Antonia Castañeda has Utilized Scholarship from Women's Studies and Mexican-American History to Examine Nineteenth-Century Literary Portrayals of Mexican Women.

Reading Passage Question

Antonia Castañeda has utilized scholarship from women's studies and Mexican-American history to examine nineteenth-century literary portrayals of Mexican women. As Castañeda notes, scholars of women's history observe that in the Unites States, male novelists of the period─during which, according to these scholars, women's traditional economic role in home-based agriculture was threatened by the transition to a factory-based industrial economy─define women solely in their domestic roles of wife and mother. Castañeda finds that during the same period that saw non-Hispanic women being economically displaced by industrialization, Hispanic law in territorial California protected the economic position of "Californianas" (the Mexican women of the territory) by ensuring them property rights and inheritance rights equal to those of males.

For Castañeda, the laws explain a stereotypical plot created primarily by male, non-Hispanic novelists: the story of an ambitious non-hispanic merchant or trader desirous of marrying an elite Californiana. These novels' favourable portrayal of such women is noteworthy, since Mexican-American historians have concluded that unflattering literary depictions of Mexicans were vital in rallying the United States public's support for the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The importance of economic alliances forged through marriages with Californianas explains this apparent contradiction. Because of their real-life economic significance, the Californianas were portrayed more favourably than were others of the same nationality.

“Antonia Castañeda has utilized scholarship from women's studies and Mexican-American history to examine nineteenth-century literary portrayals of Mexican women.” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 3 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions checks the candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates need to answer the multiple choice questions in this section. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The “apparent contradiction” mentioned in line 29 refers to the discrepancy between the

1. legal status of Mexican women in territorial California and their status in the United States
2. unflattering depiction of Mexicans in novels and the actual public sentiment about the Mexican-American War
3. existence of many marriages between Californianas and non-Hispanic merchants and the strictures against them expressed in novels
4. literary depiction of elite Californianas and the literary depiction of other Mexican individuals
5. novelistic portrayals of elite Californianas’ privileged lives and the actual circumstances of those lives

2. Which of the following could best serve as an example of the kind of fictional plot discussed by Antonia Castañeda?

1. A land speculator of English ancestry weds the daughter of a Mexican vineyard owner after the speculator has migrated to California to seek his fortune.
2. A Californian woman of Hispanic ancestry finds that her agricultural livelihood is threatened when her husband is forced to seek work in a textile mill.
3. A Mexican rancher who loses his land as a result of the Mexican-American War migrates to the northern United States and marries an immigrant schoolteacher.
4. A wealthy Californiana whose father has bequeathed her all his property contends with avaricious relatives for her inheritance.
5. A poor married couple emigrate from French Canada and gradually become wealthy as merchants in territorial California.

3. Which of the following, if true, would provide the most support for Castañeda’s explanation of the “stereotypical plot” mentioned in lines 18-19?

1. Non-Hispanic traders found business more profitable in California while it was a territory than when it became a state.
2. Very few marriages between Hispanic women and non-Hispanic men in nineteenth-century territorial California have actually been documented.
3. Records from the nineteenth century indicate that some large and valuable properties were owned by elite Californianas in their own right.
4. Unmarried non-Hispanic women in the nineteenth-century United States were sometimes able to control property in their own right.
5. Most of the property in nineteenth-century territorial California was controlled by Hispanic men.

4. The primary purpose of the passage is to

1. trace historical influences on the depiction of Mexican Americans in the nineteenth century
2. explain how research in history has been affected by scholarship in women's studies
3. describe the historical origins of a literary stereotype
4. discuss ways in which minority writers have sought to critique a dominant culture through their writing
5. evaluate both sides in a scholarly debate about a prominent literary stereotype

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