Reading comp PrepTest 110 · Section 4 · Question 27

Topic: Social Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • A study by Amelia Wallace Vernon documents that Africans brought to the U.S. as slaves introduced rice cultivation to the colonies in the early 1700s.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Myth dispelled: African slaves contributed nothing but their labor (first sentence)
  • Amelia Wallace Vernon’s study: 1876 document revealed that in 1718, French settlers requested that the captain of a slave ship bound for Africa trade for 400 Africans who knew how to grow rice (second sentence)
    • Another myth dispelled: French Acadians who didn’t arrive in the U.S. until 1760s introduced rice cultivation (third sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “propagated the myth” (first sentence); “little of value” (first sentence); “dispel this notion” (first sentence); “she uncovered” (second sentence); “especially compelling” (third sentence).

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • African Americans grew rice during slavery because plantation owners either allowed or demanded it and because it allowed them to work independently of overseers.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Vernon’s study: interviewed elderly African Americans who showed her where their ancestors cultivated rice until 1920 (first sentence)
  • Phenomenon: African Americans cultivated rice both during and after slavery in an economy dedicated to maximizing cotton production (second sentence).
  • Slavery era explanation:
    • During slavery, African Americans grew rice b/c plantation owners ate it and either allowed or demanded that African Americans cultivate rice in addition to their other duties (fourth sentence)
    • Growing rice gave African Americans the ability to work independently of overseers (fifth sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “helped her discover” (first sentence); “at the heart” (second sentence); “two intriguing answers” (third sentence); “some relief” (fifth sentence); “independently” (fifth sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Rice cultivation after the end of slavery is more difficult to explain because of African Americans’ dietary preferences, the needs of the economy and the incentives of the tenant farmer system.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Various factors militated against the cultivation of rice following the abolition of slavery (first sentence)
    • African Americans preferred to eat corn instead of rice (first sentence)
    • No market for the rice they produced (first sentence)
    • Owners of land African Americans farmed wanted only cotton as rent (first sentence)
      • tenant system = system in which tenant farmers cultivate land and pay the owner of the land using a part of their harvest (first sentence)
    • The activity of growing rice demanded much more labor than it seemed to be worth (second sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “difficult to explain” (first sentence); “no market” (first sentence); “surrendered” (first sentence); “out of proportion” (second sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Vernon argues African Americans grew rice after slavery because they considered the activities of clearing and cultivating land a symbolic affirmation of self and a political statement against the government which had failed to deliver on its promise to grant land to freed African Americans.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • According to Vernon, growing rice wasn’t the point of clearing and cultivating land (first sentence)
  • Post-slavery explanation:
    • African Americans grew rice because they viewed their cultivated land as an extension of themselves and the activity of growing rice as an affirmation of their identity (second sentence)
    • African Americans cleared land and grew rice on it as an act of protest against a government that had failed to deliver on its promise to parcel out land to newly freed African Americans (third sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “Vernon suggests” (first sentence); “an end in itself” (first sentence); “scarcely worth the effort” (second sentence); “extension of self” (second sentence); “wished to nurture it” (second sentence); “Vernon speculates” (third sentence); “symbolic claiming” (third sentence); “promised but failed to parcel off” (third sentence)

Main Point: According to Amelia Wallace Vernon, African Americans introduced rice cultivation to the United States in the early 1700s, growing it during slavery in order to supply it to their masters and to work independently from the overseers, and cultivating it after slavery in order to affirm their culture and to symbolically claim land that the government had promised but failed to deliver to freed African Americans.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1 S1) - Introduces topic of the passage

P2 S2 - Statement of phenomenon

P2 S4-5 - Slavery era explanation

P4 S2-3 - Post-slavery explanation

Phenomenon/Explanation: This passage uses a Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure. The phenomenon under discussion is the surprising fact that African Americans cultivated rice both during and after slavery in an economy devoted to the production of cotton. Vernon’s explanations of this practice are two-fold: during the era of slavery, African Americans grew rice because plantation owners ate rice and either demanded that they grow it or allowed them to grow it, and because the cultivation of rice allowed African Americans to work on an independent basis away from overseers. After the abolition of slavery, African Americans grew rice despite the economic disincentives to do so because they saw the clearing and cultivation of land as an affirmation of themselves and because cultivating rice allowed them to symbolically claim land that the government had promised to deed to freed African Americans but had never actually delivered.

The minor Meta-Structure in this passage is List. The author begins by introducing the theme of the passage and the phenomenon to be discussed, then introduces Vernon’s two explanations one at a time, dividing them into slavery era and post-slavery era categories. The organization of this passage is straightforward to follow.

The author’s attitude in this passage indicates that the author is appreciative of Vernon’s work and agrees with Vernon’s explanation of the reasons behind African Americans’ longstanding cultivation of rice in the U.S. The author certainly approves of Vernon’s innovative research methods and is intrigued by Vernon’s hypotheses.

This passage is a mixture of history, assertion, speculation, argument, and clear author tone. The only viewpoints present are Vernon’s and the author’s, and these are in agreement throughout the passage. There is no debate here, no critics, and no opponents to Vernon’s views. There is a mention of earlier historians who propagated myths (P1 S1), but these myths were not specific to rice cultivation. This relative absence of conflict makes the passage slightly less complex than others that include multiple conflicting or at least differing viewpoints.