One often hears that biographies are autobiographies, that the

Question

One often hears that biographies are autobiographies, that the biographer is always writing about himself. On the contrary, serious biographers seek and welcome the unfamiliar, however troublesome to account for.  Ron Chernow , the author of rich biographies of the American businessmen J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, remarks that biographers “like to stub their toes on hard, uncomfortable facts strewn in their paths.” Such encounters with the unaccountable are opportunities for breaking out and breaking through, in new directions, to fresh understanding.

One also often hears that biographers must like their subjects. That would of course rule out such vastly important subjects as Hitler or Stalin. In practice, the biographer must like the subject not as a person but as a subject. Some are good subjects for the author, some bad. And what makes one subject better than another for any particular biographer varies dramatically. Some of the reasons are purely practical. Does the subject need a biography? Are the materials available? How much time is needed? A biographer’s knowledge and ability also determine the choice. Great scientists are great subjects, but can one write about their achievements with insight and authority? Personal idiosyncrasies matter, too. Biographers tend to be attracted to subjects who display particular personality traits, whether they be ambition, cruelty, ingenuity, or any other characteristic that separates a potential subject from the multitudes.

In choosing a subject, the biographer’s main question should be, “Can an effective book be made out of this person’s life?” Day after day for years, the biographer will try to untangle chronology, compress relationships without distorting them, and keep the main narrative clear while carrying forward several intricate strands of the subject’s life. What pushes most biographers on in this endeavor is not necessarily affection for the subject but the feeling that they are writing a good book.   1 
 1. It can be inferred that the author makes which of the following assumptions about biographies?

A. Their main purpose is to inform readers about key aspects of the subjects’ personalities.
B. Only subjects who share traits with biographers make good subjects for biographies.
C. Compelling biographies cannot be written about ordinary citizens.
D. The biographer’s credibility with readers is a factor in the critical success of a biography.
E. Practical considerations are most important in the selection of a subject for a biography.

2 
 2. The author is primarily concerned with

A. persuading biographers to change their methods
B. refuting some common beliefs about a particular literary genre
C. arguing against continued reform of a historical endeavor
D. refuting an outdated theory of a particular literary genre
E. describing the working methods of certain authors

3 
 3. The author mentions "Ron Chernow" most probably in order to

A. provide a counterexample to a general claim about biography
B. illustrate a questionable assertion regarding biography
C. establish a favorable comparison with an established biographer
D. underscore the importance of research in biography
E. challenge a new approach to biography

AdityaHongunti · Accepted Answer

For Q1, use POE :

1. It can be inferred that the author makes which of the following assumptions about biographies?
: This question is an open ended question. The entire passage talks about authors views on bios. SO we cannot zero in on specific places.

A. Their  main purpose  is to inform readers about key aspects of the subjects’ personalities.
-" What pushes most biographers on in this endeavor is not necessarily affection for the subject but the feeling that they are writing a gory tod book."
The word "pushes" means encourages . In the entire passage we are nowhere talking about WHY bios write bios. The author talks about pronaliy traits to tell us how conventional autobiographers CHOOSE THEIR SUBJECTS. This in no way talks about readers

B. Only subjects who share traits with biographers make good subjects for biographies.
- "only" tpo strong .... "share" is wrong...autobiographers prefer certain traits in subject. BUT this does not mean they "share" the peronality traits

C. Compelling biographies cannot be written about ordinary citizens.
-" Does the subject need a biography? Are the materials available? How much time is needed? "
If the ordinary citizen does need a biography then why not???

D. The biographer’s credibility with readers is a factor in the critical success of a biography.
-"What pushes most biographers on in this endeavor is not necessarily affection for the subject  but the feeling that they are writing a good book ."
we can infer here that the biographers are concerned bout writing agood book. Now how is a book good? popular opinion is that a book which gains good audience is a good book. SO we can infer this. This may not be a conclusive argument but after POE only D remains !!

E. Practical considerations are most important in the selection of a subject for a biography.
-" what makes one subject better than another for any particular biographer varies dramatically. Some of the reasons are purely practical"
"most important" is unwarranted and unsupported !! the author tells us that "one of therrasons is practicality and not the most importnt reason"

JS1290 · Answer

OA to the first question is debatable . Please see Stacey's (One of Manhattan GMAT's staff member) response on this thread: "Sorry for the delay - had to talk to our curriculum director for this response. I agree - I think D is too much of a stretch and is not sufficiently GMAT-like, and he had actually already flagged this one, too. We run statistical analyses on our questions as our students answer them and either re-write or discard questions that are not predictive enough (which means they have to hit a bunch of parameters that have to do with validity, consistency, etc.), and this one has recently come up as problematic. It's in the midst of being rewritten. " https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... -t625.html

KanishkM · Answer

2/3 correct, Time taken 5 mins.

1. It can be inferred that the author makes which of the following assumptions about biographies?

A. Their main purpose is to inform readers about key aspects of the subjects’ personalities.
B. Only subjects who share traits with biographers make good subjects for biographies.
C. Compelling biographies cannot be written about ordinary citizens.
D. The biographer’s credibility with readers is a factor in the critical success of a biography.
E. Practical considerations are most important in the selection of a subject for a biography.

I got this wrong, OA is D

2. The author is primarily concerned with

A. persuading biographers to change their methods
No persuasion was done to change the biographers method. Tone was quite subtle.

B. refuting some common beliefs about a particular literary genre
This can be  supported   from the last paragraph, that why biography is written.
What does it try to achieve, and if it can change its methodology in some way.

C. arguing against continued reform of a historical endeavor
historical endeavor -> Nothing like this happened,

D. refuting an outdated theory of a particular literary genre
In the last para, the author has just suggested, not refuted

E. describing the working methods of certain authors
Only one author was mentioned in the 1st para, apart from that rest of the 2 paragraphs, just spoke about general terminologies

3. The author mentions Ron Chernow most probably in order to

A. provide a counterexample to a general claim about biography
B. illustrate a questionable assertion regarding biography
C. establish a favorable comparison with an established biographer
D. underscore the importance of research in biography
E. challenge a new approach to biography

My bottom 2 choices were A and E.

General claim  was "One often hears that biographies are autobiographies, that the biographer is always writing about himself."
But by reading  this 
 On the contrary , serious biographers seek and welcome the unfamiliar, however troublesome to account for. Such encounters with the unaccountable are opportunities for breaking out and breaking through, in new directions, to fresh understanding.

I thought it to be an counterexample of the claim and marked A

Ashokshiva · Answer

Question 1:

for inference questions, sometimes tone of the answer choices helps eliminate wrong answer choices.

It is preferable to eliminate strong tone answer choices for inference questions.

In qn-1, except option-D, all other options have  strong tone words  such as - Main purpose, only , cannot, most important.

option-D has none of these strong tone words

Thanks

ciccione2 · Answer

The OE for Q1 is:

The question asks us to identify an assumption that the author makes about biographies. The best approach to this question is simply to evaluate the choices one-by-one. Since an assumption is an unstated piece of evidence that is necessary to complete the logic of an argument, we are looking for an answer choice that completes the logic of the passage.

(A) While the author mentions in the second paragraph that “biographers tend to be attracted to subjects who display particular personality traits,” informing readers of these traits is never implied to be the “main” purpose of biographies.

(B) In the first paragraph, the author writes that “serious biographers seek and welcome the unfamiliar.” The author states in the second paragraph that “the biographer must like the subject not as a person, but as a subject.” Thus, the author probably disagrees with this answer choice.

(C) The author concludes in the third paragraph that when choosing a subject, “the biographer’s main question should be, ‘Can an effective book be made out of this person’s life?’” The author most likely believes the opposite of this answer choice: that compelling biographies can be written about ordinary citizens.

(D) CORRECT. In the second paragraph, the author discusses the elements of a good biography, stating that “a biographer’s knowledge and ability also determine the choice” of subject. If the author did not assume that the biographer's credibility with readers is a factor in the critical success of a biography, then this part of the second paragraph would be meaningless.

(E) In the second paragraph, the author discusses the practical considerations a biographer faces when selecting a subject, though such considerations are never presented as “most” important. In addition, the author goes on to add in the third paragraph that when choosing a subject, “the biographer’s main question should be, ‘Can an effective book be made out of this person’s life?’” An adequate answer to this suggested question goes beyond practical considerations.

Sejal16 · Answer

In ques 2, I chose D over B primarily for 1 reason. B says "refutes believe s ". 
From what I understand, there is only 1 belief that we are talking about is refuted - "Biographies are autobiographies, that the biographer is always writing about himself." 
Option D uses wordings "refuting  an  outdated theory"

Can someone please clarify ?

bM22 · Answer

Hi  Sejal16 ,

Some of the  beliefs  in consideration are: 
1.One often hears that biographies are autobiographies, that the biographer is always writing about himself.
2.One also often hears that biographers must like their subjects.
3. Biographers tend to be attracted to subjects who display particular personality traits, whether they be ambition, cruelty, ingenuity, or any other characteristic that separates a potential subject from the multitudes.

W.r.t the points above, B seems a better choice than D, as author doesn't seem to be refuting any theories. He just mentions some beliefs and refutes them by providing points that biographers should focus on instead, on how they usually do it.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

MPRS22 · Answer

Can anyone help with Q2. I still don't understand why it can't be E?

@Sajjad1994@bm2201@GMATNinja@VeritasKarishma

bM22 · Answer

Hi  MPRS22 ,

For Question 2:

E is incorrect as we cannot infer if the author is describing the working method of certain other authors. The author only uses Ron Chernow, as an example in the beginning of the passage, but later continues to discuss biographies in a general manner, not specific to the methods of any specific authors.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. It can be inferred that the author makes which of the following assumptions about biographies?

Explanation

The question asks us to identify an assumption that the author makes about biographies. The best approach to this question is simply to evaluate the choices one by one. Since an assumption is an unstated piece of evidence that is necessary to complete the logic of an argument, we are looking for an answer choice that completes the logic of the passage.

(A)  While the author mentions in the second paragraph that  “biographers tend to be attracted to subjects who display particular personality traits,”  informing readers of these traits is never implied to be the  “main”  purpose of biographies.

(B)  In the  first paragraph , the author writes that  “serious biographers seek and welcome the unfamiliar.”  The author states in the second paragraph that  “the biographer must like the subject not as a person, but as a subject.”  Thus, the author probably disagrees with this answer choice.

(C)  The author concludes in the third paragraph that when choosing a subject,  “the biographer’s main question should be, ‘Can an effective book be made out of this person’s life?’”  The author most likely believes the opposite of this answer choice: that compelling biographies can be written about ordinary citizens.

(D)  CORRECT.   In the second paragraph, the author discusses the elements of a good biography, stating that  “a biographer’s knowledge and ability also determine the choice”  of subject. If the author did not assume that the biographer's credibility with readers is a factor in the critical success of a biography, then this part of the second paragraph would be meaningless.

(E)  In the  second paragraph , the author discusses the practical considerations a biographer faces when selecting a subject, though such considerations are never presented as  “most”  important. In addition, the author goes on to add in the third paragraph that when choosing a subject,  “the biographer’s main question should be, ‘Can an effective book be made out of this person’s life?’”  An adequate answer to this suggested question goes beyond practical considerations.

Answer: D

PS: The OA to this question is debatable, I won't suggest anyone to waste time on this question.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. The author is primarily concerned with

Explanation

The passage challenges two common beliefs about biographies. The first is that biographies are autobiographies, with the biographer writing about himself. The passage refutes this belief by arguing that serious biographers seek the unfamiliar and difficult in their subjects. The second belief is that biographers must like their subjects. The passage refutes this belief by suggesting that biographers must like their subjects as subjects, not necessarily as people. Biographers choose their subjects based on various factors, including the availability of materials and whether a good book can be written about the subject. The author is primarily concerned with refuting an outdated theory of biographies as being autobiographies or being written about a biographer's liking of their subject. Therefore, the correct answer is (D).

A. Persuading biographers to change their methods: 
The passage does not seek to persuade biographers to change their methods, but rather describes the methods and considerations of biographers. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

B. Refuting some common beliefs about a particular literary genre: 
This option is a plausible answer. The passage challenges two common beliefs about biographies: that they are always autobiographical and that biographers must like their subjects. The author refutes these beliefs by explaining the actual motivations and methods of biographers.

C. Arguing against continued reform of a historical endeavor:  
The passage is not about arguing against continued reform of a historical endeavor, but rather describes the process of researching and writing biographies. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

D. Refuting an outdated theory of a particular literary genre:  
This option is the correct answer. The passage challenges the belief that biographies are always autobiographical and that biographers must like their subjects. The author refutes these outdated theories by explaining the actual motivations and methods of biographers.

E. Describing the working methods of certain authors: 
The passage does not describe the working methods of certain authors but rather explains the motivations and methods of biographers in general. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Answer: D

VerbalBot · Answer

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