In Exploring The Role Of Women During Colonial Times, Historiographers GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

In exploring the role of women during colonial times, historiographers have taken several, though not necessarily conflicting, approaches. Malley and Jemson represent those who have focused on the roles of women in countries under colonial power. However, they are atypical in that they attempt to place the specific continent they studied—South East Asia—in a larger, transnational context. For instance, in claiming that women in Annam (the name of Vietnam before 1950) had diminished economic power, even more so than in their traditional roles, which allowed for some economic autonomy (women’s active role in the marketplace culture is cited), Malley and Jemson are able to make certain parallels with societies in which colonial power rested, namely England and France. Yet, the eye for detail that makes their work on Southeast Asia so compelling is lost in broad generalizations. In pointing out that it was deemed unladylike for women to engage in economic activity in both France and French Indochina, Malley and Jemson would have strengthened their case by offering specific examples from both those parts of the world. Additionally, the greater question of how in some cases colonialism not only offered more freedom than did traditional roles (in real estate a woman’s initials were part of the deed) but also limited women’s freedom would have made the discussion more germane to a transnational context. Camden and Greely, on the other hand, show how a focus on transnational context is often limited by a narrow historical understanding of a specific country. Such a narrow view, unsurprisingly, leads them to impose certain metanarratives on these countries. For instance, in aiming to show that women in places under the colonial yoke acquired roles similar to women in Europe, and later America, Camden and Greely relied on small island nations in the Caribbean to make their case. In doing so, the two not only compromised the scope of their findings but also did not account for practices within these nations that might call into question the validity of their metanarratives. By overlooking the aspects of the culture of the countries they studied and by not including countries that were more representative of colonialism, Camden and Greely fail to concede that such metanarratives might themselves need some review to better account for more widespread practices. Thus, the few parallels they draw between these Caribbean nations and European powers are unconvincing. As both the approaches of Camden and Greely and those of Malley and Jemson show, historicity would be better served by scholars working in tandem to tease out general themes that apply to countries while also appreciating how a country’s local culture informed and coexisted with such themes.

“In exploring the role of women during colonial times, historiographers”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Nominees must have a firm understanding of English GMAT reading comprehension. There are 4 comprehension questions in this GMAT Reading Comprehension section. GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are conducted to examine candidates' skills to decipher, interpret, and utilize knowledge or ideas. Candidates can actively prepare by answering GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. The main purpose of the passage is to

A) expect objections to several theories in an academic field and to counter these objections
B) contrast two attempts to understand a historical phenomenon and to champion the more befitting approach
C) explore the effect of two approaches on a historical debate and how these approaches inform each other
D) discuss differing approaches to a field of study and to show how two such approaches are both wanting
E) frame a historical debate by comparing a successful methodology to one that shows several notable flaws

2. As per the author, which of the following would have made Malley and Jemson’s case more compelling?

A) Had Malley and Jemson supplemented their own observations with a nation’s history as noticed by that nation’s own people
B) Had Malley and Jemson described in greater detail the economic activities in which women in Annam involved
C) Had Malley and Jemson focused on how the traditional roles of women in both Annam and pre-colonial France were more controlled than the roles of women in both countries during the colonial period
D) Had Malley and Jemson contrasted the function the marketplace exerted on the role of women in Annam with that of possessing real estate for women in Europe during the colonial period
E) Had Malley and Jemson offered specific examples from both Europe and Southeast Asia of how a woman’s attachment to a traditional role was directly undermined by her engaging in economic activity

3. Which of the following best describes the main contrast between the work of Malley and Jemson and that of Camden and Greely?

A) Malley and Jemson show a comprehensive understanding of the countries they studied but do not attempt to place their findings in a transnational context, while Camden and Greely are able to convincingly place their
research in a transnational context even though they do not sufficiently understand the histories of the countries they studied.
B) Malley and Jemson shower a limited understanding of the historical processes in the countries in which they offered as evidence supporting their theories, while Camden and Greely often let the details of a specific country intervene with a broader historical understanding.
C) Malley and Jemson, in attempting to put their findings in a transnational context, do not provide sufficient evidence to support their theories, whereas Camden and Greely, in attempting to support their theories, give evidence that is unrepresentative of the countries they are studying and disregard information not fitting to their pre-existing narrative.
D) Malley and Jemson use evidence from only a few countries, but make a compelling case for how their studies apply to a wider geographical context, whereas Camden and Greely are not sufficiently able to show how their findings from many countries apply to a larger geographical context.
E) Malley and Jemson argue that the most impressive approach to understanding how the traditional roles of women affected those during the colonial period is to study countries that were colonial powers, whereas Camden and Greely argue that the most impressive approach for understanding this phenomenon is to focus only on countries that were colonial subjects.

4. Which of the following can be inferred concerning those who only focus on the role of women in countries under colonial rule?

A) They generally do not place their studies in a transnational context.
B) They are likely to let pre-existing theories overpower their observations.
C) They are unwilling to consider the influence that traditional roles had on colonial roles.
D) They tend to subjugate the economic autonomy exercised by women in traditional roles.
E) They fail to make convincing comparisons between countries that are colonial powers and those under colonial rule.

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