When Jamaican-born social activist Marcus Garvey came to the United St

Passage breakdown

In the first paragraph, the author introduces Marcus Garvey's ideas and states that his timing was good:

• Garvey's message was one of "unity, pride, and improved conditions for African American communities."
• His timing was fortunate because soldiers returning from WWI would be open to this message.

In the second paragraph, the author further explains why Garvey's timing was good:

• African Americans were enthusiastic about joining the armed forces, but were disappointed by their experiences in the military and upon their return home.
• This gap between expectations and reality "inspire[d] a revitalization movement."

In the third paragraph, the author argues against some scholars regarding Garvey's role, and provides his/her own perspective:

• Some scholars suggested that Garvey created the revitalization movement.
• The author disagrees, stating that Garvey did not create the movement but "gave this consciousness its political expression."

For more on the process of breaking down RC passages, check out this article and our live RC videos.

Explanations for individual questions

• Question 1
  
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• Question 2
• Question 3
  
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• Question 4

Passage: Marcus Garvey

Question: Scholars’ Beliefs

The Simple Story

Social activist Marcus Garvey arrived in the United States at the right time for his message to resonate. African American soldiers, who were returning from the First World War, found that their experiences (both in the armed forces and upon returning) did not meet their expectations. According to anthropologists, this type of gap between expectations and reality can create a community consciousness. While some argue that Garvey created the consciousness on which he built his movement, the author asserts that this consciousness among African Americans actually already existed.

Sample Passage Map

Here is one way to map this passage. (Note: abbreviate as desired!)

MG → Good timing

AA – xprnc not living up to expect

MG movement – helped by existing AA conscious.

Note: AA is an abbreviation for African Americans; xprnc is an abbreviation for experience; expect is an abbreviation for expectations.

Step 1: Identify the Question

The word inferred in the question stem indicates that this is an Inference question.

Step 2: Find the Support

Read the text surrounding the scholars mentioned in the the question to identify what they believe.

“Some scholars have argued that Garvey created the consciousness from which he built, in the 1920’s, the largest revitalization movement in African American history.”

Step 3: Predict an Answer

Expect the answer to be some form of the scholars’ belief: that Garvey created the consciousness. Note that this is the opposite of what the author of the passage believes; keep an eye out for trap answers!

Step 4: Eliminate and Find a Match

(A) While the importance of returning African American soldiers is discussed in the second paragraph, it is not mentioned in relation to these scholars.

(B) CORRECT. The idea the Garvey had to change a number of prevailing attitudes in order to further his movement matches with the idea of creat[ing] the consciousness from the quoted sentence.

(C) This is a trap! The answer matches the beliefs of the author of the passage: that Garvey’s movement benefited from existing attitudes in the African American community. But the question asks about the beliefs of scholars, who hold the opposite view: that Garvey had to create the consciousness.

(D) In order to revitalize consciousness, that consciousness must already exist. The scholars believe Garvey created the consciousness, a belief that is inconsistent with this answer. Moreover, the quoted sentence does not discuss the scholars’ awareness of what Garvey hoped; rather they state what they believe he actually did (i.e. create the consciousness). This answer is also a trap because it uses the word revitalize, a form of which is found in the quoted sentence, but other parts of the answer are not supported as discussed above.

(E) Garvey did present a message of pride and unity, according to the first paragraph, but the passage does not discuss whether the scholars hold this belief.

E. The goal of the mass movement that Marcus Garvey helped bring into being was to build on the pride and unity among African Americans.

option E is wrong because GARVEY wanted unity, pride, and improved conditions for African American communities.
and not AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS

When Jamaican-born social activist Marcus Garvey came to the United States in 1916, he arrived at precisely the right historical moment. What made the moment right was the return of African American soldiers from the First World War in 1918, which created an ideal constituency for someone withGarvey's message of unity, pride, and improved conditions for African American communities.

Hope it helps

Passage: Marcus Garvey

Question: Reaction to Armed Forces

The Simple Story

Social activist Marcus Garvey arrived in the United States at the right time for his message to resonate. African American soldiers, who were returning from the First World War, found that their experiences (both in the armed forces and upon returning) did not meet their expectations. According to anthropologists, this type of gap between expectations and reality can create a community consciousness. While some argue that Garvey created the consciousness on which he built his movement, the author asserts that this consciousness among African Americans actually already existed.

Sample Passage Map

Here is one way to map this passage. (Note: abbreviate as desired!)

MG → Good timing

AA – xprnc not living up to expect

MG movement – helped by existing AA conscious.

Note: AA is an abbreviation for African Americans; xprnc is an abbreviation for experience; expect is an abbreviation for expectations.

Step 1: Identify the Question

The word suggests in the question stem indicates that this is an Inference question.

Step 2: Find the Support

The passage does not directly state how African Americans responded to their circumstances upon returning. The end of the second paragraph does provide a view of how people with similar experiences might respond.

“…when a perceptible gap arises between culture’s expectations and the reality of that culture, the resulting tension can inspire a revitalization movement.”

This sentence sums up the specific circumstances described as applying to African Americans who entered the armed forces: they had high expectations but faced segregation and other indignities.

Step 3: Predict an Answer

The answer could mention the specific circumstances faced by African American entering the armed forces. Because this is an inference question, it is also possible that the answer will focus on the broader idea from the quoted sentence: a gap between expectations and reality.

Step 4: Eliminate and Find a Match

(A) While the passage does say that African Americans entered the armed forces with enthusiasm, their allegiance to the armed forces after completing their service is never mentioned in the passage.

(B) Attitudes towards the United States involvement in the First World War are not presented in the passage.

(C) While the passage does mention segregation and other indignities as conditions that African American soldiers experienced, it suggests that these conditions may inspire a movement or consciousness. The passage does not state that such conditions led to joining political organizations to protest the conditions.

(D) CORRECT. This answer is a match to the first part of the sentence quoted above. The returning soldiers realized the gap between their expectations and the realities.

(E) The passage suggests that many returning soldiers may have been receptive to Garvey’s message due to their new consciousness. This answer states the opposite.

17.According to the passage, many African American people joined the armed forces during the First World War for which of the following reasons?

The part of the text we have to look at is this:
"Hoping to participate in the traditional American ethos of individual success, many African American people entered the armed forces with enthusiasm,"

B. They expected to fulfill ideals of personal attainment.
The passage states "ethos of individual success", and B is pretty much a rewording of the above part.

D. They hoped that joining the military would help advance the cause of desegregation.
We know that they "find themselves segregated from white troops and subjected to numerous indignities.", but we cannot say that they joined the army to advance the cause of desegregation.

"Some scholars have argued that Garvey created the consciousness from which he built, in the 1920s, the largest revitalization movement in African American history. But such an argument only tends to obscure the consciousness of identity, strength, and sense of history that already existed in the African American community. Garvey did not create this consciousness; rather, he gave this consciousness its political expression."

Scholars argued that Garvey created the consciousness and not hoped.

The passage does not specifically say that Garvey "supported the movement to protest segregation" or that there even was such a movement to protest segregation prior to his arrival in the United States. All we know about segregation is that the soldiers "returned to a United States that was as segregated as it had been before the war."

We are told that there was an "ideal constituency for someone with Garvey's message" and that Garvey "gave this consciousness [of identity, strength, and sense of history that already existed in the African American community] its political expression". This fits with choice (C):


I hope that helps!

Question 4

The relevant piece of the passage is the first sentence of the second paragraph:

From this, it is clear that many African American people joined the armed forces because they "hop[ed] to participate in the traditional American ethos of individual success." AFTER they joined, however, they found that they were segregated from white troops. Then, AFTER they returned from the war, they found that the United States was also still segregated.

This timeline doesn't add up with answer choice (D), which states that African Americans joined the armed forces because they "hoped that joining the military would help advance the cause of desegregation." The passage only discusses segregation in the time after African American people decided to join the armed forces. Fighting for desegregation is not given as a reason that they decided to join in the first place.

(D) is not supported by the timeline presented in the passage, so it is not the correct answer to question #4.

I hope that helps!

B is right. G create the conciousness,so we can suppose that the conciousness did not exsit in the people mind before. If G plan to start a movement, he need to change the attitude of people to support him.
E is wrong. I think that the answer E confuses the the reason and result. According to the scholar mentioned, the movement was built on the conciousness that G created before the movement, not "was to build on". In line 22, we can know that the goal of movement is to fulfill the longstanding expectations(is equal to conciousness).

look forward someone to pointing out my mistake.
Hopefully my explain is helpful.

Question 3

As we said in our previous post, the best reason to eliminate (C) is that the question asks about the SCHOLARS’ beliefs, not the AUTHOR’S beliefs. For that reason, (C) is undoubtedly wrong.

However, we also noted that the use of the word “sensibility” is questionable because while the words “consciousness” and “sensibility” possess similar meanings, they do not mean the same thing in the context of the passage.

When the author indicates that the African American community was conscious of its “identity, strength, and sense of history,” he/she simply means that the community was aware of these factors. However, to say that the African American community possessed a sensibility implies not only an awareness, but also a response to emotional or aesthetic stimuli, which is not the author’s apparent intention.

In short, the distinction between “sensibility” and “consciousness” is definitely not the best reason to eliminate (C), but the use of the former in place of the latter is certainly questionable.

I hope that helps!

Explanation for Question #4:

Question 1

According to the passage, which of the following contributed to Marcus Garvey's success?

(A) He introduced cultural and historical consciousness to the African American community. The passage state that the consciousness already was in existence.

(B) He believed enthusiastically in the traditional American success ethos. No such thing has been stated.

(C) His audience had already formed a consciousness that made it receptive to his message. The passage states, “consciousness of identity, strength, and sense of history that already existed in the African American community” and that “he gave this consciousness its political expression.”

(D) His message appealed to critics of African American support for United States military involvement in the First World War. No such thing has been stated.

(E) He supported the movement to protest segregation that had emerged prior to his arrival in the United States. No such thing has been stated.


Question 2

The passage suggests that many African American people responded to their experiences in the armed forces in which of the following ways?

(A) They maintained as civilians their enthusiastic allegiance to the armed forces. What they did as civilians cannot be inferred.

(B) They questioned United States involvement in the First World War. All that has been mentioned is that they found themselves segregated from white troops and subjected to numerous indignities. What is mentioned in this option cannot be inferred.

(C) They joined political organizations to protest the segregation of African American troops and the indignities they suffered in the military. No such thing has been mentioned or can be inferred.

(D) They became aware of the gap between their expectations and the realities of American culture. The passage states, “…only to find themselves segregated from white troops and subjected to numerous indignities.” This implies that there was a gap between what they had expected and what turned out to be the reality.

(E) They repudiated Garvey's message of pride and unity. We can’t infer that they repudiated or accepted Garvey’s message.


Question 3

It can be inferred from the passage that the “scholars” mentioned in the highlight text believe which of the following to be true?

(A) Revitalization resulted from the political activism of returning African American soldiers following the First World War. This connection cannot be drawn.

(B) Marcus Garvey had to change a number of prevailing attitudes in order for his mass movement to find a foothold in the United States. This question asks us to select something that the scholars believe to be true, not something that the author of the passage believes to be true. Those scholars believe "that Garvey created the consciousness from which he built the largest revitalization movement in African American history." Thus, we can infer that those scholars would believe that Garvey had to change a number of prevailing attitudes.

(C) The prevailing sensibility of the African American community provided the foundation of Marcus Garvey’s political appeal. Nowhere does the author refer to the prevailing sensibility of the African American community.

(D) Marcus Garvey hoped to revitalize consciousness of cultural and historical identity in the African American community. The scholars felt that he created the consciousness, not that he hoped to revitalize it.

(E) The goal of the mass movement that Marcus Garvey helped bring into being was to build on the pride and unity among African Americans. The scholars have not referred to any goal.


Question 4

According to the passage, many African American people joined the armed forces during the First World War for which of the following reasons?

(A) They wished to escape worsening economic conditions in African American communities. Nothing connected to this has been stated.

(B) They expected to fulfill ideals of personal attainment. The phrase, “Hoping to participate in the traditional American ethos of individual success” tells us that this is the answer.

(C) They sought to express their loyalty to the United States. No reference to loyalty to the United States.

(D) They hoped that joining the military would help advance the cause of desegregation. The passage states that the soldiers “returned to a United States that was as segregated as it had been before the war” but no reference to advancing the cause of desegregation.

(E) They saw military service as an opportunity to fulfill Marcus Garvey’s political vision. No such connection has been stated.

- Nitha Jay

Answer this Question after reading only the first and the last para.
What would be marcus's success ?
And if we look deeply this line :
*Some scholars have argued that Garvey created the consciousness from which he built, in the 1920s, the largest revitalization movement in African American history. *

If you answer the followng thre qustions you will ace the entire passge.
And find what would have brought this revolution ? Who brought this revolution ? and why did Only he succeed in doing this?

If i could opine on this...

I think you are reading too much into it. The passage never implied that the soldiers joined / had political affiliations after they returned from the WW1. That infact should be the reason why you should eliminate the answer choice. It could be quite possible that other African Americans joined the political affiliations. Be critical in your purview when you eliminate the answer choices. Don't imply things which are not intended to or are not 100% deducible. Even if there is a figment of doubt, eliminate the answer choice. On the contrary this line from the passage should be your focus:

Considering similar experiences, anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace has argued that when a perceptible gap arises between a culture’s expectations and the reality of that culture, the resulting tension can inspire a revitalization movement: an organized, conscious effort to construct a culture that fulfills longstanding expectations.


Hope that helps.

Summary of my attempt: 6.57mins...all correct.

Based on that last paragraph of the passage, we only know one thing that SCHOLARS actually believed:


That's it. We know absolutely nothing else about what those scholars believe. The rest of the paragraph expresses the AUTHOR'S point of view that the consciousness already existed in the African American community, and that Garvey simply gave that consciousness its political expression.


Again, we know nothing about the SCHOLARS' beliefs, other than their belief that Garvey created the consciousness from which he built his movement. The scholars say nothing about the goal of Garvey's movement.

More importantly, the scholars are saying that Garvey built the consciousness himself -- and by "consciousness", we mean exactly that sense of pride and unity in the African American community. So it doesn't make sense to say that Garvey's goal was to "build on the pride and unity" that already existed. If anything, the scholars are suggesting that Garvey created that sense of pride and unity, and that it didn't exist earlier.

We also went through this passage in a YouTube live video, though I don't think we covered all of the questions in detail.

I hope this helps!

435. According to the passage, which of the following
contributed to Marcus Garvey???s success?

Why is answer choice E wrong ?

Explanation for Question #3 below!