Answer choice E

Hi @saskipper, It is possible to say that this continuum of domestic fiction may have promoted cohesiveness and the continuity of society; however, answer choice (E) is incorrect for two reasons. First, there is not enough evidence in the passage to support the claim that domestic fiction promoted social cohesion. Second, and more importantly, the author's purpose in including this statement was not to illustrate that domestic fiction promoted social cohesion and continuity. Rather, the author intended to illustrate that domestic fiction, as pictured on this continuum, was treated as largely in distinct from other works such as those devoted to piety and domestic instruction. These works as a collective were "bound together" by the "common goal" you've outlined above. Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.

But isn't "It was not uncommon for the same multipurpose book to be indistinguishably a novel, a child-rearing manual, and a tract on Christian duty" a style of the previous/traditional and on-going domestic novels?

I think the quote you mention is supporting the idea that the domestic novel was not really distinct from other genres at the time