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Montaigne's pursuit of the character he called Myself -"bashful, insol
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28 Jan 2026, 06:11
28 Jan 2026, 06:11
Expert Reply
Question 1
00:00
Question Stats:
26% (01:32) correct
74% (02:18) wrong based on 31 sessions
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Question 2
00:00
Question Stats:
43% (00:55) correct
57% (01:01) wrong based on 30 sessions
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Montaigne's pursuit of the character he called Myself -"bashful, insolent; chaste, lustful; prating, silent; laborious, delicate; knowing, ignorant"-lasted for twenty years and produced more than a thousand pages of observation and revision. When he died, he was still revising and, apparently, not at all surprised, since Myself was a protean creature, impossible to anticipate but also, being always at hand, impossible to ignore.
I like to think of the essays as a kind of thriller; with Myself, the elusive prey, and Montaigne, the sleuth, locked in a battle of equals who were too close for dissimulation and too smart for satisfaction. And it may be that Montaigne did, too, because he often warned his readers that nothing he wrote about Myself was likely to apply for much longer than it took the ink he used, writing it, to dry.
I like to think of the essays as a kind of thriller; with Myself, the elusive prey, and Montaigne, the sleuth, locked in a battle of equals who were too close for dissimulation and too smart for satisfaction. And it may be that Montaigne did, too, because he often warned his readers that nothing he wrote about Myself was likely to apply for much longer than it took the ink he used, writing it, to dry.
Montaigne's relationship to "Myself" is most similar to that of
A. a detective who is finally able to apprehend a criminal
B. a person who inspires a writer to create well-known works
C. an athlete plagued by a nemesis who can always anticipate the next move
D. a serial killer who deliberately leaves clues so that the police will find him
E. an artist attempting a self-portrait that ends up looking different from the artist
As used in the passage, the word "dissimulation" connotes a sense of
A. deliberate malice
B. outright audacity
C. hidden deception
D. unfeigned delight
E. implied criticism
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Re: Montaigne's pursuit of the character he called Myself -"bashful, insol
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12 Mar 2026, 09:22
12 Mar 2026, 09:22
1
Expert Reply
I disagree with the official explanation provided. probably E is more suitable
The Logic Gap
The key phrase in the text is: "nothing he wrote about Myself was likely to apply for much longer than it took the ink he used... to dry." This directly supports the idea of a portrait (the Essays) that fails to capture a static likeness because the subject (the Artist/Myself) has already moved on or changed.
E
The Logic Gap
The key phrase in the text is: "nothing he wrote about Myself was likely to apply for much longer than it took the ink he used... to dry." This directly supports the idea of a portrait (the Essays) that fails to capture a static likeness because the subject (the Artist/Myself) has already moved on or changed.
E
Re: Montaigne's pursuit of the character he called Myself -"bashful, insol
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01 Feb 2026, 05:00
01 Feb 2026, 05:00
Expert Reply
Answer: (C)
This parallel reasoning question first requires an understanding of Montaigne's relationship to the 'Myself.' The latter is an elusive prey that Montaigne can never quite capture because the two are equals.
(A) is a classic distractor (test prep speak for wrong answer): it is a parallel reasoning question that uses a similar example to the one used in the passage.
(B) is also similar to the context but in no way parallels the relationship between Montaigne and 'Myself.'
(C) the nemesis is always one step ahead, just as the 'Myself.' This is not a perfect answer. But it is the best answer.
(D) is wrong because of "deliberately leave clues"
(E) does not parallel the relationship between Montaigne and 'Myself.'
This parallel reasoning question first requires an understanding of Montaigne's relationship to the 'Myself.' The latter is an elusive prey that Montaigne can never quite capture because the two are equals.
(A) is a classic distractor (test prep speak for wrong answer): it is a parallel reasoning question that uses a similar example to the one used in the passage.
(B) is also similar to the context but in no way parallels the relationship between Montaigne and 'Myself.'
(C) the nemesis is always one step ahead, just as the 'Myself.' This is not a perfect answer. But it is the best answer.
(D) is wrong because of "deliberately leave clues"
(E) does not parallel the relationship between Montaigne and 'Myself.'
