Question

Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."

What compelled the Grimms to concentrate on old German epics, tales, and literature was a belief that the most natural and pure forms of culture—those which held the community together—were linguistic and based in history. According to them, modern literature, even though it might be remarkably rich, was artificial and thus could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from experience and bound the people together. Therefore, all their efforts went toward uncovering stories from the past.

Which statement best describes the way the author unfolds ideas in this paragraph?



The author starts with the main idea and gives evidence to support it.
The author gives supporting details first and concludes with the main idea.
The author gives a supporting detail and reveals the main idea, followed by a detail.
The author starts with the main idea and then restates it in several different ways.

Answer 1

The author starts with the main idea and gives evidence to support it.

(First sentence states the Grimms' belief; the next sentence explains why they held it; the paragraph ends with the resulting action.)