Even though this policy was made in efforts of increasing awareness of Native American civil rights, it proved to work against them because it was in direct conflict with the emergence of Native American leadership and their efforts to develop tribal institutions and reaffirm tribal identity, (lines 1-15).
The first paragraph ends by introducing the hypothesis that this clash (between "readjustment" and the emergence of a new Native American leadership) could be traced back to the attempts of the BIA to convince the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin to accept readjustment, (lines 15-19).
The rest of the passage discusses the various issues and concerns that arose from this conflict. So, the first paragraph introduced the basis of the conflict within the United States governments attempt to instill the readjustment movement and where we could possibly trace that back to, i.e. answer choice (A): "It summarizes the basis of a conflict underlying negotiations described elsewhere in the passage."
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
RegDunlopAugust 10, 2016
Please elucidate the differences between choices A & B; they both seem correct. More specifically, can you identify the verbiage in B that eliminates it as the correct choice? Thank you in advance...
ChanJuly 11, 2018
"More specifically, can you identify the verbiage in B that eliminates it as the correct choice?" I'd appreciate a response to this question as well. Thanks
ChristopherJuly 28, 2018
@RegDunlop and @Chan, There are a couple things wrong with (B).
First, it is phrased in such a way that it suggests that the first paragraph is presenting two opposing arguments (it presents two positions). The problem with this is that the paragraph is not describing two opposing arguments but rather two disparate trends that ended up clashing. The difference between these two things is substantial. The two trends had to do with the same groups of people, but it wasn't that one side was arguing for one thing and the other was arguing for another. It's that two groups of people were trying to accomplish different things in separate ways that eventually intersected and conflicted.
Second, is the word "evidence." The rest of the passage doesn't provide evidence for one side of an argument but rather provides an example of the conflict inherent in the intersection of these two trends. It isn't providing evidence for why one side is right or wrong but rather explains the motivations for why they acted in a particular way.
(A) is correct because it recognizes that the rest of the passage is discussing a particular set of negotiations and that the first paragraph summarizes the basis of the conflict embodied in those negotiations.
