Question #1986

Lines 27-31 Against B

Started by Fiallos.Luis11 · started 2020-04-10 19:15 · last activity 2020-04-10 21:59 · 2 replies

I chose E as the right answer. I know why B is correct (it is in the definition of the act). However, it would be even clearer why B is the answer if we remove Lines 27-31. That portion of the passage does not help answering this particular question, and I would like to know how attack/reduce this margin of error in interpretation. When I was going through the answer choices, B would have been the most attractive choice for me right away had lines 27-31 were not in the passage. Those lines, to me, are indicative that the Native Americans could sell their land, just not to Non-Native Americans. Sale of the land between Native American to Native American did not violate the first element/reason as to why such act passed (disruption of the traditional way of Native American life). So, what I got from this is that they could sell their land just not to non-native Americans. Clearly, the reasoning is wrong. What can I possibly do not to fall in this trap? What can be done to prevent portions of the passage against an answer choice to make answer incorrectly? I chose E (government to charge owners a fee for developing their land) because at the end of the passage the author tells you that leasing the Native American land was among the primarily activities of the US government.

Replies

  1. Annie · 2020-04-10 21:51

    Hi @Fiallos.Luis11, Thank you for explaining your confusion. I think this comes down to just careful reading. Lines 27-31 do not say that the Act allowed for Native Americans to sell land to other Native Americans. Instead, these lines are there to explain why the arguments for the Act restricting ALL sales of land (to either non-Native Americans or Native Americans), which is what the Act did, are wrong. Here's a breakdown of the argument: Lines 1-15: Explaining the Dawes Act set up Lines 16-26: Explaining the arguments made in favor of setting up the Dawes Act that way Lines 27-31: Countering the arguments that were made in favor of setting up the Dawes Act that way So, once this confusion is resolved, you can see that the question is just about the language of the Act. And, as you correctly, pointed out, B is therefore right. Sometimes with reading comprehension it is important to not get too lost by one small section of the passage (aka lines 27-31). So, when you're stuck on a particular part of the passage, maybe take a step back and re-read the whole thing so you can understand the full picture.

  2. Fiallos.Luis11 · 2020-04-10 21:59

    Thank you - this was an easy question. Im so upset I knew the answer but I was too invested in my own interpretation of those lines.

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