What is the author's main point?
A biographer who admires the subject faces a temptation to leave out what does not fit: the cruelty, the debts, the sulks. A biographer who dislikes the subject faces the opposite. Neither is serving the reader. Yet the ideal of simply 'telling it all' is also not available, since no life can be told in full, and selection is unavoidable. What can be asked is that the selection should be made honestly: that the evidence is represented fairly, that doubts are acknowledged and that the biographer does not hide facts that would change the reader's judgement. A biography which shows its reasoning invites the reader to disagree. In that respect, trust is earned less by claims of objectivity than by visible workings.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: E. Biographers cannot tell everything, but they can select honestly and show their reasoning
- Step 1: The author says selection is unavoidable, asks for honest selection and visible workings.
- Step 2: The only choice consistent with this is "Biographers cannot tell everything, but they can select honestly and show their reasoning".
Answer
Biographers cannot tell everything, but they can select honestly and show their reasoning.
Why not the others: The author denies that telling all is possible, does not recommend admiration, and treats objectivity as a claim to be earned.
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