Question

Consider this text feature from Chapter 1 of Wheels of Change by Sue Macy.

Kate Parke, Chicago, Illinois: Bicycle Lock, 1890 “My present invention has, primarily, for its object to provide [an] improved lock mechanism whereby bicycles may be locked to prevent them from being used without the owner’s consent or to prevent them from being stolen.”

How does this text feature enhance the information provided in the book?

It connects the book’s ideas about bicycle popularity.
It offers an example of the changing look of bicycles.
It provides insight about resistance to women cyclists.
It emphasizes the idea that women were bicycle innovators.

Answer 1

It emphasizes the idea that women were bicycle innovators.

Explanation: the patent quote from Kate Parke shows a woman designing and patenting bicycle technology (a lock), which supports the book’s point that women were active creators and inventors in the bicycling movement.