In her account of unmarried
women’s experiences in colonial
LACE>PhiladelphiaLACE>, Wulf argues that edu-
Line cated young women, particularly
(5) Quakers, engaged in resistance to
patriarchal marriage by exchanging
poetry critical of marriage, copying
verse into their commonplace
books. Wulf suggests that this
(10) critique circulated beyond the
daughters of the Quaker elite
and middle class, whose com-
monplace books she mines,
proposing that Quaker shools
(15) brought it to many poor female
students of diverse backgrounds.
Here Wulf probably overstates
Quaker schools’ impact. At least
three years’ study would be
(20) necessary to achieve the literacy
competence necessary to grapple
with the material she analyzes.
In 1765, the year Wulf uses to
demonstrate the diversity of
(25) LACE>PhiladelphiaLACE>’s Quaker schools,
128 students enrolled in these
schools. Refining Wulf’s numbers
by the information she provides
on religious affiliation, gender, and
(30) length of study, it appears that only
about 17 poor non-quaker girls
were educated in LACE>PhiladelphiaLACE>’s
Quaker schools for three years or
longer. While Wulf is correct that
(35) a critique of patriarchal marriage
circulated broadly, Quaker schools
probably cannot be credited with
instilling these ideas in the lower
classes. Popular literary satires
(40) on marriage had already landed
on fertile ground in a multiethnic
population that embodied a wide
range of marital beliefs and
practices. These ethnic- and
(45) class-based traditions them-
selves challenged the legitimacy
of patriarchal marriage.
GWD 21-16
According to the passage, which of the following was true of attitudes toward marriage in colonial LACE>PhiladelphiaLACE>?
A. Exemplars of a critique of marriage could be found in various literary forms, but they did not impact public attitudes except among educated young women.
B. The diversity of the student body in the Quaker schools meant that attitudes toward marriage were more disparate there than elsewhere in LACE>PhiladelphiaLACE> society.
C. Although critical attitudes toward marriage were widespread, Quaker schools’ influence in disseminating these attitudes was limited.
D. Criticisms of marriage in colonial Philadelphia were directed at only certain limited aspects of patriarchal marriage.
E. The influence of the wide range of marital beliefs and practices present in Philadelphia’s multiethnic population can be detected in the poetry that educated young women copied in their commonplace books.
E/C
It seems that C is right, but why E is wrong? Actually, C doesn't cover the question because it has nothing to do with the attitude to the marriage.
I prefer E?
Any ideas? |