Q25

[Nina]

why is E incorrect? i know that the author regards Drescher's view as incomplete because he fails to explain why antislavery activism could be so popular in England, but i think "superficially convincing" matches his attitude since at the beginning of second paragraph, the author introduces Drescher's view as "more balanced." So i thought he introduces Drescher's view as "more balanced", but finally criticizes it as "superficially convincing".
i don't understand why "unrealistic" is a better description here.

Thanks a lot!

[rinagoldfield]

Thanks for your post. Great question.

I disagree that the author sees Drescher’s views as "superficially convincing." The author believes that Drescher’s account is "more balanced" than Williams’, but is ultimately insufficient to fully explain "how England managed [blah blah blah]" (lines 10, 24-28). The author doesn’t change her mind about Drescher, she just thinks his contributions don’t go the full distance in explaining the British abolition movement.

(B) doesn’t feel perfectly perfect (to me, at least), but I think it’s the best of the bunch. Drescher’s account of British abolition is, in the author’s view, only partially accurate. In that sense, his account doesn’t paint a fully "realistic" picture.

(A) is contradicted. The author doesn't see Drescher's account as fully accurate.
(C) is unsupported.
(D) is unsupported
(E) is unsupported. Drescher’s view wasn't ever convincing, and the author doesn’t imply that it’s superficial.

--Rina

[pewals13]

Got confused here. Seemed to me that "British traditions concerning liberty" referred to the "tradition of political activism" which the author does not challenge. I guess (B) is correct because the author of the passage found the presentation of this tradition by Drescher as a major catalyst for colonial labor reform that garnered support across British social divisions to be unconvincing.

[jewels0602]

I was stuck between B and E as well... I ended up going with B because of lines 23-28. The author states that Britain was deeply divided along struggles, so the fact that the masses would ally themselves with something the conservatives supported could be inferred as "somewhat unrealistic".