Biography as a Literary Genre

Q1. The ‘particular problem’ the biographer faces, as described in the passage, is:

1. The difficulty of locating historical documents and letters from a subject’s life
2. The impossibility of narrating a life without the subject’s cooperation
3. The unknowability of the subject’s inner life, which must nonetheless be represented for the biography to be coherent
4. The legal liability that arises from publishing private information about a living person

Q2. The author distinguishes between careful and careless use of inference by a biographer. A careless biographer, according to the passage:

1. Relies too heavily on secondary sources rather than original documents
2. Produces fiction masquerading as history by filling gaps without transparency about uncertainty
3. Writes in a style that prioritises readability over factual accuracy
4. Omits controversial details about the subject to protect the subject’s reputation

Q3. The author argues that the best biographers are those who:

1. Have personal access to the subject or their family
2. Restrict themselves to externally verifiable facts and make no inferences
3. Are transparent about the limits of their knowledge, distinguishing evidence from narrative requirement
4. Write in the first person to signal that the account is subjective

Q4. Why does the author suggest that an authorised biography may be ‘the least candid’?

1. Because authorised biographers are paid by the subject and therefore biased
2. Because the subject or their estate controls access and can withdraw it, compromising the biographer’s independence
3. Because authorised biographies are written too quickly to be thoroughly researched
4. Because authorised biographers are not allowed to interview the subject’s critics

Q5. The phrase ‘psychological continuity’ as used in the passage means:

1. A consistent narrative of the subject’s mental health throughout their life
2. A coherent sense of the subject’s inner motivations and feelings that makes the life readable as a unified account
3. The subject’s own account of their psychological development
4. The requirement that a biography be written in chronological order

Q6. Biography is described as occupying ‘an uncomfortable middle ground between history and fiction’ because:

1. Biographies are written by historians who borrow novelists’ techniques
2. It must meet the evidentiary standard of history while achieving the psychological coherence of fiction
3. Biographies are popular with readers of both historical non-fiction and literary novels
4. Biographers are trained in neither history nor creative writing