Cultural practices often endure even when communities migrate far from their origins. The traditional art of indigo dyeing began in...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Cultural practices often endure even when communities migrate far from their origins. The traditional art of indigo dyeing began in West Africa, where artisans used local plants to create deep blue textiles. In the 1600s, enslaved Africans were brought to South Carolina, thousands of miles from their homeland. Yet cultural knowledge can transcend geographical displacement and historical trauma. By the 1740s, Eliza Lucas Pinckney had learned indigo cultivation from these displaced artisans and established it as a major colonial crop. The resulting textiles bore the same distinctive patterns that had flourished in West Africa for centuries.
Which choice best describes the function of the fourth sentence in the overall structure of the text?
It proposes a theory that Lucas Pinckney attempted to verify through her indigo cultivation work.
It establishes a principle that is demonstrated by the persistence of indigo dyeing traditions.
It explains the historical reasons why indigo cultivation spread to colonial America.
It provides an alternative account of how Lucas Pinckney developed her agricultural methods.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Cultural practices often endure even when communities migrate far from their origins." |
|
| "The traditional art of indigo dyeing began in West Africa, where artisans used local plants to create deep blue textiles." |
|
| "In the 1600s, enslaved Africans were brought to South Carolina, thousands of miles from their homeland." |
|
| "Yet cultural knowledge can transcend geographical displacement and historical trauma." |
|
| "By the 1740s, Eliza Lucas Pinckney had learned indigo cultivation from these displaced artisans and established it as a major colonial crop." |
|
| "The resulting textiles bore the same distinctive patterns that had flourished in West Africa for centuries." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Cultural practices and knowledge can survive even when communities are forcibly displaced from their origins, as demonstrated by the persistence of West African indigo dyeing traditions in colonial South Carolina.
Argument Flow: The passage opens with a broad claim about cultural persistence, then introduces indigo dyeing as a specific example. After establishing the context of forced displacement, it states the principle that cultural knowledge can transcend such challenges, then proves this principle through the specific example of how indigo traditions continued in America.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? The question asks for the function of the fourth sentence in the overall structure of the text.
What type of answer do we need? We need to identify how this specific sentence serves the passage's argumentative or organizational purpose.
Any limiting keywords? None specified.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The fourth sentence ("Yet cultural knowledge can transcend geographical displacement and historical trauma") comes after we learned about the displacement of enslaved Africans
- It makes a general statement about cultural resilience that directly relates to what we just read about geographical and historical disruption
- The correct answer should identify that this sentence establishes a general principle that the passage then illustrates through the indigo dyeing example
It proposes a theory that Lucas Pinckney attempted to verify through her indigo cultivation work.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims the sentence proposes a theory that Pinckney tried to verify.
- This mischaracterizes both the sentence and Pinckney's role - she wasn't testing a theory, she was learning from artisans
- The sentence isn't proposing something to be tested; it's stating a principle
It establishes a principle that is demonstrated by the persistence of indigo dyeing traditions.
✓ Correct
- Accurately identifies that the sentence establishes a principle about cultural knowledge transcending displacement and trauma.
- Correctly connects this to how the indigo dyeing example demonstrates this persistence
- This matches our analysis perfectly
It explains the historical reasons why indigo cultivation spread to colonial America.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims the sentence explains historical reasons for indigo's spread.
- The sentence doesn't explain "why" anything happened historically
- It makes a general statement about cultural resilience, not a historical explanation
It provides an alternative account of how Lucas Pinckney developed her agricultural methods.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests the sentence provides an alternative account of Pinckney's methods.
- The sentence doesn't mention Pinckney or her methods at all
- It's making a broad statement about cultural knowledge, not describing agricultural techniques