Any study of autobiographical narratives that appeared under the osten

Q1:

Summary of the passage:

P1: Presents and questions an idea of autobiography narrated by slaves and edited by someone

P2:
i) Describes how Editors presented the view by describing Blassingame's analysis,
ii) Qualifies integrity of Editors by viewing the editing
iii) Presents readers presumption

P3:
Presents a comparison to TN ( Transcriptive Narratives) and states it better
Further states better the own narration by Slaves.
Presents a view on analysis of literature.

Options:
A is wrong because the personal integrity of author is never talked in the passage.

B. The whole passage is concerned about AUTHENTICITY and INTERPRETATION ( mentioned in P1 and P3) and not about how much either of them is valuable.

C. Again, the importance is not the question, AUTHENTICITY is

D. CORRECT, THe passage instantiates many scenarios of various sources. It is in a way reflecting and pondering over AUTHENTICITY. Hold this

E. Their is no question of STUDY in the whole passage. It's all the comparison of AUTHENTICITY.


Q5.
Main point made by author: AUTHENTICITY of the self written books are better than narrated ones.

Look at this line from the passage:


The above statement kind of wraps the main point of the passage. I did not know the meaning but since the context of the word substantiates the whole main point, I picked this one.

Hope it helps.

Regards,
Rishav

Can somebody explain Q7???

Hello guys SnigdhaM
rish2708
suramya26

This post is for you









I hope it helps

Many many Thanks to you!! I got it why I was wrong

Regards,
Rishav

need help with question 2,3,4

Hope it helps

Hi everyone,
here is my detailed analysis of the passage

P1: concern about the authenticity of some autobiographies
P2: what's specifically wrong with those autobiographies
P3: other circumstances that doubt the authenticity of those autobiographies

MP: discuss the authenticity of some autobiographies

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1. Which one of the following best summarizes the main point of the passage?

Pre-thinking:
Refer to main point above to analyze the answer choices

(A) The personal integrity of an autobiography’s editor has little relevance to its value as a literary work.
This is evidence used to highlight an incorrect analysis that was made by Blassingame. Hence incorrect

(B) Autobiographies dictated to editors are less valuable as literature than are autobiographies authored by their subjects.
Partial scope. The dictated autobiographies re mentioned only in P3. Hence incorrect

(C) The facts that are recorded in an autobiography are less important than the personal impressions of its author.
This is evidence used to convey the idea that hose autobiographies are not authentic. Hence incorrect

(D) The circumstances under which an autobiography was written should affect the way it is interpreted as literature.
This is true and supported by all the evidences in the passage. Hence correct

(E) The autobiographies of African Americans written between 1760 and 1865 deserve more careful study than they have so far received.
Even tough this is a fair warning the author intends to doubt the authenticity of the autobiographies. Hence incorrect


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2. The information in the passage suggests that the role of the “editor” (Highlighted) is most like that of

Pre-thinking:
Refer to P2. The editor choses the tone and the topic which are to be emphasized.

(A) an artist who wishes to invent a unique method of conveying the emotional impact of a scene in a painting
What's wrong here is the verb [b]to invent. The editors's role is to work on something that already happened. hence incorrect [/b]

(B) a worker who must interpret the instructions of an employer
the editor must work on something that already happened." Instructions" does not represent a fair comparison. Hence incorrect

(C) a critic who must provide evidence to support opinions about a play being reviewed
there are no elements of similarity here. Hence incorrect

(D) an architect who must make the best use of a natural setting in designing a public building
designing a public building means to start the building from scratch while the editor works with events that belonged to the past. Hence incorrect

(E) a historian who must decide how to direct the reenactment of a historical event
This answer choice represents a fair comparison. The editor as well as the historian works on how to represent past events (historical events. Hence correct


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3. Which one of the following best describes the author’s opinion about applying literary analysis to edited autobiographies?

Pre-thinking:
it is suggested but it won't make them authentic anyhow.

(A) The author is adamantly opposed to the application of literary analysis to edited autobiographies.
too extreme. Hence incorrect

(B) The author is skeptical of the value of close analytical reading in the case of edited autobiographies.
She is skeptical. Hence correct

(C) The author believes that literary analysis of the prefaces, footnotes, and commentaries that accompany edited autobiographies would be more useful than
an analysis of the text of the autobiographies.
No such comparison is made. Hence incorrect.

(D) The author believes that an exclusively literary analysis of edited autobiographies is more valuable than a reading that emphasizes their historical import.
No such comparison is made. Hence incorrect

(E) The author believes that the literary analysis of edited autobiographies would enhance their linguistic, structural, and tonal integrity.
Never mentioned. Hence incorrect


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4. The passage supports which one of the following statements about the readers of autobiographies of African Americans that were published between 1760 and 1865?

Pre-thinking:
refer to P2. The author thinks that the readers accepted this process.

(A) They were more concerned with the personal details in the autobiographies than with their historical significance.
No such comparison is made. Hence incorrect

(B) They were unable to distinguish between ghostwritten and edited autobiographies.
never mentioned. Hence incorrect

(C) They were less naive about the facts of slave life than are readers today.
no such comparison is made. Hence incorrect

(D) They presumed that the editing of the autobiographies did not affect their authenticity.
In line with pre-thinking and a close paraphrase of what is written in the text. hence correct.

(E) They had little interest in the moral integrity of the editors of the autobiographies.
Never mentioned. Hence incorrect


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5. Which one of the following words, as it is used in the passage, best serves to underscore the author’s concerns about the authenticity of the autobiographies discussed?

Pre-thinking:
Among the words highlighted ostensible seems to have a negative connotation and gives us already an idea of what to expect from those autobiographies.

(A) “ostensible” (line 2)
In line with pre-thinking. Hence correct

(B) “integrity” (line 14)
This word is used to support Blassingame theory, which is contrasted later by the author's idea. Hence incorrect

(C) “extraneous” (line 21)
This word serves the purpose of discussing how an author can impact the autobiography but it does not tell us nothing about the autobiographies themselves. Hence incorrect

(D) “delimits” (line 30)
delimits is used to present a case in which the editor does not impact significantly the autobiographies but again does not tell us anything about them. Hence incorrect

(E) “impolitic” (line 39)
this word issued to describe the slaves and not the autobiographies. Hence incorrect


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6. According to the passage, close analytic reading of an autobiography is appropriate only when the

Pre-thinking:
Good job if you could identify the right portion of the passage. If not look at the last lines of P3: " Analysts should reserve close analytic readings for independently authored texts."

(A) autobiography has been dictated to an experienced amanuensis-editor
Out of context. Hence incorrect

(B) autobiography attempts to reflect the narrator’s thought in action
Not mentioned. Hence incorrect

(C) autobiography was authored independently by its subject
In line with pre-thinking. Hence correct

(D) moral integrity of the autobiography’s editor is well established
out of context. Hence incorrect

(E) editor of the autobiography collaborated closely with its subject in its editing
never mentioned. Hence incorrect


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7. It can be inferred that the discussion in the passage of Blassingame’s work primarily serves which one of the following purposes?

Pre-thinking:
To state that even if the editor had moral integrity its way of editing the autobiography would decrease the authenticity of the latter.

(A) It adds an authority’s endorsement to the author’s view that edited narratives ought to be treated as ghostwritten accounts.
Out of context. Hence incorrect

(B) It provides an example of a mistaken emphasis in the study of autobiography.
The emphasis of the editor's integrity indeed. Hence correct

(C) It presents an account of a new method of literary analysis to be applied to autobiography.
not a new method. Hence incorrect

(D) It illustrates the inadequacy of traditional approaches to the analysis of autobiography.
it is not an approach what the author wants to highlight as inadequate. It is the focus on moral integrity which is misleading. Hence incorrect

(E) It emphasizes the importance of the relationship between editor and narrator.
out of context. hence incorrect

It is a goody to be alive, cheers!

If you are struggling with RC I would recommend watching the series of video by GMATNinja (This guy's a genius). After following his tips and with a lot of practice I think I have improved. For this passage I took 10 mins roughly and got 6/7 correct ( Missed the only one by margin), so that's a hell lot of improvement for me ( from 1-2 /7 correct to 6-7/7 )

Link to the video that I am talking about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXWVCiy1WU0

Hi Sajjad, I went through your analysis of Q1.
I understand that, all options except D are reflecting back to specific passages, hence not the main point of the passage, however, I still cant get that how D summarizes the whole passage, specially the second part of the option which says that, "should affect the way it is interpreted as literature."

D. The circumstances under which an autobiography was written should affect the way it is interpreted as literature.

I am not sure what you think about the later part of option D, You probably pointing out to the word literature, If am right you might think the word literature was not part of discussion in the passage then why it is here.

The answer is that we need not necessarily the word "literature" to get the D correct. A lot of individual words or things collectively being called as literature in the answer option D. Here it is what can consist of literature as discussed in the passage.

edited narrative of an ex-slave
famous antebellum slave narratives
African American autobiography
Transcribed narratives
autobiographies composed and written etc

All these things sums up in the word literature and second paragraph is full of "circumstances"

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