Q14

[mrudula_2005]

Hi,

For number 14, what is the reason that B is wrong?

Thanks in advance for taking the time!

[aileenann]

Sure thing.

First, let's think about Q14. You wanted to know why (B) is wrong.

I would say there are two reasons. First, I don't think (B) is general enough to express the main point (compare how specific it is compared to the correct answer, (E)). Second, I am not sure it's fully supported. The author uses these situations as examples of his larger point, but just because they both support his point here doesn't mean there is no significant difference between them. There might just be a difference between them that isn't relevant to the topic of the passage.

Does that make sense?

[jimmy902o]

can someone please go over in more detail why D is wrong? I feel like this was the exact summation in the last paragraph that author addresses

[amil91]

can someone please go over in more detail why D is wrong? I feel like this was the exact summation in the last paragraph that author addresses

First time through I picked D, but on second look, I decided it was incorrect because the passage actually never talks about societies regaining their traditions. The only time anything along those lines is mentioned is in paragraph 3 about Algeria, but this doesn't line up with the main point of the passage and is dealing with a situation in which the traditions are being created based on what they believe their culture was before the French occupation. If you look at the last paragraph it never suggests that societies need to regain their traditions nor does it discuss how they would have to go about regaining their traditions. It more so says that cultures now do have foreign aspects in them despite the fact that most of the previously colonized cultures have won back their independence.

[timsportschuetz]

What about (C)??????????????

[ohthatpatrick]

This is a tough passage. It's mainly informative, and it consists of several examples that are rather different from each other.

The main point should somehow connect
- how 19th century historians portrayed Greek history as having mainly European roots

- how imperial societies insert themselves into the national identity of the countries they take over by co-opting local traditions

- how colonized cultures manufacture idealized notions of their pre-colonial past

Before answering Main Point questions, I always ask myself, "Where is the Most Valuable Sentence?" Where does it seem like the author is making the most overarching, purpose-driven statement?

Most of the time, these sentences are found after "but/yet/however/recently".

In this passage, lines 6-9 seem to set the stage for what's to come, and lines 56-65 seem to provide a summary of what we've learned.

So I would expect the correct answer to echo these sentiments.

(A) This answer seems mostly about the 2nd example. It doesn't relate to the Greek or the pre-colonial past examples.

(B) "essentially no different" is a loaded phrase that we don't have great textual support for, and this answer choice basically says "the 2nd example is the same as the 3rd example". It's not a terrible choice, but it lacks any connection to the 1st example and it also doesn't provide any "big idea", any overarching framework to the whole passage.

(C) this has the same issues as (B): it only connects the 2nd example to the 1st one (leaving no connection to the 3rd example), and it uses a loaded phrase "very similar" that can't really be supported by the text. And it also is knee-deep in the specifics. Remember, these 3 examples were examples, support for some big-overarching idea. Well, where is the big overarching idea in this answer choice?

(D) This seems similar to lines 50-56, but it's focused on colonized societies. Was the whole passage focused on colonized societies? No. So this can't be the main point.

(E) This echoes 56-65. When an answer choice seems to be a tight paraphrase of an actual line reference, you want to ask yourself, "Was this line reference a specific detail or a big idea?" If it's a specific detail, then it's probably a bad answer choice (it would fall into the "true, but too narrow" category). But if the answer choice is tightly paraphrasing a big idea, then that's a GREAT sign! Here is our overarching idea that ties together the 3 examples. Notice that this answer choice is the only one that does not mention ANY of the 3 examples. After all, the examples were just meant to illustrate a broader point, and this is the broad point.

Hope this helps

[uhinberg]

The credited answer baffles me. How can a description of the main point of this passage not mention anything about the effect that biases of the present can have on the construction of national identities?

[ohthatpatrick]

I don't think anything I say will un-baffle you. I don't think we read it wrong. I think they just wrote a mean correct answer.

The fact that "the effects of present bias and national identity" and that "historical and cultural experiences partake of many social and cultural domains and even cross national boundaries" are both identified in this passage as we know this more NOW than ever before means that they're kinda linked in the passage's mind.

You could try to make peace with the idea that our greater awareness of "how present motivations lead to how we shape our identity" led to the ultimate takeaway: greater awareness of how supposedly nationalistic cultures are really deeply heterogenous at their core.

[Chi YongP398]

Hello,

I don't understand why (A) is wrong.

I thought the part "ignoring a native culture's own self-understanding" would reflect the Greek example and "substituting fabricated traditions and rituals" part would reflect the second example. If this is a wrong interpretation, could you explain why?

Thank you.