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Central Ideas and Details SAT question

Reading and Writing · Information and Ideas · Hard · Answer it here, explanation included.

Having written the impassioned call to arms “Letter to the Spanish Americans” in 1791, Peruvian intellectual Juan Pablo Viscardo y Guzmán is often considered a forerunner for the independence movements in Latin America. But Viscardo’s role in history would have remained insignificant were it not for Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda, who was handed the unpublished letter after Viscardo’s death. Miranda not only helped circulate the letter, but his edits and footnotes to the text position Miranda as a central figure in the text’s creation.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

ExplanationShow

Choice C is the best answer. The text describes how Miranda circulated, edited, and added footnotes to “Letter to the Spanish Americans,” and it claims that the letter and its author would have “remained insignificant” if it weren’t for Miranda’s efforts.

Choice A is incorrect. The text only says that Viscardo wrote the letter and that Miranda edited it: it never suggests that the original authorship of the letter is up for debate. Choice B is incorrect. This contradicts the text. The text says that Miranda edited and footnoted the letter, but it identifies Viscardo as the letter’s author. It also never identifies certain arguments as more eloquent than others. Choice D is incorrect. This is outside the scope of the text. The paragraph describes Miranda’s role in the creation and distribution of the letter, but it doesn’t get into the effects of the letter on other people.

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