Two new commentaries on the life and work of early twentieth century short story writer Katherine Mansfield may be aimed at completely different audiences, but each uses well-known facts in new ways. The first, a popular biography by Virginia Smith, nods at Mansfield’s origins at the edge of the British empire – she was born in 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand – but is ultimately much more interested in the ways Mansfield’s simultaneously defiant and needy personality made her one of the most important, though often overlooked, groundbreakers of literary modernism.Mansfield’s relationships with fellow writers D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, as well as with her critic-husband John Middleton Murray, are examined for evidence of Mansfield’s influence on them , rather than vice versa. Ms. Smith compellingly presents Mansfield as a social chameleon skilled at imitation and adaptation; this innate flexibility, the book argues, is the very trait that made only Mansfield capable of infusing the English literary scene with the influence of Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Though in the end Ms. Smith offers few new biographical details, the truly impressive aspect of this biography is her ability to shift easily between worn fact and compelling narrative. Whereas the few shortcomings of Ms. Smith’s book may be attributed to lack of publishing experience, a second commentary from long-time professor Jim Jeffries can make no such excuse. Mr. Jeffries’ contribution is an often tedious biographical essay that introduces a new critical edition of Mansfield’s short stories. Jeffries’ work plods point-by-point along Mansfield’s biography, attempting to attribute the inspiration for each sparkling, artfully constructed story to a traumatic event in her life. The result is not so much a portrait of Mansfield’s work as it is an ornate yet overly-simplified timeline. This offense is only compounded by Mr. Jeffries’ shallow interpretations of Mansfield’s most subtle and complex symbolism, and his continuing references to various critics and philosophers make the essay no more interesting than name-dropping at a cocktail party. 1. The passage above is primarily concerned with (a) establishing an unknown writer as an important literary figure. (b) comparing and contrasting two recent biographical works. (c) arguing for a new interpretation of the life of a literary figure. (d) disputing the credentials of a well-known literary critic. (e) analyzing different uses of commonly-known biographical facts. B 2. Which of the following forms the best conclusion to the second paragraph? (a) However, Mr. Jeffries does manage to say considerably more about Mansfield’s relationship with Virginia Woolf than does Ms. Smith. (b) In light of these facts, one can predict that Mr. Jeffries’ book will be far less popular than Ms. Smith’s. (c) In short, though Mr. Jeffries had at his disposal the same biographical information as Ms. Smith, he manages to do considerably worse with it. (d) Because of the many shortcomings of Mr. Jeffries’ book, it is likely that Ms. Smith will soon eclipse him as the predominant scholarly authority on Mansfield. (e) Notwithstanding these many shortcomings, Mr. Jeffries has his long-standing critical reputation to recommend him to readers. C 3. With which of the following statements about Mansfield’s relationships with other modernist writers would the author of the passage most likely agree? (a) Fellow writers such as Lawrence and Woolf learned imitation and adaptation from Mansfield. (b) The fact that Mansfield was both defiant and needy made her relationships with other writers difficult. (c) Mansfield preferred her friendship with Chekhov to relationships with English writers Lawrence and Woolf. (d) Mansfield’s personality was flexible enough to accommodate relationships with critics as well as with fellow writers. (e) Mansfield’s influence on fellow writers, though often overlooked, is as significant as their influence on her. E 4. The author most likely uses the word “plods” in this line in order to (a) emphasize the tedious nature of the essay. (b) criticize the essay’s excessive use of detail. (c) highlight the essay’s method of connecting biography to literary output. (d) mark a distinction between narrative and factual elements in the essay. (e) draw attention to a preferred approach to biography. A

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V04-31, V04-32, V04-33, V04-34

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RenanBragion

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16 Jun 2020, 16:42

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I think this is a high-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate. How can '' Mansfield’s relationships with fellow writers D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, as well as with her critic-husband John Middleton Murray, are examined for evidence of Mansfield’s influence on them, rather than vice versa.'' equally mean ''Mansfield’s influence on fellow writers is as significant as their influence on her.''?

Or it is in fact correct, but I, a non-native speaker, cannot recognize?

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17 Jun 2021, 08:04

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rukna

Anyone can further explain why
(b) criticize the essay’s excessive use of detail.

in Q4 is wrong?

Similar doubt. egmat team can you please answer this? Thanks.

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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

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rukna

Anyone can further explain why
(b) criticize the essay’s excessive use of detail.

in Q4 is wrong?

The word "plods" in the context of the sentence does not indicate a distinction between narrative and factual elements in the essay. Instead, it describes the manner in which the essay progresses, suggesting a slow and uninteresting pace. The sentence focuses on the tedious nature of the essay, rather than differentiating between narrative and factual elements. Therefore, option (d) is not the most suitable interpretation in this case.

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Why is C incorrect? "Plods" sentence clearly links every inspiration to a traumatic event in the author's life...

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06 Apr 2024, 09:39

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KarishmaB , Can you pleas explain question no 3 ?
How can this part "...for evidence of Mansfield’s influence on them, rather than vice versa. ..." justify the answer ?

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01 Jul 2024, 00:56

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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

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08 Sep 2025, 21:55

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" Two new commentaries on the life and work of early twentieth century short story writer Katherine Mansfield may be aimed at completely different audiences, but each uses well-known facts in new ways." from here.

Atbr1602

Can anyone tell me where "Mr. Jeffries had...the same biographical information" is inferred?

Thank you!

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22 Jan 2026, 04:24

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Bunuel
regarding Q4, it is stated in the passage that Jeffries’ work plods point-by-point along Mansfield’s biography......... "attempting to attribute the inspiration for each sparkling, artfully constructed story to a traumatic event in her life." from this it appeared to me that the word "plod " has been used to connect biography to literary output. Please explain why option C is wrong.

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25 Jan 2026, 20:59

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Hi,

Good question - I think the key point to note here is that the question is why the author chose the word "plods", not what Jeffries is attempting to do. Plod is a word that has a negative connotation, often associated with something that is slow/heavy/dull/tedious. If you look at certain cues in the text like"over-simplified timeline", "often tedious biographical..."...these show that the author is criticizing how boring the essay is. Another catch with C) is that the way the author has used "plods" is not neutral, he means it in a critical manner, whereas according to C), the author's tone is supposedly more neutral.

Hope this helps!

kartickdey

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I did not quite understand the question. This is a poor quality question. Basd on this statement.
"D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, as well as with her critic-husband John Middleton Murray, are examined for evidence of Mansfield’s influence on them, rather than vice versa."

However I feel adding the word "atleast' may make answer choice E more appealing i.e

"Mansfield’s influence on fellow writers, though often overlooked, is ATLEAST as significant as their influence on her."

Bunuel please let us know your thoughts

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07 Apr 2026, 04:14

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Vivek1707

Hi, Can you please quote the question you are referring to? (because there are multiple questions associated with the passage.
Thanks!!

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Hello experts, GMATNinja, KarishmaB, MartyMurray, can you please help me with the below question? I was confused between B and E, and even after reading explanation, I couldn't understand why B over E, and I guess below type of issue is very common, and would be really helpful if anyone of you can help.

I can infer that author preferred Smith's version over Jeffries, is that a reason? But he analysed both of them, what and how - separately. Only place where he actually compared is in second para first line, and I thought that's only one place where he compared. So I chose E.

1. The passage above is primarily concerned with

(a) establishing an unknown writer as an important literary figure.
(b) comparing and contrasting two recent biographical works.
(c) arguing for a new interpretation of the life of a literary figure.
(d) disputing the credentials of a well-known literary critic.
(e) analyzing different uses of commonly-known biographical facts.

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20 Apr 2026, 09:33

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gullyboy09

This question isn't ideal because, as you said, the passage doesn't really compare the two works. So, (B) is not an ideal correct answer. Also, we could argue that, to an extent, the passage analyzes different uses of facts, making (E) appear to be a viable correct answer.

At the same time, we can also argue that it is not the case that the primary purpose of the passage is to analyze uses of facts but, rather, that the passage's analysis of uses of facts is just part of an overall process of comparing and contrasting two works. So, given that the focus of the passage appears to be on the "two new commentaries," we can safely choose (B) over (E).

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