In the context of the passage, the author's primary purpose in mentioning Dove's experience in Germany (last sentence...

on November 22, 2020

Help understanding the passage.

I would love a little clarification from the text itself as to how the experience in Germany is actually reinforcing the belief that poetry and fiction should not be separate. Where in the text would I find that? To me, it looks at though all the author is saying, is that Rose stated in Germany there is no separation and that Germans wouldn’t understand why there is separation in the US. I originally chose A which in hindsight is clearly false as it makes wide generalities about English Speaking nations - not the US specifically. I can understand why option A is incorrect but I am still failing to make the connection that the Germany experience is actually reinforcing a belief. To me it reads as if they are unattached facts, not support of the claim that the author doesn’t believe there should be restrictions in US writing.

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Andrea on November 23, 2020

Hi @CWhite,

The topic sentence of this paragraph states: Fortunately, there are signs that the bias against writers who cross generic boundaries is diminishing...

This idea introduces a paragraph that will be about the restrictive boundaries being a negative thing, and writers who have transcended those boundaries. They focus on Rita Dove as an example of this, and tell us that she studied in a country where those boundaries didn't exist as they do in the United States. If she was taught within a system that did not separate those genres so rigidly, that helps reinforce why she herself wrote in both genres and found it okay to do so.

Hope this helps, and feel free to follow up if you need more clarification!


Taiyou on March 24, 2021

Knock Knock. Anyone here?
Sorry to disturb, but I have to ask that where in the passage can I find about the indication that she had such thought of genres were not supposed to be separated existed prior to her education in Germany? Thank you!