An American Plague

Question

1. What is most closely a central idea from this excerpt of An American Plague?
2. Answer choices for the above question
3. A. Rush himself was suffering from yellow fever at the time of his visit to Catherine LeMaigre.
4. B. Rush had a different way of seeing things than most people of his time.
5. C. Rush was not trusted by his medical colleagues due to his nontraditional ideas.
6. D. Rush believed less in medical research than in his instincts and intuition.

Answer 1

Hello Emem, which excerpt from American Plague are you referencing? Is it an excerpt from "Chapter One: No One Noticed"? If yes, we can break down this question together. Keep in mind that I searched for an excerpt from Chapter One and that I may be limited in what I read versus what you read in that excerpt. When a question asks for the central idea in a passage, you must find evidence from the text that supports the answer. When you go through each answer choice ask yourself, "Is there evidence from the text that supports this answer and does this answer make the most sense?" Even if there is evidence on at least one of the answer choices, you must ask if the answer option is the central idea overall (or most closely in this case) in the excerpt and if it makes the most sense. Now let's take a look at these answer choices based on what I read in Chapter One:

A. Rush himself was suffering from yellow fever at the time of his visit to Catherine LeGaire.

Based on the sample I read in Chapter One, I did not read anything about LeGaire. Did you read about her in your excerpt? If so, does this evidence make up the central idea of your passage? In other words, is this evidence enough to support the answer?

B. Rush had a different way of seeing things than most people of his time.

In Chapter One, how did people explain the mysterious illnesses in Philadelphia? For instance, what was the popular folklore people believed was causing the illnesses? What was Reverend J. Henry Helmuth's beliefs on the cause of this plague? Did most people believe in these notions? How did Rush respond to these notions and what concern was he focused on? Was Rush's intuition different than other people's? Based on this evidence, is it enough to say that B is the overall central idea of the excerpt?

C. Rush was not trusted by his medical colleagues due to his nontraditional ideas.

I did not read about Rush being mistrusted by his medical colleagues. Did you read about that in your excerpt? If so, does this evidence make up the central idea of your passage? In other words, is this evidence enough to support the answer?

D. Rush believed less in medical research than in his instincts and intuition.

Based on Chapter One, what was Rush's intuition when he looked at the series of illnesses that occurred throughout the year? What factors did he sense were affecting the human body? Although Rush did have instincts and intuition that something was wrong in the city, did that mean that he believed less in medical research? Does the excerpt you are reading have evidence that he believed less in medical research and more in his instincts and intuition? The important thing to consider in multiple-choice questions is that if an answer choice is partially true instead of fully true, then the option is incorrect.