The work of South African writer Ezekiel Mphahlele has confounded literary critics, especially those who feel compelled to draw a sharp distinction between autobiography and fiction. ███
Intro topic ·Writer Ezekiel Mphahlele and how to classify his work
If critics who want a sharp distinction between autobiography and fiction are "confounded" by Mphahlele, then Mphahlele's work probably doesn't fit those categories
Author's explanation of Mphahlele's motivation ·Social ideals underlie his work
Unclear what "humanist" and "integrationist" mean, but they're social ideals, and the author thinks they come through well in Mphahlele's writing; meanwhile, critics think Mphahlele's vision is incomplete
Contrast ·Mphahlele's views against critics' views mentioned earlier
Critics concerned with categorizing Mphahlele's work as autobiography (fact) v. fiction, but Mphahlele says there's no such thing as pure fiction or absolute fact in novels
Main point ·Mphahlele intentionally melds fact and fiction in order to get his social message across
Differences between autobiography and fictional novel don't matter
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Spotlight
2.
The passage states that Mphahlele ████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
Question Type
Stated
Mphahlele’s view was described in detail in the last paragraph. So, we can expect the correct answer will probably find support there.
a
Writing should provide █ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ███████
This might be tempting, because we know that Mphalele wanted writing to provide social criticism. But there’s a difference between providing social criticism and providing a guide for achieving social change. The end of the third paragraph noted that Mphahlele did not provide a “road map” for bringing his vision of a future about. So, there’s evidence that Mphahlele actually didn’t provide a guide for achieving change.
6%
b
Writing should have ██ ███ ████ ███ ████████████ ██ ██████
This is supported by the last paragraph – “the whole point of the exercise of writing has nothing to do with classification; in all forms writing is the transmission of ideas, and important ideas at that.”
92%
c
Writing is most █████████ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ █ ██████
This is the opposite of Mphahlele’s belief. His fiction used real people and autobiographical events.
0%
d
Good writing is █████████ ████ ████████████████ ████ ██████████
There’s no evidence from the passage that Mphahlele preferred autobiography over fiction. He wrote in both genres and blended elements of each genre.
Mphahlele isn’t interested in classifying works of literature and thinks that no novelist can write complete fiction or absolute fact. So there’s evidence Mphahlele wouldn’t agree with (E).
0%
Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.
Critique or debate passages contain multiple points of view on a particular subject. Sometimes the author takes sides and participates in the critique or debate, other times the author merely reports the debate.
Passages that highlight a person, issue, or historical event or development. These passages often focus on why that thing is significant, distinctive, or interesting.
