The "suicide wave" that followed the United States stock market crash of October 1929 is more legend than fact. Caref...
ShirnelMay 7, 2020
Need help understanding this stimulus
When I read this stimulus I understood that the author was stating that the suicidal wave "following" the stock market crash of 1929 was a myth because October and November of 1929 show low suicidal rate, 3 other months in 1929 were also low, and the summer of 1929 was high.
My understanding of this argument is that the author is refuting the claim that there was actually a high suicidal rate after October of 1929.
To weaken this argument my thought process is that I might actually want to show that the suicide wave might have actually been true.
Now that I have explained my thought process, I can't understand how (C) works. Please advise.
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Answer (C) is pointing to a gap in the logic of the argument. The argument is assuming that the suicide rate in October and November should be compared to the suicide rate in the summer, and that since the summer rates in 1929 were actually higher, this shows the stock market crash had no effect. But, Answer (C) points out that this may not be a fair comparison. It says that if you compare the suicide rates in October and November 1929 with those rates in October and November in 1928, 1930, 1931 etc. then you see a big difference. Essentially, the answer choice is pointing out that the comparison made by the argument may not be fair (for instance, maybe a lot of people don't like hot weather so the suicide rate is always higher in the summer). So, by providing a different comparison, it challenges the notion that the October/November 1929 rates were not unusual.
ShirnelMay 7, 2020
I forgot to add: I narrowed my answer choices down to (B) and (C) but I favored (B) over (C) since I understood (B) as saying throughout the 1920's and 1930's Oct and Nov had higher suicide rates meaning that suicide rates may be higher overall.
ShirnelMay 8, 2020
I see so the comparison to October and November of the years mentioned poses a stronger comparison because it's at the same time of the year. Is that the case?
