Question

read the excerpt from \how the grimm brothers saved the fairy tale.\

all of the tales in the first edition bear the marks of their diverse storytellers who believed in the magic, superstitions, and miraculous transformations of the tales. it may be difficult for us to understand why this is the case, but for the storytellers and writers of these tales, the stories contained truths about the living conditions of their times. the tales in the first edition were collected not from peasants, as is commonly believed, but mainly from literate people whom the grimms came to know quite well. evidence shows that these people often obtained their tales from illiterate or anonymous informants. even if they did not know their informants, the grimms came to trust almost everyone who contributed to their collection. it is this mutual trust that marks the tales as something special and endows them with a certain humanity. what germans

what is the central idea of this excerpt?

• the stories are not collected from peasants, but from literate people.
• the grimms collected stories about real living conditions from people they trusted.
• the grimms did not know the informants who gave contributors their stories.
• the 19th century was the golden age of folk and fairy tales.

Explanation:

Analyze the text's core focus

Using the Central Idea Identification and Grimm Brothers Analysis knowledge points

• The excerpt discusses the origins and collection process of the tales in the first edition.
• It explicitly states: "The tales in the first edition were collected not from peasants, as is commonly believed, but mainly from literate people whom the Grimms came to know quite well."
• The rest of the passage elaborates on how these literate contributors obtained their stories and the mutual trust between them and the Grimms.

Evaluate the answer choices

Using the Central Idea Identification knowledge point

• Option 1: "The stories are not collected from peasants, but from literate people." This directly matches the central claim and thesis of the excerpt.
• Option 2: "The Grimms collected stories about real living conditions..." This misinterprets the text; the text says the stories contained truths about living conditions, not that they were about living conditions.
• Option 3: "The Grimms did not know the informants..." The text says the Grimms came to know their contributors "quite well" and "came to trust almost everyone."
• Option 4: "The 19th century was the golden age..." This is not mentioned or supported by the text.
• Therefore, Option 1 is the correct central idea.

Answer:

• (A) The stories are not collected from peasants, but from literate people. (Correct answer)
• (B) The Grimms collected stories about real living conditions from people they trusted.
• (C) The Grimms did not know the informants who gave contributors their stories.
• (D) The 19th century was the golden age of folk and fairy tales.