Q10

[agneskozera]

Can you please explain why D is not the right answer?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

The question asks us to identify what the author uses the phrase "works of popular culture" to refer to. Those works were from previously unknown illustrators, journalists, and novelists that Stilgoe used in support of the claim that the disapproval of the railroad had ceased by the 1880's. The author does not see these works of popular culture as support for Stilgoe's claim as the author does not see support for widespread mistrust of the railroad between 1830-1880 as Stilgoe suggests. Answer choice (E) represents the author's intent in mentioning these works for the author sees these works as representing works that Stilgoe had unearthed and that had received little attention until Stilgoe offered them in support of his claim.

Incorrect Answers

(A) is contradicted. These were works that were supportive of the railroad that Stilgoe used to support the claim that widespread disapproval had disappeared.
(B) is contradicted. Hawthorne and Thoreau were opposed to the railroad and yet these works were supportive.
(C) is contradicted. The works in line 41 were ones that were looked at by Stilgoe whereas the works of Adams, Lewis, and O'Neill were ones the author thinks Stilgoe should have looked at.
(D) is unsupported. The passage does indicate that these works were supportive of the railroad, but does not suggest they were responsible for creating public enthusiasm.

[mornincounselor]

(Unsuprisingly) Mr. Sherman's analysis is spot-on. One further means of eliminating choice D: the works the author refers to were written after the 1880s, but, D talks about works created "during the 1830s."

The "creating enthusiasm" NOT supported by (line 39) "devotees of the railroad" is the major flaw with D though.

[bswise2]

I'm still confused regarding why E is correct.

The argument being made against Stilgoe's voluminous material was because all it did was show that "the works of popular culture greatly expanded at the time." Upon reading the passage, I interpreted that to mean that there was just more works IN GENERAL being circulated. I though the author was saying "Stilgoe's many references only suggests that perhaps there was more being written, including articles that contradict his point." Sort of like a percentage argument--if in the 1830s, 40% of 100 works expressed trust for railroads, and then after the 1880, 40% of 1000 works expressed trust for railroads, then siting many works doesn't prove the point that ambivalence ended after the 1880s. That's why I thought the author made this point.

After seeing that E is the correct answer, I clearly am mistaken and am confused because 1) the author referred to them as "the works of popular culture". Why would it be called "popular" if only Stilgoe cared about them? and 2) what would the author's point in bringing up the expansion of these works? If "the works [that Stilgoe cared about and few other scholars did] greatly expanded at the time," would that not just suggest that more people were writing in a manner that Stilgoe favored to support his position? The author says "Nah, the volume doesn't prove anything. There's actually an expansion of these types of writings." Well...the fact that there is an expansion is exactly supportive of Stilgoe's position that people have become less ambivalent towards the railroad.

[BarryM800]

I actually had the same question as the previous post. I thought the phrase "works of popular culture" itself is neutral. In the author's view, these "hitherto unknown illustrators, journalists, and novelists" are the minority, and thus could not represent the public attitude - hence the author states that Stilgoe's assertion that the romantic-era distrust vanished/disappeared is misleading. In that sense, it's hard to call works from this minority group the works of "popular culture." Rather, I think the author is saying there were a wider variety of voices, which included those from this minority group. So it's not that the "works of popular culture" are the works of this minority group per se, but that it has to include them. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[BarryM800]

Trying to answer my own question here, I think I previously misinterpreted the word "popular" as "majority." "Popular culture" here refers to the genre of the works by these hitherto unknown illustrators, journalists, and novelists, who also happened to be devotees of the railroad. This phrase is contrasted with academic paper or factual record, which is the usual research source for "historians." "The works of popular culture greatly expanded at the time" simply means novels started to include railroad topics.

[SamM102]

To read "popular" as "majority" is indeed a misread. As you suggest, the phrase in question is used to contrast those works of railroad devotee journalists, novelists, and illustrators with the works of the minority of intellectual railroad skeptics like Thoreau. Popular culture vs. the literati, as it were.