Reading Comprehension

Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference. The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.
It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry. The two, he argued, form a symbiotic union in which religious feelings are often applied to racial issues and racial problems are often projected onto a metaphysical plane. Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual, where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are inextricably intertwined.


It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following?
(A) Contributed appreciably to the transfer of political protest from Afro-American poetry to direct political action.
(B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry.
(C) Analyzed fully the aspects of social protest to be found in such traditional forms of Afro-American poetry as the Black spiritual.
(D) Regarded as unimportant the development of fervent emotionalism in a portion of Afro-American poetry.
(E) Concentrated on the complex relations between the technical elements in Afro-American poetry and its political content.

Since this question asks about what was going on before Wagner's work, you could go right to the first paragraph's last sentence, which talks about what was going on before Wagner and the second paragraph's first sentence, which talks about what Wagner was the first to do.

"But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.
It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry."

Now look through the answer choices to see which matches best.

A) This has little to do with the content of the passage and even less to do with what is said in those two sentences discussing what Wagner did.

B) This could be it, because Wagner is said to have been the first to discuss the religious underpinnings of Afro-American poetry. So the others could be described as ignoring this.

C) I am not even totally clear what this means, but it mentions the Black spiritual and supposedly things religious and spiritual are what Wagner was looking at first. So this does not sound right.

D) There is not any discussion of Wagner changing anything about "fervent emotionalism". So this isn't it.

E) There is not any discussion of Wagner changing anything about concentrating on complex relations between technical elements and political content. So this isn't it.

Only one of the answer choices comes even close to matching what the passage said Wagner changed. So choose B.