Self-study
Passage A.
P1
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Problem ·
No common legal definition for "national minority"
Provide background ·
Two definitions in use
(1) People in one country with ethnic ties to another country; (2) People who have ethnic ties only to the country they live in, but who are an ethnic or cultural minority in that country.
Expand problem ·
Vague terminology
"People" and "nation" are vaguely defined.
P2
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Notable impact of problem ·
Roma people
The Roma are a minority group, yet neither definition applies to them because they do not have ethnic ties to any country.
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P3
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Topic of passage B ·
Capotorti's definition of "minority"
Five criteria: (1) Smaller than the rest of the population; (2) Nondominant; (3) Distinctive characteristics; (4) Desire to preserve their culture; (5) Citizens of the country where they live.
Problem ·
Definition doesn't apply to the Roma
Because of criterion #5, the legal criterion of citizenship.
Author's perspective ·
Citizenship criterion shouldn't be included in Capotorti's definition
Because countries can deny the Roma minority status simply by denying them citizenship.
P4
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Application ·
Of Capotorti's definition to Roma
The Roma meet all criteria except citizenship. Author's perspective: the Roma should be considered a minority throughout Europe.
Passage Style
17.
The term "problematic" has which ███ ██ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ ████ ███████ █
a
giving rise to ███████ ██████
There’s no suggestion in Passage A that there are people intensely debating over how to apply the definitions. The point of the line containing “problematic” is to describe how the Roma are impacted by the lack of clear definitions. We don’t need to consider Passage B because we can eliminate based on Passage A.
b
confusing and unclear
“Problematic” in Passage A refers to the impact of unclear definitions on the Roma. But the word doesn’t refer to lack of clarity. Lack of clarity causes a problem for the Roma; but the problem isn’t the lack of clarity itself. We don’t need to consider Passage B because we can eliminate based on Passage A.
c
resulting in difficulties
This best captures the meaning of “problematic,” in Passage A, which describes the impact of lack of clear definitions on the Roma. The Roma face difficulties because they don’t neatly fit into the definition of minority.
This also captures the definition of “probematic” in Passage B, because the Roma face difficulties from their inability to meet the criterion that they be citizens of a state in order to be considered a minority of that state.
d
difficult to solve
There’s no evidence that “problematic” refers to some aspect of a solution in Passage A. Solutions are never discussed or alluded to in the last paragraph of Passage A. We don’t need to consider Passage B because we can eliminate based on Passage A.
e
theoretically incoherent
The author of Passage A doesn’t suggest the definitions are incoherent (as in, they don’t make any sense). Rather, the definitions are simply vague. We don’t need to consider Passage B because we can eliminate based on Passage A.