Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave of Black...

GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions

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Craft and Structure

Text Structure and Purpose

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Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave of Black women filmmakers. We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence. For example, an advertisement for Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome's documentary Doing Their Bit still exists. There's a reference in a magazine to Tressie Souders's film A Woman's Error. And Maria P. Williams's The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a newspaper article, and one image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve that problem.

The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that debate.

The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.

The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences between those individuals.

Solution

Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage

Part A: Passage Analysis Table

Text from Passage	Analysis
Many films from the early 1900s have been lost.	What it says: Early 1900s films = lost What it does: Introduces a general historical problem What it is: Opening context
These losses include several films by the first wave of Black women filmmakers.	What it says: Lost films include Black women filmmakers' work What it does: Narrows the focus to a specific group affected What it is: Specification
We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence.	What it says: Knowledge = fragments only What it does: Explains our limited information source What it is: Method explanation
For example, an advertisement for Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome's documentary Doing Their Bit still exists.	What it says: Welcome's doc → ad survives What it does: Provides first concrete example of the evidence fragments What it is: Example 1
There's a reference in a magazine to Tressie Souders's film A Woman's Error.	What it says: Souders's film → magazine mention What it does: Provides second example of surviving evidence What it is: Example 2
And Maria P. Williams's The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a newspaper article, and one image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.	What it says: Williams's film → letter + newspaper + 1 image What it does: Provides third and most detailed example What it is: Example 3

Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements

Main Point: We know about lost films by early Black women filmmakers only through small surviving pieces of evidence.

Argument Flow: The text starts with a broad historical issue (lost early films), then focuses on one affected group (Black women filmmakers), explains how we learn about these losses (through evidence fragments), and demonstrates this with three specific examples of the types of evidence that survive.

Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely

What's being asked? The overall structure of the entire text

What type of answer do we need? A description of how the passage is organized from beginning to end

Any limiting keywords? Overall structure means we need to capture the big-picture organization, not focus on details

Step 3: Prethink the Answer

This passage moves from general to specific
It starts with a broad statement about lost films, narrows to Black women filmmakers specifically, explains our knowledge limitation, then gives us three concrete examples of the evidence we do have
The right answer should recognize this general-to-specific pattern and identify that the examples serve to illustrate the broader situation described at the beginning

Answer Choices Explained

The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve that problem.

✗ Incorrect

This suggests the examples are unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem of lost films
The examples aren't attempts to solve anything—they're just pieces of evidence that survived

The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that debate.

✗ Incorrect

There's no debate among researchers mentioned anywhere in the passage
The text doesn't take sides or present opposing viewpoints—it simply states facts about what evidence exists

The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.

✓ Correct

This perfectly matches our analysis: general situation (films lost, particularly Black women's films, known only through fragments) followed by specific examples (Welcome's ad, Souders's magazine reference, Williams's multiple pieces of evidence)

The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences between those individuals.

✗ Incorrect

While the text mentions three individual filmmakers, it doesn't explain differences between them
The focus is on what evidence survives for each, not on contrasting the filmmakers themselves

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