RC Question 15 Explanation
DISCUSSION: Ellison’s critics thought Ellison should have helped the communal political struggle, and they didn’t like that he used foreign influences.
___________
- CORRECT. The goal of the political movement was to improve conditions for African-Americans. Ellison’s critics might have liked his novel better if it had improved social conditions for African-Americans.
- The critics wanted Ellison to help with present struggles: winning political battles and creating an African-American literary style.
- Same as B. The critics cared about contemporary struggles. They wanted Ellison to help with the present, not the past.
- Careful. The critics wanted African-American literature to be separate. It’s doubtful they cared whether American literature in general was distinct from European literature.
- The critics didn’t like the book. They probably would have been unhappy if it had many readers.
I’m a bit confused by this explanation for two reasons. The answer says, “created a positive effect on the social conditions of the time”, not “for social conditions of African Americans”. Shouldn’t your explanation of answer D also apply? The second reason is that, as far as I can tell, the passage gives no reason to suspect that his work didn’t have positive effects on social conditions. Maybe he helped would be incels out of the basement by showing them an example of a person doing go in their situation. That would greatly benefit the society.
I’d say you’re splitting hairs. The critics listed two criticisms:
1. Didn’t promote social activism
2. Didn’t contribute to african american novelistic styles
The right answer is close enough to #1. D is just way off, because the critics didn’t say anything about European novels.
Your job here is not to get fancy and imagine a bunch of hypothetical scenarios. Your job is to look at what the critics said and see which answer is closest to one of the two things they complained about.