Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale." What compelled the Grimms to concentrate on old German epics, tales, and literature was a belief that the most natural and pure forms of culture—those which held the community together—were linguistic and based in history. According to them, modern literature, even though it might be remarkably rich, was artificial and thus could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from experience and bound the people together. Therefore, all their efforts went toward uncovering stories from the past. Which statement best describes the way the author unfolds ideas in this paragraph?
Answer
A
The author starts with the main idea and then restates it in several different ways.
B
The author starts with the main idea and gives evidence to support it.
C
The author gives a supporting detail and reveals the main idea, followed by a detail.
D
The author gives supporting details first and concludes with the main idea.
Explanation
The paragraph begins by stating the Grimms’ central belief: that the purest culture was linguistic and rooted in history. It then restates and develops this idea by contrasting that culture with modern literature, which they considered artificial, and explaining why they focused on stories from the past. The paragraph mainly elaborates on its opening idea rather than presenting separate evidence for it.
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