17. The primary purpose of the passage is to

The first line of the passage basically says that Jean Wagner has insisted that Afro-American poetry need to "analyzed" in both religious and secular domains. Previously, only secular outlook was prevalent. Then, the author described how Wagner linked African Americans struggle during enslavement can be interpreted in religious context. He pointed out that religious struggle and racial struggle are intertwined.

From the first line of the passage and onward, we can deduce that the passage is about Jean Wagner's analysis of poetry. Therefore, the answer is D.


18. All of the following aspects of Afro-American poetry are referred to in the passage as having been influenced by Wesleyan hymnals EXCEPT


The author has mentioned all the options except "subject matter". This can be found in the third line of the first paragraph.

19. It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following?


Since the passage mentioned in the second paragraph that prior to Wagner, the poetry was only analyzed in secular state, we can infer that some students may have missed the historical significance - and especially racial struggle that is intertwined with religious struggle - of poetry. The answer is therefore B.

Is C eliminated because only social protest is focused on and not political protests? If political protests were mentioned, would it be stronger than option B? I disregarded option B because I failed to infer the relation between historical roots and tradition. And social protest is mentioned in the passage, so to me that was the strongest option available.

18.E, 19. E, 20. E

"Analyzed fully the aspects of social protest to be found in such traditional forms of AfroAmerican poetry as the Black spiritual."


It is not mentioned that most African-American students analyzed FULLY social protest in Black spiritual. So, I eliminated this one.

For the first question question:
A: too narrow too specific
B: out of scope
C: out of scope
D: correct because it is broad and also it is mentioned clearly in the first sentence of the para
E: only one contribution of Jean is presented also in the first line

17. The primary purpose of the passage is to
Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference.
It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry…..Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual, where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are inextricably intertwined.

So right answer will be (D) indicate the importance of Jean Wagner's analysis of Afro-American poetry

18. All of the following aspects of Afro-American poetry are referred to in the passage as having been influenced by Wesleyan hymnals EXCEPT

Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference. The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry. The two, he argued, form a symbiotic union in which religious feelings are often applied to racial issues and racial problems are often projected onto a metaphysical plane. Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual, where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are inextricably intertwined.

(A) subject matter
(B) word choice
(C) rhythm
(D) structure
(E) tone

So the right answer will be (A) subject matter

19. It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following?
But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

So right answer will be (B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry.

Carcass, can you please advise why E should be eliminated for Q19?
It is stated that But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

The third question is an inference question and of course it is not mentioned in the passage and, of course, it is wrong!!!

The explanation could end here but we are also here WHY it is not mentioned in the passage


Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference. The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

Wagner sustained that something we call for simplicity X should be also viewed from an additional standing point: religious

BEFORE wagner the X was analyzed , mainly, from the political and social standing point + these two as a tool to protest against something else. We call this something else Y

(E) Concentrated on the complex relations between the technical elements in Afro-American poetry and its political content.

As you can see what we pointed out before is quite different from what E says.

On the other hand


(B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry.

This is true: the students viewed the poetry only from a political standing point ignoring what Waganer sustained afterward: to see the same poetry also from the religious standing point


I hope this helps