rule out

Yes, we never make reference to a model that King used for passive resistance. "Civil Disobedience," rather is mentioned in lines 17-20 to explain that it was the only example of transcendentalist writing with which King was familiar. We know from lines 5-9 that this book was King's "first intellectual contact with the theory of passive resistance to governmental laws that are perceived as morally unjust." Thus the correct answer is answer choice (E): "It influenced King's philosophy on passive resistance to unjust laws." Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Why isn't the answer B. In lines 16-20 it clearly states the exact same thing.

Justice, I think the question here is concerned with the essay ("Civil Disobedience") and not the concept (civil disobedience), since it was capitalized and put in quotation marks in the question stem. Lines 16-20, however, refer to the concept of civil disobedience and NOT the essay, therefore we cannot use it as support for the answer B.