#13 - Specific Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[tetsuya0129]

Hi all, how are you?

I struggled between (C) and (E).

Reading the second paragraph of Passage B, I understood that the two points of the Author of the passage are: (i) an autobiographical author has to choose between two types of memory--the false one and the true one, and (ii) the false memory is valid. I could not see how these two really provide an answer to the Author's question "which is the truest memory?" Saying the false memory is valid does not mean the true memory is less true. So I hold that the Author's point is to emphasize (i).

Thus, (C) matches quite well with my understanding for it reflects the choice between the above two. Meanwhile, (E) focused on the composition of truth, which is why I am still very confused by this question.

Could anyone please help? Thanks!

[Paul Marsh]

Hi tetsuya, I'm doing well!

The issue with (C) is that it discusses an issue not mentioned by the passage: "if there are gaps in the autobiographical author's memories". This suggests a situation in which the author does not remember something. But nowhere in the passage does the author discuss a "gap" in memory, or that she doesn't remember something. Instead, she discusses the issue of what to do when she has two memories: both the factual memory of what occurred and a more emotionally significant but factually incorrect memory of what occurred. This is what she talks about throughout the passage. Answer Choice (E) successfully brings up the conflict between those two competing types of memories. Answer Choice (C) on the other hand, does not; it merely discusses what an author should do when they don't remember what happened.

Hope that helps!

[teezoTD]

Can someone explain what the difference between (B) and (E) is? I was stuck between B and E but ultimately chose B because it mentions the "unreliable nature of memory."

Is B incorrect because it asks the question "is it possible?"

[Luke Haqq]

Hi teezoTD!

The clause starting with "it is possible" does make (B) problematic. That part states, "is it possible for autobiographical authors to know whether they are representing facts accurately?"

That isn't really what the author of Passage B is after--the author is saying that some amount of lying (line 41) or fiction (line 57) is necessary for a compelling autobiography, and that autobiographies might include false memories (lines 45-46). The author doesn't seem concerned with whether the authors know whether they are representing facts accurately but rather thinks it's important to include memories even if they are false (lines 47-48).

The intent of the author is captured better by answer choice (E). The answer choice is about autobiographical writing, which is what the author was discussing. In addition, as mentioned, the author suggests that autobiographies ought to include false memories; these give a more complete picture of how the authors experienced and evaluated life (line 44). In other words, the author of the passage suggests that the complete picture in autobiographical writing ought to include representation of subjective experience even if it isn't an accurate representation of facts (as with false memories).