Conclusion: The "suicide wave" that followed the United States stock market crash of October 1929 is more legend than fact.
Why? Careful consideration of the monthly figures shows that the number of suicides in October and November of 1929 were comparatively low. There were only three other months in that year that the figures were lower and we know that during the summer months of that year, when the stock market was flourishing, the number of suicides was substantially higher.
Well, even though compared to other months in 1929, October and November suicide rates were comparative low, what if compared to the average suicide rates of Octobers and Novembers of past years, those of October and November 1929 were considerably higher? That would then weaken the conclusion to our passage would it not?
It could be possible that of the twelve months in the year, October and November have always had comparably lower rates of suicide regardless of what event has occurred that year. Thus, instead of comparing October 1929 and November 1929 to the other months of that specific year, we should instead compare the suicide rates of October 1929 and November 1929 to those of previous October and November months.
Answer choice (C) brings up this exact point. If, in fact the suicide rate in October and November of 1929 was considerably higher than the average for those months during several preceding and following years, then this means that the "suicide wave," was more fact than legend.
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
KellanNovember 26, 2018
I narrowed this down between A & C then clicked on the message button to understand the question better. I can see that answer C weakens the argument for the months of October/November suicide wave, which is stated in the first sentence. However, answer "A" is a text book definition (i.e. with the answer being put into words as short as possible) regarding the causes of suicide rates being different. Suicide rates during a certain period can all have different "titles" if a person wants to take time and come up with the names, either month to month, year to year, decade to decade etc.. But yes, suicides are influenced by the factors listed in answer A. What is the difference between A & C? One is stating certain months and giving a time period a "name" and the other is stating the causes of suicides, which are a factor in the increase/decrease of suicide rates.
RaviDecember 21, 2018
@Kellan,
For answer A, the many psychological, interpersonal, and societal factors during any given historical period that influence the suicide rate are irrelevant to the argument's question of whether the stock market crash resulted in an increase in suicides. Answer A just gives us a very general statement, but it does nothing to challenge the author's contention that the suicide wave following '29's crash is more legend than fact.
Answer C would best challenge the argument because it provides a very important comparison: suicide rates in October and November for several years before and after1929. If C is true, then it weakens the author's position because the author's premises do not account for a spike in suicides during October and November during '29 when compared to several years before and after. Sure, October and November may have lower suicide rates than the summer months and most months out of the year, but it does seem fishy if October and November of 1929 had considerably higher suicide rates when compared to the October and November months in the late 20s and early 30s.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have more questions!
