Scandals involving authors of memoirs have raised questions about how

Question

Scandals involving authors of memoirs have raised questions about how much artistic license should be allowed in a purported work of nonfiction. By definition, nonfiction works are about facts and real events, but perception of real events can vary greatly depending on the point of view of the writer, especially an author recounting personal experience in the form of a memoir. Consideration of the reaction to two specific incidents involving narrative memoirs that were later proven to be largely, or wholly, untrue shows how much the repercussions can vary when the fallacies are revealed.

In 2008, writer Margaret Seltzer decided that the story of a mixed ethnicity, Native American foster child trying to survive the gang culture of South Central Los Angeles was a story that needed to be told. Unfortunately, she chose to recount that story in the form of a memoir, adopting the pseudonym Margaret B. Jones so that she could not readily be identified, to tell the tale in her book Love and Consequences. When it was revealed, by her sister, that she was actually white and grew up in a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles, Seltzer claimed that her desire was to give voice to legitimate concerns that were going unheard. This claim, though, ran counter to the persona she adopted for radio interviews while promoting the memoir, during which she chose to use a vernacular and carry herself in a way that she thought would lend authenticity to her story. In doing so, she did a disservice to those whose experiences she had appropriated, and within a week she suffered the consequences: all copies of the book were recalled by the publisher, and Seltzer has not had any published works since that time.

Prior to Seltzer, author James Frey had also experienced the highs and lows of writing a successful memoir that was not completely based in fact. Be-fore his tale of the dark depths of addiction and the winding road to recovery, A Million Little Pieces, landed him at the top of The New York Times best-seller list for fifteen weeks in 2005, Frey and his editor's notions of what should be considered a memoir were quite loose. Everything came tumbling down when Frey's book was exposed as containing a number of fabrications, and just as quickly as Frey rose to prominence, he became a media pariah. Frey claimed that he had never represented A Million Little Pieces as anything other than a memoir and that his embellishment of events was within the bounds of what is considered acceptable as a memoir within the literary world. His time in the media spotlight tends to belie his claim, as it saw him embrace the fraudulent persona he had created for himself in his book. In recent years, the view of the publishing world and the media toward Frey has softened, and he later returned to the best-seller list with his fictional work, Bright Shiny Morning.     1 
 1. While discussing memoirs, the author specifically chooses to refer to Frey in order to

A. argue that the media's response to Frey was too harsh 
B. present an example of an author who experienced literary success after a significant scandal 
C. focus on one of the more obscure memoir hoaxes in modern history 
D. point out the malicious intent when an author decides to lie in a memoir 
E. highlight the permanent damage that comes from going beyond the accepted bounds of the memoir genre

2 
 2. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. criticize the consequences of the memoir genre being defined so loosely 
B. cast doubt on the effectiveness of the repercussions faced by Seltzer and Frey 
C. argue that both Seltzer and Frey were treated unfairly by the media 
D. discuss the consequences to authors when memoirs are proven to be false 
E. debate whether artistic license outweighs commitment to facts within the memoir genre

3 
 3. According to the passage, Seltzer's book can best be characterized as

A. self-serving 
B. unpremeditated 
C. authentic 
D. spontaneous 
E. authoritative

4 
 4. It can reasonably be inferred from the author's recounting of what happened to Seltzer and Frey that

A. they did not consciously seek to deceive their readers 
B. both authors were at least partially responsible for the negative consequences that they faced 
C. neither author ever experienced positive press after releasing their respective memoirs 
D. authors in the memoir genre are more prone to deception than authors in other genres 
E. They valued long-term financial success over journalistic integrity

5 
 5. According to the passage, Seltzer took all of the following steps to lend to the credibility of her memoir EXCEPT:

A. adopting a persona for her on-air interviews 
B. setting the memoir in South Central Los Angeles 
C. eliciting her family's cooperation 
D. using the pseudonym Margaret B. Jones 
E. changing the way she spoke during interview .

6 
 6. In the author's opinion, one major difference between the experiences of Seltzer and Frey is that

A. Seltzer lied with good intentions, while Frey lied purely for financial gain 
B. Seltzer's bad press was less damaging than Frey's bad press 
C. Seltzer deserved to never have another work published and Frey deserved his later success 
D. Seltzer's family sought to damage her career, but Frey's family was very supportive 
E. Seltzer's fabrication was quickly discovered and penalized, while Frey's fabrications took longer to be addressed

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

1. While discussing memoirs, the author specifically chooses to refer to Frey in order to

This Logic question requires researching the last paragraph of the passage. The example of Frey differs from that of Seltzer in that he experienced more success before his downfall and was able to write a successful novel later in his career.  (B)  is the choice that captures the later literary success and is the correct answer.

The last sentence says that the media’s view softened later, but that does not mean that their initial reaction was too harsh, which makes  (A)  incorrect.

(C)  is incorrect because there is no support in the passage that Frey was an obscure example.

The phrase  “malicious intent”  is too extreme based on the passage and makes  (D)  incorrect.

Frey did not experience permanent damage to his literary career, so  (E)  is incorrect.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2. The primary purpose of the passage is to

The main point of the passage is to discuss the experiences of two authors whose memoirs were later shown to be untrue. The choice that most closely matches this understanding is  (D) . The incorrect answer choices are either too narrow or misrepresent the purpose of the passage with strong negative language.

(A)  speaks to a direct criticism that does not occur anywhere within the passage.

(B)  refers to the repercussions, but their effectiveness is never directly addressed in the passage.

(C)  is incorrect because the author never explicitly takes a side on whether the two authors were treated unfairly.

(E)  is addressed within the passage, but the debate between the two views is not the main point of the passage. 
 
  Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

3. According to the passage, Seltzer's book can best be characterized as

The author notes that Seltzer claimed to write the book to give a voice to those ignored by society, but the author goes on to say that this claim was not substantiated by the persona Seltzer adopted when promoting her book. The author implies that Seltzer was looking out for her own interests and states that she did a disservice to the people who actually experienced the events she wrote about. This matches  (A)  self-serving, which means  “to put one’s own welfare and interests before those of others.”

(B)  unpremeditated and  (D)  spontaneous both mean  “without forethought,”  but Seltzer knew that her memoir was a fabrication, so these choices are both incorrect.

Seltzer’s book is the opposite of authentic since it never actually happened, so  (C)  is incorrect.

(E)  authoritative, or  “accurate,”  is incorrect for the same reason. 
 
  Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

4. It can reasonably be inferred from the author's recounting of what happened to Seltzer and Frey that

This Inference question is too broad to make a prediction, so it is best to work through the choices and look for proof in the passage.

(A)  is not true for either author. Seltzer’s work was a complete fabrication, and Frey’s memoir included many embellishments.

(B)  has support in the passage because the falsehoods and exaggerations the two authors included in their memoirs were intentional and led to their respective downfalls.

(C)  is incorrect because it is too sweeping a statement to make, especially considering that Frey wrote another best seller. The passage does not speak on the level of deception in other genres, so  (D)  is incorrect.

(E)  is incorrect because the passage never states Frey’s motivations, and while the author implies that Seltzer’s reason for writing was self-serving, there is no explicit mention of a financial motive. The correct answer is  (B).  
 
  Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

5. According to the passage, Seltzer took all of the following steps to lend to the credibility of her memoir EXCEPT:

This is a Detail EXCEPT question, so find the detail that is not mentioned in the passage. Also, keep in mind that Seltzer’s experience is discussed in the second paragraph, so that is where your research should be focused.

(A)  and  (E)  are mentioned in the penultimate sentence of the second paragraph as something Seltzer felt she needed to do to lend authenticity to her story, so both choices are incorrect.

Seltzer grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles but changed the setting of her memoir to South Central Los Angeles to lend it credence, so  (B)  is incorrect.

Seltzer’s sister revealed her true identity, so it is reasonable to infer that Seltzer did not elicit her family’s cooperation; thus,  (C)  is the correct answer.

The second sentence in the second paragraph states that Seltzer used the pseudonym Margaret B. Jones so that she could not be readily identified. It can be inferred that this step was taken to add authenticity to a story that could otherwise easily be proved untrue, so  (D)  is incorrect. 
 
  Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

6. In the author's opinion, one major difference between the experiences of Seltzer and Frey is that

This Inference question asks for one of the differences in Seltzer’s and Frey’s experiences as described in the passage. A few key differences stand out: Seltzer never had another work published while Frey wrote another best seller, Seltzer’s memoir was wholly untrue while Frey’s was only partly untrue, and Frey experienced more success with A Million Little Pieces than Seltzer did with Love and Consequences.  (E)  is the best match because Seltzer’s memoir was recalled shortly after it was discovered to have been fabricated, while Frey remained on the best-seller list for fifteen weeks before his fabrications were exposed.

(A)  is incorrect because the passage never states that Frey’s only motivation was financial gain.

Seltzer had her book recalled and never published another, so the negative media attention she received was at least as damaging as that received by Frey, making  (B)  incorrect.

(C)  is incorrect because the author never addresses whether the respective consequences to either author were deserved.

Frey’s family is never mentioned in the passage, so  (D)  is incorrect. 
 
  Answer: E

Scandals involving authors of memoirs have raised questions about how

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