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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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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.'
Re: Montaigne's pursuit of the character he called Myself -"bashful, insol
[#permalink]
01 Feb 2026, 05:15
01 Feb 2026, 05:15
Expert Reply
Answer: (C)
(A) captures the negative connotation of 'dissimulation.' 'Deliberate malice', however, is too strong. The passage does not talk about how 'Myself' was full of intentional hate.
'Outright audacity' connotes a sense of an outward action. The 'Myself' is very elusive and is always trying to outsmart Montaigne. So (B) is incorrect.
(C) works nicely because the Montaigne and 'Myself' are "too close" for trying to deception, especially of the hidden kind.
(D) doesn't work because it is too positive to match the tone of the passage.
(E) 'criticism' is close, but ultimately, we do not have a clue in the passage pointing towards 'criticism.' It also does not make sense to criticize an 'elusive prey.' This might be tempting also because they use the adjective 'elusive' and this answer choice uses a similar adjective: 'implied.' But we need to focus also on the noun. So we should eliminate (E).
(A) captures the negative connotation of 'dissimulation.' 'Deliberate malice', however, is too strong. The passage does not talk about how 'Myself' was full of intentional hate.
'Outright audacity' connotes a sense of an outward action. The 'Myself' is very elusive and is always trying to outsmart Montaigne. So (B) is incorrect.
(C) works nicely because the Montaigne and 'Myself' are "too close" for trying to deception, especially of the hidden kind.
(D) doesn't work because it is too positive to match the tone of the passage.
(E) 'criticism' is close, but ultimately, we do not have a clue in the passage pointing towards 'criticism.' It also does not make sense to criticize an 'elusive prey.' This might be tempting also because they use the adjective 'elusive' and this answer choice uses a similar adjective: 'implied.' But we need to focus also on the noun. So we should eliminate (E).
