Question 48·Hard·Text Structure and Purpose
In an essay on letters written by US soldiers during World War I, historian Maya Chen notes that many recruits described farm life in nostalgic terms even when their pre-war correspondence had complained bitterly about the hardships of rural labor. Chen contends that the shift reflects soldiers’ attempts to contrast the mechanized brutality of trench warfare with an idealized rural past, thereby reassuring family members—and themselves—that their suffering served to protect a way of life worth preserving.
Which choice best describes the primary purpose of the text?
For “primary purpose” questions, first quickly rephrase the passage in one simple sentence: what is the author mainly doing—describing, arguing, explaining one person’s idea, or comparing views? Then scan the answer choices for the one that matches that overall role, not just a detail. Eliminate any choice that adds information not in the passage (like new motives, other scholars, or debates) or misstates the focus. Pay special attention to verbs like “argue,” “critique,” and “summarize opposing viewpoints” to check whether the text actually does those things.
Hints
Restate the paragraph’s main action
Ask yourself: Is the paragraph mainly telling a story, comparing two sides of a debate, criticizing someone, or explaining one person’s idea about some evidence?
Focus on the role of Maya Chen
Look closely at what the text says Maya Chen does with the soldiers’ letters—what pattern does she notice, and what explanation does she give?
Check for missing elements in answer choices
For each answer, ask: Does the paragraph actually talk about that thing—like economic motives, easier rural life, or disagreements among scholars—or is the answer adding something that never appears?
Look for key purpose words
Pay attention to verbs like “argues,” “contends,” “critiques,” or “summarize opposing viewpoints” in the answer choices, and see which one best matches what the paragraph is doing overall.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the question is asking
The question asks for the primary purpose of the text. That means you should not focus on tiny details, but on why this whole paragraph was written and what it mainly does: describe, argue, criticize, compare, summarize debates, etc.
Summarize the paragraph in your own words
Put the paragraph into a simple summary:
- The writer introduces historian Maya Chen.
- Chen notices that soldiers wrote about farm life in a nostalgic way during the war, even though earlier they complained about farm hardships.
- Chen contends (argues) that this change shows soldiers trying to contrast brutal trench warfare with an idealized rural past.
- This contrast helps reassure families and the soldiers themselves that their suffering was to protect a valuable way of life.
So the paragraph mainly presents Chen’s interpretation of soldiers’ letters and how this interpretation explains how they coped with war.
Match that summary against answer patterns
Now compare your summary to the types of purposes the answer choices mention:
- Does the paragraph argue that rural life was easier than people think?
- Does it attack or critique other scholars or mention that they missed something?
- Does it present multiple, opposing viewpoints on the topic?
- Or does it present one historian’s specific interpretation of letters to show how soldiers were handling their experiences?
Keep these four possibilities in mind as you read each choice.
Eliminate choices that don’t fit the text’s role
Go through the choices one by one:
- Choice A talks about proving rural life was less difficult, but the paragraph actually mentions complaints about rural hardships, not that rural life was easy.
- Choice B mentions criticizing earlier scholarship and economic motives, which never appear in the paragraph.
- Choice D mentions summarizing opposing viewpoints, but only Maya Chen’s view is given.
The only answer that correctly describes the paragraph as presenting a historian’s reinterpretation of letters to show how soldiers used nostalgia to cope with wartime suffering is Choice C: “To highlight a historian’s reinterpretation of personal letters in order to illustrate how soldiers used nostalgia to cope with wartime experiences.”