PT149 S2 P4 Q21 ExplanationCharlotte Perkins Gilman

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Too Strong: the central11% picked this

   Gilman’s activist social theory, which called for the abolition of gender-specific work roles, contributed the central doctrine to one type of Social Darwinism that

   We don't have good support for claiming that Gilman contributed "the central doctrine", since that sounds like Gilman was the definitive thinker in one form of Social Darwinism. All we heard is that she "played an important role in the debate" and "identified with this latter ideological camp".

   11%
2. B

   Wrong Emphasis Out of Scope: rejected4% picked this

   Although Gilman aligned herself with the activist group of Social Darwinists, she rejected some of its doctrines, calling instead for gender equality and the

   The main clause of this answer is that, "Gilman rejected some of the doctrines of the activist group of Social Darwinists". That doesn't sound anywhere close to, "Gilman played an important role in the debate about Darwin, emphasizing an ethical responsibility to do good work and reorganize society in a way that restores male/female balance". We also don't have any support for the idea that she rejected some doctrines of this activist group.

   4%
3. C

   Too Strong8% picked this

   Unlike most Social Darwinists of her time, Gilman saw the issues involved in Social Darwinist debate as transcending abstract theoretical concerns and having important

   Too Strong: most Social Darwinists Wrong Emphasis: transcending abstract concerns Nothing in the passage generalizes about most Social Darwinists, so we don't really have any support for that part of this answer. The main clause of this answer is that, "Gilman saw the issues involved in Social Darwinist debate as transcending abstract theoretical concepts and having important implications for society". That is definitely true, because Gilman "wasn't just engaged in debate / she felt a moral imperative to DO stuff about this!". But this answer claims that "most SD's of the time did not see the issues that way. They thought it was merely an abstract debate without important implications." We don't have any support for that idea. Even if we fixed that unsupported part, this answer would still lose to the correct one. If the author could only convey one sentence to us, would he rather convey "Gilman thought this was more than just debate; there were important implications" or convey "Gilman thought that Darwin's evolutionary theory implied _______ ." This answer alludes to the idea that she had some takeaways from evolutionary theory, whereas the correct answer actually NAMES those takeaways.

   8%
4. D

   Correct74% picked this

   Gilman’s version of Social Darwinism held that people can and should contribute actively to the social evolution of humanity, and in her writings she

   Why this is right

   This is not a super lovable correct answer because (like a lot of Main Point correct answers), it feels a bit narrow. This doesn't comment on her important role in the general debate about how Darwin's theories apply to society. But it effectively summarizes some big ideas inherent in the writing she contributed to this debate. Towards the end of the 2nd paragraph, we get the first distillation of her message: [she thought contributing consciously to the evolutionary process] was not just descriptively true but an ethically responsibility. That's how we support "people can and should contribute actively to evolution". In the 3rd and 4th sentences of the final paragraph we get support for "advised women to do so through efforts to eliminate traditional gender roles": In both her fiction and her social theory she urges women to further social evolution by collectively working toward a remake of society, with a central goal of abandoning gender-specific work roles and hierarchical relationships. Overall, we might think of this correct answer as simply "best available" and not particularly satisfying.

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

   74%
5. E

   Out of Scope: her other writings3% picked this

   Gilman, whose important contributions to the debate over the application of Darwinism to social ideology were widely recognized in the early twentieth century, should

   This passage is concerned with Gilman's Social Darwinist writings, which all fall under the category of "important contributions to the debate over the application of Darwinism to social ideology". Those writings addressed women's social issues. This answer is making it seem like there's this whole other set of writings that have been under-appreciated. There's nothing like that in the passage. The passage is about the impact her writings had on the debate over Darwin.

   3%