Even with the widespread adoption of personal computers, many authors still choose to write and revise their novels by hand...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Even with the widespread adoption of personal computers, many authors still choose to write and revise their novels by hand and only then transcribe the final version on a computer. It may be tempting to speculate about how a novel written this way would be affected if it had been exclusively typed instead, but each novel is a unique entity resulting from a specific set of circumstances. Therefore, ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
in order to increase their efficiency, authors who currently write their novels largely by hand should instead work only on a computer.
authors who do most of their drafting and revising by hand likely have more success than those who work entirely on a computer.
novels written by hand take less time to produce, on average, than novels written on a computer do.
there is no way to reasonably evaluate how a work would be different if it had been written by other means.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Even with the widespread adoption of personal computers, many authors still choose to write and revise their novels by hand and only then transcribe the final version on a computer." |
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| "It may be tempting to speculate about how a novel written this way would be affected if it had been exclusively typed instead," |
|
| "but each novel is a unique entity resulting from a specific set of circumstances." |
|
| "Therefore, ______" |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Since each novel is a unique product of specific circumstances, we cannot meaningfully evaluate how it would differ under different writing conditions.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes that many authors still write by hand despite technology, acknowledges the natural temptation to speculate about different outcomes, but then limits this speculation by emphasizing that each novel emerges from unique, specific circumstances.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The right answer should conclude that we cannot reasonably compare or evaluate how a novel would be different if written under different circumstances, because each work is too unique and context-dependent for such speculation to be meaningful.
in order to increase their efficiency, authors who currently write their novels largely by hand should instead work only on a computer.
- Suggests authors should switch to computers for efficiency
- This ignores the passage's emphasis on uniqueness and makes a recommendation rather than drawing a logical conclusion
authors who do most of their drafting and revising by hand likely have more success than those who work entirely on a computer.
- Claims hand-writers are more successful than computer-only writers
- The passage makes no comparison about success rates
novels written by hand take less time to produce, on average, than novels written on a computer do.
- Makes a claim about timing differences between writing methods
- The passage doesn't discuss time or production speed at all
there is no way to reasonably evaluate how a work would be different if it had been written by other means.
- States we cannot reasonably evaluate how a work would be different if written by other means
- This directly follows from the premise that each novel is unique and perfectly addresses the earlier speculation