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605-655 (Medium)|   Weaken|            
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ravigupta2912
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Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his study of democr 02 Mar 2021, 07:27
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Understood. Re read it. The opening modifier in A is affirming the biographers claim. Understood it.

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Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his study of democr 02 Mar 2021, 19:11
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AndrewN
ravigupta2912

Hi Andrew, I'm not sure if i understood the 2nd point in @imSKR's analysis of A. My understanding is that we are to weaken the claim of biographers which argues that T disliked N because N caused poverty in Normandy, the place of his childhood.

I favored C over A since A was a little ambiguous in so far as bad harvest could also be due to his management (maybe his cavalry marched on all farmer fields!). C was quite direct and has very little ambiguity which, made me eliminate A.

I'm not sure if my reasons for elimination of A are perfect here? I don't quite understand the timing. If T believed in past, and biographers claim is at a later date - then we have no real info to judge. So if the answer choice is infact giving an alternate reason for the desired effect (dislike for centralised govt), then A actually weakens the argument?

Request your inputs AndrewN :please:
You do not have to follow each point that someone aims to make in a post to appreciate that an answer choice may be flawed. When I look at (A), all I see is an affirmation of the biographers' claim, namely that in the past, the poverty-stricken people of Normandy, among whom Tocqueville was raised, often blamed Napoleon for the terrible living conditions in Normandy. Whatever historians now believe was the cause or agent of the bad harvests is irrelevant to that claim. If people of the past blamed Napoleon, they blamed Napoleon, plain and simple, and the although framework of (A) is a concession to that very point. (I think you will agree that invoking could-be-true scenarios about the military under Napoleon trampling fields is a much less direct and more challenging approach to justify.)

- Andrew
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Hi ravigupta2912 hello AndrewN sir

Sir has already briefed well the key point.

Just to clarify on 2nd point raised by ravigupta2912 : My point was that what historians now believe and what bio claim doesn't provide us useful information to judge and leaves us with too many open ends.
If you think strengthen side: Oh Bio knows that it is because of poor economic conditions , still they think T blamed N for such a condition, so it means it maybe because of N?
Or weaken side: Ah! so it was not because of N but because of other reasons , hence weaken.
This option adds some unnecessary information that is not of much value . There can be unlimited ambiguous claims but judging them are left to reader as in the example highlighted: (I think you will agree that invoking could-be-true scenarios about the military under Napoleon trampling fields is a much less direct and more challenging approach to justify.)
So a hint: why such an option would be correct answer that is not directly influencing our conclusion.
So after thinking this, I was not convinced with A and moved on to next options.

C also has some open ends. But at least we get a direction that T had reasons to avoid poverty inspite of N do what .
What i mean is: C can be argued, oh! He could hate N because even after his father death N didn't do anything, but on other side, if his father had steady income, then in spite of he hated or liked N, his conditions would have been better. So at least some bridge is covered in C at one side as compared to A in which both ends are open . So I kept hold on C.

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!
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Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his study of democr 03 Mar 2021, 10:31
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In given statement Tocqueville has mentioned he suffered in childhood because of Napoleon, but option C gives another reason for his childhood sufferings and if his family would have not gone through certain personal problem he would have had a comfortable life, which means even if Napoleon was there it was possible for them to live a good life.
So option C is correct
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Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his study of democr 25 May 2024, 22:06
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nitindas
I am confused b/w A & C.

Both the options give reasons that say Napolean was not responsible for poverty of Tocqueville in his childhood.
Rather option A talks about broader perspective that how centralized power(Napolean) was not responsible for the poverty of people whereas option C talks only about poverty of Tocqueville,others may be rich or poor we don't know.Moreover,the arguement is about the effects of Centralized Power,so it should viewed for the mass rather than an individual.

Can anybody explain plz??
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­Option (A) is incorrect because it does not directly address Tocqueville's personal belief about the cause of his poverty, which is crucial for casting doubt on the biographers' claim. Option (C) is correct because it provides a direct statement about Tocqueville's personal belief, showing that he did not blame Napoleon’s rule for his poverty.
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Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his study of democr 29 May 2026, 07:49
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boil it down:
· Tocqueville’s belief : central government is bad
· Biographers claim/ probable cause : Toc blamed Napolean’s rule for his childhood poverty
We need to weaken the Biographers claim i.e., what biographers think is the reasoning behind toc’s belief?
Gap:
· Maybe the biographers claim/ reasoning is wrong
· Maybe there is some other reason why Toc did not like central govt

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the biographer’s claim?

A. Although Napoleon was popularly blamed at the time for the terrible living conditions in Normandy, historians now know that bad harvests were really to blame for the poor economic conditions. – Hold on – as it says that now historians know the real cause. But still Toc could hold a misconception in his mind, and we are only concerned about what Toc thought about the napoleon’s rule. OUT

B. Napoleon was notorious for refusing to share power with any of his political associates – supports the Biographers claim - OUT

C. Tocqueville said he knew that if his father had not suffered ill health, his family would have had a steady income and a comfortable standard of living – seems good – hold on – it directly attacks the biographers claim. It says that Toc blamed someone else for his childhood poverty- Correct

D. Although Tocqueville asserted that United States political life was democratic, the United States of the nineteenth century allowed political power to be concentrated in a few institutions. – supports the Biographers claim - OUT

E. Tocqueville once wrote in a letter that, although his childhood was terribly impoverished, it was not different from the experience of his friends and neighbors in Normandy.­ – Wrong comparison – supports the Biographers claim - OUT
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