In saying that domestic fiction was based on a conception of fiction as part of a "continuum" (line 30), the author m...

Cynthia-Lee on September 10, 2018

I don't get why B is correct, please help to explain this question, thanks

Max-Youngquist on September 14, 2018

@csmengineer @cynthia-lee (A) is a tempting answer here because it gives our most familiar definition of the word "continuum." However, if you look at the line after the line they quote, it helps put "continuum" in context: "...multipurpose book to be indistinguishably a novel, a child-rearing manual, and a tract on Christian duty."

This sentence provides more evidence for (B), as we can see here fiction being included IN THE SAME BOOK as other categories of writing. I usually recommend reading the line before and after the line the question provides you, to help make sure you're remembering the quote in the proper context. I hope that helps!

frederickliu on December 29, 2022

But isn't "It was not uncommon for the same multipurpose book to be indistinguishably a novel, a
child-rearing manual, and a tract on Christian duty" a style of the previous/traditional and on-going domestic novels? I still don't get why B is correct. It sounds to me like B is a subset of A.

Emil-Kunkin on January 20, 2023

Hi, the point that the author was trying to make is that when the book was written, fiction was more similar to other genres than we would see it as now. The fact that fiction stretches long into the past, while true, is ancillary to the reason the authors point about fiction existing on a spectrum of similar genres. B, however, is a perfect match for the idea that fiction in the past was not as clearly distinct from other genres as a modern reader would imagine it.