in Philadelphia’s multiethnic population can be detected in the poetry that educated young women copied in their commonplace books.

17. The author of the passage implies which of the following about the poetry mentioned in the first paragraph?
A. Wulf exaggerates the degree to which young women from an elite background regarded the poetry as providing a critique of marriage.
B. The circulation of the poetry was confined to young Quaker women.
C. Young women copied the poetry into their commonplace books because they interpreted it as providing a desirable model of unmarried life.
 D. The poetry’s capacity to influence popular attitudes was restricted by the degree of literacy necessary to comprehend it.
>> At least three years’ study would be (20) necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes.
.....ning Wulf’s numbers by the information she provides on religious affiliation, gender, and (30) length of study, it appears that only about 17 poor non-quaker girls were educated in Philadelphia’s Quaker schools for three years or longer 
E. The poetry celebrated marital beliefs and practices that were in opposition to patriarchal marriage.

18. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s basis for saying that Wulf overstates Quaker schools’ impact (line 17-18) ?
A. The information that Wulf herself provided on religious affiliation and gender of students is in fact accurate.
 B. Most poor, non-Quaker students enrolled in Quaker schools had completed one or two years’ formal or informal schooling before enrolling.
 Wulf’s numbers by the information she provides on religious affiliation, gender, and (30) length of study, it appears that only about 17 poor non-quaker girls were educated in Philadelphia’s Quaker schools for three years or longer 
C. Not all of the young women whose commonplace books contained copies of poetry critical of marriage were Quakers.
D. The poetry featured in young women’s commonplace books frequently included allusions that were unlikely to be accessible to someone with only three years’ study in school.
E. In 1765 an unusually large proportion of the Quaker schools’ student body consisted of poor girls from non-Quaker backgrounds.

Kritesh · Answer

Could you explain me the answer choices of Questions 3 and 4.

My answers are B and C/E(I was confused between these two options) , but the OA is D and B .

mikemcgarry

Warm regards , 
Kritesh Singh

anairamitch1804 · Answer

1)The key is the first sentence of the second paragraph: "Wulf overstates the Quaker school's impact" - this critique of Wulf focuses on schools - the vehicle of 'dissemination'. A is correct. 
2)A, B, D, and E are not supported by the passage - only C is. 
A - contradicts the argument in the second paragraph. 
B - no information to support this idea - the attitudes may have been disparate within and without the schools 
D - not supported by the passage. 
E - the reverse of what is claimed in para 1, that ideas came from the elites to the population at large. 
3)A is not implied in the passage. B - contradicts what is explicitly stated in para 1. C - contradicts the passage. E - not supported in the passage. The poetry did not celebrate alternative beliefs, but rather simply criticized marriage. This leaves D - which corresponds to the author's critique of Wulf's theory, articulated in para 2. 
4)B is correct because the critique states the the poor women would have needed higher literacy, but if we establish that the poor women did indeed have a higher level, this would undermine the author's claim that Wulf had 'overstated' (=exaggerated) the influence of the Quaker schools. 
A - is incorrect because the data on affiliation and gender has no bearing on the impact of schools, which is due to the accessibility of the poetry. The critique does not claim that these groups of women never met. 
C is incorrect because it is sufficient for some of the women to have been Quakers for the ideas to be disseminated via schools. 
D - this statement supports, rather than undermines the author's critique of Wulf (that the poetry would have been inaccessible) 
E - This supports Wulf's theory, but does not undermine the critique. The critique could claim that regardless of how many women attended the schools - the poetry was inaccessible to them.

Swat40 · Answer

VeritasKarishma ,  GMATNinja , @micmcgarry
Please refer the passage for the part : "Here Wulf probably overstates Quaker schools??? impact. At least three years??? study would be (20) necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes"

I infer that "three years??? study" is talking about the duration required to understand the critique. However, one doubt came to me after seeing the OA for Question 4, in which the OA talks about the education part but it doesn't specifically talks about the education with respect to the critique. I find OA strange as per the above logic. Clarify.

GMATNinja · Answer

In the lines of the passage that you're referencing here, "the material she analyzes" refers directly to the critique (which was written down in commonplace books used in Quaker schools).

The author concludes that  Wulf probably overstates Quaker schools' impact on bringing this critique to poor female students of diverse backgrounds.  The author reaches this conclusion based on a belief that at least three years' study would be necessary in order to grapple with this material (in other words, in order to read the books and comprehend their meaning).

If choice (B) were true, it would add evidence that the students in question could have acquired the level of literacy the the author believes was required to grapple with the material (partially before enrolling in a Quaker school, partially after enrolling). That's how (B) undermines this particular conclusion from the author.

I hope this helps to clarify!

JS1290 · Answer

GMATNinjaTwo   GMATNinja

Hi GMATNinja,
I was wondering could you please explain why option D is correct for Q3? I chose option E instead. The question asks about poetry that is strictly mentioned in passage 1. I can see why option D is correct but for that we are also including passage 2 as well to take into the author's claim that students didn't have enough years of literacy to comprehend the poetry fully. My reasoning for option E was the following sentence "Wulf argues that educated young women, particularly (5) Quakers, engaged in resistance to patriarchal marriage by exchanging poetry critical of marriage, copying verse into their commonplace books". Can't we infer that the poetry had some elements to it that led to the resistance of the patriarchal marriage? I am not able to understand how option D is correct if we are strictly talking about passage 1?

If you could please shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it!

Tanchat · Answer

Dear experts,

Question 3

17. The author of the passage implies which of the following about the poetry mentioned in the first paragraph?
A. Wulf exaggerates the degree to which young women from an elite background regarded the poetry as providing a critique of marriage.
B. The circulation of the poetry was confined to young Quaker women.
C. Young women copied the poetry into their commonplace books because they interpreted it as providing a desirable model of unmarried life.
D. The poetry???s capacity to influence popular attitudes was restricted by the degree of literacy necessary to comprehend it.
E. The poetry celebrated marital beliefs and practices that were in opposition to patriarchal ma

I can eliminate (C) and (E). But I have no idea (A), (B) and (D). All of them are mentioned in the passage.

RonTargetTestPrep · Answer

This isn't the thing that the author says Wulf exaggerates.

According to the author, Wulf exaggerates the degree to which Quaker schools were able to transmit this poetry (along with its anti-marriage messaging) to young women from poor backgrounds, because the number of such women who were literate enough to understand it was limited.
Young women from  elite  backgrounds, on the other hand, understood that message quite well according to Wulf—a point that this author makes no attempt to rebut. This statement is thus unsupported.

This statement contradicts the passage. The author states that the poetry was disseminated in Quaker  schools —but those schools DID have some non-Quaker students, such as the 17 mentioned in the second paragraph.

This is stated at the beginning of the second paragraph: 
 Here Wulf probably overstates Quaker schools’ impact. At least three years’ study would be necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes.

This choice is thus supported, and is the correct answer.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  RonTargetTestPrep   AjiteshArun   GMATNinja   GMATNinja 2  DmitryFarber   zhanbo   vv65  - for question 4 - why not (e) ?

I chose (E) because i thought -

Background: 
 Remember - Wulf is saying  quaker schools  played a BIG role in influencing  poor female students

The author is saying --  quaker schools  played a small (not BIG) role in influencing  poor female students 
 
Now if (E) is true -- there a higher chance  quaker schools  PLAYED A BIG ROLE in influencing  poor female students

vv65 · Answer

These are Wulf's main points:
- "educated young women, particularly Quakers, engaged in resistance to patriarchal marriage by exchanging poetry critical of marriage"
- " this critique  circulated beyond the daughters of the Quaker elite and middle class"
- "Quaker schools brought  it  to many poor female students of diverse backgrounds" ('it'='this critique')

Your paraphrase of the author's main point is fine:  quaker schools played a small (not BIG) role in influencing poor female students.

This question asks us to  'undermine the author’s basis for saying that Wulf overstates Quaker schools’ impact' .

So what is the author's justification for saying that the impact was not big?  
We need to first understand the author's reasoning. Only then can we undermine it.

Posted from my mobile device

jabhatta2 · Answer

vv65  - Authors reasoning for why Quaker Schools played a small (not BIG) role 
   At least three years’ study would be necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes. 
  in 1765, only  17 poor non-quaker girls / 128 enrolled students  were educated for 3 years or more

So if (E) is true, wouldnt this percentage  17 poor non-quaker girls / 128 enrolled students ] be HIGHER  50 poor non-quaker girls / 128 enrolled students ] ?

vv65 · Answer

I'm finding it difficult to understand your reasoning

Though your bullet points are perfect. They are the important points we need to remember. "At least three years’ study would be necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with the material she analyzes." Here 'literary competency' = 'reading skills' and 'the material she analyses' = 'poetry critical of marriage' Without studying for three years, the students would not be able to understand the poetry critical of marriage. (E) tells us that of the 128 girls enrolled, a large proportion were poor and non-Quaker. How does (E) show that the author must be wrong? How does (E) show that the schools did make a big impact in the spread of the anti-marriage critique among poor non-Quaker girls? Because the fact remains that only 17 poor non-Quaker girls studied in the school for three years or longer. We still know of only 17 poor non-Quaker girls who could understand the anti-marriage poetry. Posted from my mobile device

Kimberly77 · Answer

Great explanation  GMATNinja 
To clarify how will we know below line is not referring to first paragraph while no word "poetry" is being mentioned in 2nd paragraph? Could you help clarify? Thanks

In this question, "mentioned in the first paragraph" modifies "poetry," and does not apply to the rest of the sentence.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 3 
 
While the author doesn't use the word "poetry," he/she still discusses poetry in the second paragraph.

In the first paragraph, the author introduces Wulf's ideas about particular Quaker poetry. Then, in the second paragraph, he/she says "At least three years’ study would be necessary to achieve the literacy competence necessary to grapple with  the material   analyzes ."

The "material Wulf analyzes" IS the Quaker poetry mentioned in the first paragraph. According to the author, this poetry must be somewhat complex -- it takes three years to be able to understand it. Because only a small number of girls in Quaker schools stayed three years, the author implies that the poetry wasn't able to influence popular attitudes that much.

So, the author  mentions  poetry in the first paragraph, and then discusses the potential  influence  of the same poetry in the second paragraph.

(D) is the correct answer to question 3.

I hope that helps!

VerbalBot · Answer

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