"Nelly Bly Undercover"

by Dr. Howard Markel
Today, we celebrate the 154th birthday of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman. Better known by her nom de plume Nellie Bly (taken-and misspelled-from the title of a Stephen Foster tune, "Nelly Bly"), she was the pioneering, if not the very first, American investigative journalist.
Bly was born in Cochran's Mills. Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. In 1889, she made a famous, widely reported and intrepid 72-day trip around the globe. It was the fastest journey of her era and one that shattered the fictional record of Jules Verne's wanderer, Phineas Fogg, in his novel "Around the World in 80 days."
Medical historians and patient advocates, however rightly revere Bly for her infamous exposé of the New York City Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island in the East River.

Use the passage to answer the question.
Which tools does the author use to present a series of ideas in this introduction? Select the two correct answers.
(1 point)
a cause-and-effect sequence explaining how Bly came to be a journalist.

chronological order with each paragraph describing what came next in Bly's life

statistics proving the effectiveness of Bly's reporting

a summary of an important journalistic accomplishment for which Bly is remembered
comparison of Bly to a fictional character

1 answer

The two correct answers that the author uses to present a series of ideas in this introduction are:

  • a summary of an important journalistic accomplishment for which Bly is remembered
  • comparison of Bly to a fictional character (Phineas Fogg)