Question

Read the following transcript from a lecture. Then answer the question(s).

(1) If fiction can change the world for the better, can we afford to undervalue it? Some people believe that fiction is a sideshow to the real work of a society. For such people, stories are unimportant, just another form of entertainment. In my view, however, stories are an essential part of society and can play a significant role in its progress. Throughout history, authors from Charles Dickens to Upton Sinclair to Richard Wright have written about social ills, and their stories have led to change. A great deal of progress would not have been possible without the voices of fiction writers.

(2) One novelist who spurred social change in the United States is Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, both launched Stowe to fame and helped bring the anti-slavery cause into the mainstream. The book was enormously popular: From 1850 to 1900, only the Bible outsold it. Simon Legree, the brutal slave owner who serves as the book’s chief villain, became a familiar object of fear, revulsion, and contempt. Readers today criticize the novel for its stereotypes of enslaved Africans; however, the book forced a public discussion of slavery that helped lead—eventually—to change.

(3) Social protest novels like Stowe’s do more than simply tell a story. They bring issues into the public forum, compelling a society to face its demons. These stories accuse and condemn the bad, but they also celebrate and applaud the good. The public debate that results may be difficult. It may even involve terrible conflict. However, that conflict can lead to change. Fiction is not just a sideshow to the real work of a society. It is an essential part of the public debate that moves a society forward.

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Which statement based on the lecture provides the strongest evidence for the writer’s argument?



Responses

A Many authors throughout history have written about social problems.Many authors throughout history have written about social problems.

B The only book that outsold Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the Bible.The only book that outsold Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the Bible.

C Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped make the antislavery cause mainstream.Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped make the antislavery cause mainstream.

D Some people believe fiction is a distraction from social issues.Some people believe fiction is a distraction from social issues.
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Answer 1

C

This statement most directly supports the lecture’s main claim that fiction can spur social change by showing a clear effect of a novel (Uncle Tom’s Cabin) on public opinion and the antislavery movement.