#24 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[allisonellen7]

I don't understand how in question 23 it claims that the passage discusses Hoff-Wilson in order to "demonstrate the persistent influence of the 'golden age' theory" when the passage says "Hoff-Wilson asserted that there was no 'golden age.'" Couldn't she have argued that there was a decline in the nineteenth century without subscribing to the idea that there was a golden age before that? Similarly in 24 I didn't see how the author was describing the views of scholars who have questioned the golden age but continued to accept the nineteenth-century decline as "paradoxical." I see that the author goes on to say that the concept of decline is overly simplistic but why couldn't scholars accept that decline without accepting a "golden age." Clearly if things got worse, they were at one point better, but when something like Apartheid or slavery increased in brutality or oppressiveness, one would not say it must have been in a "golden age" before that time. Although I know not to bring in outside knowledge, just as an example, I have learned about the cult of domesticity during the nineteenth-century and how that negatively impacted women's rights but have not learned about any preceding "golden age" for women's rights and have never found that to be paradoxical. Thanks so much for the help!

[Robert Carroll]

Allison,

The discussion of Hoff-Wilson is prefaced by the words "for example," so you know the author is quoting her as an example of something - of what, the previous sentence answers: "Even scholars who have questioned the "golden age" view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past." So Hoff-Wilson is being cited as someone who questions the "golden age" view while subscribing to a theory that doesn't differ that much from it.

As those scholars question the "golden age" view but have views which bear such a similarity to the "golden age" views, the author thinks they didn't go far enough in distancing themselves from all the baggage of the "golden age" view; whether the author is right or not is not the point. The author still believes that they had a view that glorified the pre-19th-century era too much, even if they didn't believe it to be a golden age. Thus, the answer to question 23 follows, and the answer to question 24 follows as the author believes it to be paradoxical to deny a golden age while holding a view that things were markedly better in a certain age.

Robert Carroll

[allisonellen7]

Thank you so much for your helpful response!

[gab1234]

Why is the answer C instead of B? I understand how the answer could be paradoxical; however, I thought the author would view the scholars in the second half as innovative because their research was more comprehensive.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi gab1234!

Careful with which group you're being asked about here. The question asks about the scholars mentioned in line 32 (in the digital version, it may just refer to the 2nd half of the 2nd paragraph). That specific reference takes us to these lines: "Even scholars who have questioned the "golden age" view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past. For example, Joan Hoff-Wilson asserted that there was no "golden age" and yet emphasized that the nineteenth century brought "increased loss of function and authentic status for" middle class women."

Nothing in there states that the author considers these scholars to be innovative. Rather, the author is describing how they are paradoxical because they both assert that there was no "golden age" for women but they still talk about a decline from a more desirable past. So essentially they are using the golden age paradigm even though they are saying it did not exist. That's a paradox.

The scholars in the last paragraph are not the same as the scholars in paragraph 2. These recent scholars are finally exposing the concept of a decline in women's status as "simplistic and unsophisticated." Since we are being asked about the author's opinion of the scholars in paragraph 2, the author's opinion of this separate group of scholars in paragraph 3 is irrelevant.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[gab1234]

Kelsey, that is super helpful! Thank you, thank you!

[sdb606]

Why is E incorrect? The first sentence of the third paragraph says recent research exposed (strong language IMO) the view held by the scholars referenced in this question as simplistic. I infer simplistic wrong without merit E should be correct.

[Adam Tyson]

It's a big leap to go from "overly simplistic" to "without merit". sdb606. While their position may have had some problems, that doesn't mean that it was of no value at all. Answer E is a classic trap answer, one which overstates or exaggerates the author's viewpoint. This is going from "it's a bit more complicated than that" to "your ideas are no better than a stinking pile of garbage." Too strong!

"Paradoxical" is better because the author tells us that these scholars are simultaneously questioning the "golden age" theory while apparently also buying into it when they claim that women's status declined after that early period.

[nzLSAT]

Why is A incorrect?