GMAT Verbal Practice Questions - GMAT Focus Edition - Verbal Reasoning Exam

Passage: Throughout the nineteenth century, historians largely treated history as a narrative of great men and pivotal political events. The 'history from above' model emphasized the actions of kings, generals, and statesmen as the primary engines of historical change. By the mid-twentieth century, however, social historians began shifting focus toward the experiences of ordinary people — workers, women, and marginalized communities. This 'history from below' approach drew on demographic data, court records, and oral histories to reconstruct everyday life. Critics of the new social history argued that it fragmented the coherent narrative that gave history its explanatory power, while proponents countered that such narratives had merely disguised whose experiences were deemed worthy of remembering. Which of the following best describes the structure of this passage?