Verbal Ability – Parajumble – For feminists, the question of how we read

Q. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) given below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequence of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.

1. For feminists, the question of how we read is inextricably linked with the question of what we read.
2. Elaine Showalter’s critique of the literary curriculum is exemplary of this work
3. Androcentric literature structures the reading experience differently depending on the gender of the reader
4. The documentation of this realization was one of the earliest tasks undertaken by feminist critics.
5. More specifically, the feminist inquiry into the activity of reading begins with the realization that the literary canon is androcentric, and that this has a profoundly damaging effect on women readers.

Answer: 3
Solution:
Sentence 1 is about feminist literature – especially what women read.
Sentence 4 follows with “this realization” (of what women read) which was one of the earliest tasks undertaken by feminist critics.
Sentence 2 follows 4 by giving an example of this type of work undertaken by Elaine Showalter.
Sentence 5 closes the paragraph by stating that women realize that most literary cannons are androcentric or present the masculine view and this has a damaging effect on women readers.
Sentence 3 is exclusively about androcentric or masculine literature. It does not present the feminist critics view on masculine literature which is the theme of the paragraph.
Hence, the odd sentence out of the paragraph is sentence 3.

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