Most biographies are unnecessary. After all, most are collections of rehashed tales, anecdotes, and occasional analysis about a few hundred people. And those few hundred people already have a few hundred biographies written about them. Go to any bookstore, and you’ll see what I mean. The biographies section is a couple shelves littered with a dozen books about Napoleon, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, William Shakespeare, and other supposed “Great Men.” Sure, occasionally one biography relies on new evidence, but, by and large, these books are interchangeable.However, not all biographies are. A biography is an attempt at explaining a life, and typically the kinds of lives people like to explain are those lives that were larger than life. What have been overlooked by biographers are those lives not deemed important by or even paramount to society. Thus, we see dozens of books on T.S. Eliot but few on Vivienne Eliot, his wife. Or we see hundreds of biographies of Abraham Lincoln but few about Tad Lincoln, his son. And, of course there are thousands of books on the Roman Caesars but few about the millions who gave them their power.It is these lives that exist in the cracks and margins of importance that interest me as a biographer. A good biographer has the power of making someone immortal. But a great biographer can also make a person not just live forever but also be understood forever. Women especially have been so misunderstood in the history books, as men in their own times labeled them and stripped them of their selves. I think of those patients of Sigmund Freud’s case studies, these women stripped of even their names and made to be clinical definitions of illness. If I can find those women’s true lives, I can make them live now for us, not as maniacs but as women.Decker, Hannah S. Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900. New York: Free Press, 1991. Book.SubmitChallenge QuestionWhat's thisThe author apparently believes thatApowerful men have been exhausted as a subject in historyBhistory has overlooked the contributions of many peopleCbiography sections at bookstores should be more inclusiveDmost women in history were considered to be insane
Question
Most biographies are unnecessary. After all, most are collections of rehashed tales, anecdotes, and occasional analysis about a few hundred people. And those few hundred people already have a few hundred biographies written about them. Go to any bookstore, and you’ll see what I mean. The biographies section is a couple shelves littered with a dozen books about Napoleon, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, William Shakespeare, and other supposed “Great Men.” Sure, occasionally one biography relies on new evidence, but, by and large, these books are interchangeable.However, not all biographies are. A biography is an attempt at explaining a life, and typically the kinds of lives people like to explain are those lives that were larger than life. What have been overlooked by biographers are those lives not deemed important by or even paramount to society. Thus, we see dozens of books on T.S. Eliot but few on Vivienne Eliot, his wife. Or we see hundreds of biographies of Abraham Lincoln but few about Tad Lincoln, his son. And, of course there are thousands of books on the Roman Caesars but few about the millions who gave them their power.It is these lives that exist in the cracks and margins of importance that interest me as a biographer. A good biographer has the power of making someone immortal. But a great biographer can also make a person not just live forever but also be understood forever. Women especially have been so misunderstood in the history books, as men in their own times labeled them and stripped them of their selves. I think of those patients of Sigmund Freud’s case studies, these women stripped of even their names and made to be clinical definitions of illness. If I can find those women’s true lives, I can make them live now for us, not as maniacs but as women.Decker, Hannah S. Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900. New York: Free Press, 1991. Book.SubmitChallenge QuestionWhat's thisThe author apparently believes thatApowerful men have been exhausted as a subject in historyBhistory has overlooked the contributions of many peopleCbiography sections at bookstores should be more inclusiveDmost women in history were considered to be insane
Solution
The author apparently believes that history has overlooked the contributions of many people. This is evident from the text where the author mentions that biographies are mostly about "Great Men" like Napoleon, Winston Churchill, etc., while the lives of people not deemed important by society, such as the wives and children of these great men, or the common people who gave power to the Roman Caesars, are overlooked. The author expresses a particular interest in uncovering the true lives of women who have been misunderstood in history books.
Similar Questions
Which of the following statements about reading biographies is true?If you want to get a truer picture of someone’s life, you should read a variety of biographies about that person.If you want to get a totally unbiased picture of someone’s life, you should read a biography written by a historian.If you want to get an objective picture of someone’s life, read a biography written by the subject’s friend.If you want to understand how others saw someone’s life, you should read the person’s autobiography.
What writing characteristic determines that a biography is an autobiography?It is written in the passive voice.It is written in the first-person point of view.It is written in the active voice.It is written in the third-person point of view.
Which of the following is a reason that all biographies may be biased or unbalanced?Biographers are writing long after their subjects have died.Biographers must make choices when they select the events they will write about.Biographers are historians who did not know their subjects.Biographers must rely on their memories of events.
Which type of biography is not affected by errors in the biographer’s memory?a biography written by the subjecta biography written by the subject’s frienda biography written by a person who did not personally know the subjecta biography written by the subject’s daughter
_____ are written by the subjects themselves.HistoriesAutobiographiesSecondhand biographiesFirsthand biographies
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