While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Literary debates about 19th-century novelist Maria Santos have centered on...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Literary debates about 19th-century novelist Maria Santos have centered on whether her work emphasizes individual psychology or social class themes.
- Professor Elena Rodriguez's 2019 book argues against the psychological interpretation, demonstrating that Santos 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites.'
- Rodriguez's class-focused analysis contradicts earlier critics who suggested Santos's novels focused more on individual psychological development.
- Current scholarship increasingly supports Rodriguez's economic inequality interpretation over the psychological reading.
The student wants to use a quotation to support Professor Rodriguez's interpretation of Santos's novels. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Rodriguez argues that Santos's novels explore social class themes, while some critics focus on individual psychology instead.
As Rodriguez observed, Santos 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites,' supporting the view that her work examines economic inequality.
Professor Rodriguez has studied Santos extensively and published a book in 2019 about the novelist's treatment of social themes.
Some critics suggest that Santos focused on individual psychology, but recent scholarship has challenged this interpretation.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
- Keep all existing formatting (tables, bold text, italics)
- Preserve all content exactly as written
- Maintain any subsections (Part A, Part B, etc.)
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Literary debates about 19th-century novelist Maria Santos have centered on whether her work emphasizes individual psychology or social class themes.' |
|
| 'Professor Elena Rodriguez's 2019 book argues against the psychological interpretation, demonstrating that Santos 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites.'' |
|
| 'Rodriguez's class-focused analysis contradicts earlier critics who suggested Santos's novels focused more on individual psychological development.' |
|
| 'Current scholarship increasingly supports Rodriguez's economic inequality interpretation over the psychological reading.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: There's an ongoing scholarly debate about whether novelist Maria Santos focused on individual psychology or social class, with Professor Rodriguez leading the current trend toward the class-based interpretation.
Argument Flow: The notes establish a scholarly debate between two interpretations of Santos's work, then present Rodriguez's 2019 argument for the social class interpretation with supporting evidence, contrast this with earlier psychology-focused critics, and conclude by noting that current scholarship increasingly favors Rodriguez's economic inequality reading.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? The student wants to use a quotation to support Professor Rodriguez's interpretation of Santos's novels.
What type of answer do we need? A choice that both uses an actual quotation from the notes AND supports Rodriguez's class-focused interpretation (not the psychological one).
Any limiting keywords? 'quotation' is key - the answer must include actual quoted material, not just paraphrase or summary.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The right answer should contain an actual quotation (quoted words) from the research notes
- The quotation should directly support Rodriguez's class-focused interpretation rather than the psychological interpretation
- It should connect the quoted material to Rodriguez's argument about economic inequality or social class themes
- Looking at our analysis, Rodriguez provided specific quoted evidence: 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites.'
- This quotation directly supports her class-based interpretation
Rodriguez argues that Santos's novels explore social class themes, while some critics focus on individual psychology instead.
- Simply summarizes the debate between Rodriguez and other critics
- Contains no quotation whatsoever
- Doesn't accomplish the goal of using quoted material to support Rodriguez
As Rodriguez observed, Santos 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites,' supporting the view that her work examines economic inequality.
- Uses the actual quotation: 'consistently portrayed the struggles of working-class characters against wealthy elites'
- Explicitly connects this quote to Rodriguez's observation
- Directly supports 'the view that her work examines economic inequality'
- Accomplishes exactly what the student wants: using a quotation to support Rodriguez's interpretation
Professor Rodriguez has studied Santos extensively and published a book in 2019 about the novelist's treatment of social themes.
- Mentions Rodriguez's credentials and publication
- Contains no quotation from the research notes
- Doesn't support any particular interpretation of Santos's work
Some critics suggest that Santos focused on individual psychology, but recent scholarship has challenged this interpretation.
- Discusses the scholarly debate without using any quotation
- Mentions recent scholarship challenging the psychology interpretation but provides no quoted support