Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen's autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.
It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his autobiography.
It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States before the Civil War.
It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers than other people were.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War.' |
|
| 'Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers.' |
|
| 'One such narrative is Jermain Loguen's autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabe (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Visual Structure Map:
[RESEARCH CONTEXT] Historians documented Indigenous help to Black freedom seekers → [EVIDENCE SOURCES] Evidence comes from oral traditions plus autobiographies → [SPECIFIC EXAMPLE] Loguen's autobiography describes Neshnabe assistance
Main Point: Historians have documented how Indigenous peoples assisted Black freedom seekers before the Civil War, with evidence coming from both oral traditions and written autobiographies.
Argument Flow: The passage moves from general scholarly documentation to specific types of evidence sources, then provides a concrete example of one such autobiography that contains this type of evidence.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
- What's being asked? The function of the underlined sentence (the Loguen autobiography sentence)
- What type of answer do we need? How this sentence works within the passage structure
- Any limiting keywords? Function - we need to identify the role this sentence plays
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our analysis, the underlined sentence comes after we've been told that evidence for Indigenous assistance comes from autobiographies
- The sentence then gives us a specific autobiography - Loguen's - and tells us exactly what kind of help it describes
- So the right answer should recognize that this sentence is providing a concrete example of the type of autobiography evidence mentioned in the previous sentence
- The right answer should identify this as an example that demonstrates the pattern described earlier - an autobiography that documents Indigenous assistance to Black freedom seekers
It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.
✓ Correct
- This perfectly captures what the sentence does - it provides a specific example (Loguen's autobiography) of the general category mentioned earlier (autobiographies that document Indigenous help)
- The sentence follows the pattern established: after mentioning autobiographies as evidence sources, it gives us one such autobiography and shows how it contains exactly this type of evidence
It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his autobiography.
✗ Incorrect
- This mischaracterizes the sentence's purpose - we're not told why Loguen decided to write in detail, just what his autobiography contains
- The sentence doesn't explain his motivations for writing; it simply describes what the autobiography tells about
It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States before the Civil War.
✗ Incorrect
- The sentence doesn't make any argument about autobiographies being important geographic sources
- While Loguen's journey is mentioned geographically (Tennessee to Canada), the focus is on the assistance he received, not geographic information
It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers than other people were.
✗ Incorrect
- The sentence provides only one example and makes no comparison between different groups' effectiveness
- Nothing suggests most historians believe anything about relative success rates