Hammer and Hoe

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Negative: fails to fully explicate3% picked this

   By spending little time discussing ideological controversies, Hammer and Hoe fails to fully explicate the relationship between the Communist Party and African-American

   We don't have any ammunition for a negative review of Kelley's book. The only evaluative claim the author gives us the last paragraph: "Far from claiming X was the sole reason, Kelley provides a rounded portrait of the decline". That sounds complimentary.

   3%
2. B

   Wrong Emphasis: ideological purity?4% picked this

   The relationship between the Communist Party and African-American workers during the 1930s and 1940s makes it clear that ideological purity and consistency are

   This answer choice makes no reference to Kelley's book (which could potentially be okay, as long as the answer sounded like the book's thesis). But the book's thesis is about how the Third Period was more appealing than the Popular Front was as an organizing vehicle for African-Americans. There aren't any big ideas presented about "ideological purity being inessential to effect political change".

   4%
3. C

   Wrong Emphasis: radicals vs. liberals1% picked this

   Hammer and Hoe constitutes a valuable tool for the modern historian who is attempting to search for models of

   The main thrust of the book was about how the communist party came to attract a substantial number of African-American workers and how these workers used the party as a vehicle for organizing themselves. It wasn't mainly about "models of unity between radicals and liberals".

   1%
4. D

   Unsupported Causal Relationship14% picked this

   The true measure of the success of the Communist Party at organizing African-­American workers was not its ability to change people's thinking

   This answer has some promise, because Kelley is definitely exploring the question of how the Communist Party was successful at organizing American workers. But the answers to that question are things like: - rhetoric regarding a "new world" resonated among African Americans - help from a powerful ally in Moscow seemed like a potential source of power - the party established itself as an ally by mobilizing against lynch law - early on, the party was willing to attack white chauvinism This answer makes it seem like the passage was saying, "it wasn't about changing thinking; it was about interacting with their culture". Our list of reasons above are a mix of changing thinking and interacting with African American culture. The author never elevated the latter over the former.

   14%
5. E

   Correct78% picked this

   Hammer and Hoe offers new insights into the nature of the relationship, in the 1930s and 1940s, between the

   Why this is right

   This answer is "fine", which is sometimes the best available answer. It sounds like the passage overall was a positive book review of Kelley's book, which is certainly accurate. Did the book focus on the relationship between the Communist Party and African-American workers? Definitely. The part of this answer about "offering new insights" relates to the 2nd paragraph. Whereas most scholarship about this subject has emphasized the Communist Party's attempts to draw on democratic political traditions and to enter into meaningful political alliances with liberals, Kelley's book has a distinct focus (and thus it offers different insights).

   Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   78%