Writing Practice Set 1:
Toward the end of his life, the Chevalier de Seingalt (1725−1798) wrote a long memoir recounting his
life and adventures. The Chevalier was a somewhat controversial figure, but since he met many famous
people, including kings and writers, his memoir has become a valuable historical source about European
society in the eighteenth century. However, some critics have raised doubts about the accuracy of the
memoir. They claim that the Chevalier distorted or invented many events in the memoir to make his life
seem more exciting and glamorous than it really was.
For example, in his memoir the Chevalier claims that while living in Switzerland, he was very wealthy, and
it is known that he spent a great deal of money there on parties and gambling. However, evidence has
recently surfaced that the Chevalier borrowed considerable sums of money from a Swiss merchant. Critics
thus argue that if the Chevalier had really been very rich, he would not have needed to borrow money.
Critics are also skeptical about the accuracy of the conversations that the Chevalier records in the memoir
between himself and the famous writer Voltaire. No one doubts that the Chevalier and Voltaire met and
conversed. However, critics complain that the memoir cannot possibly capture these conversations
accurately, because it was written many years after the conversations occurred. Critics point out that it is
impossible to remember exact phrases from extended conversations held many years earlier.
Critics have also questioned the memoir’s account of the Chevalier’s escape from a notorious prison in
Venice, Italy. He claims to have escaped the Venetian prison by using a piece of metal to make a hole in
the ceiling and climbing through the roof. Critics claim that while such a daring escape makes for enjoyable
reading, it is more likely that the Chevalier’s jailers were bribed to free him. They point out that the Chevalier
had a number of politically well-connected friends in Venice who could have offered a bribe.
Both the passage and lectures discuss the long memoir which was written by the Chevalier de Seingalt. While the passage says that some critics have raised doubts accuracy of the memoir with some example, the lecturer points out that these examples are pretty accurate overall.
First of all, the passage states that although his memoir claims that he was very wealthy and he spent more money for parties and gambling, because he borrowed some amount from a Swiss merchant, he won’t be very rich. In contrast, the lecturer argues that to spend cash, he sold his properties and because it took time to collect that cash, he borrowed it.
In addition to the argument of his wealthy, the passage says that despite the Chevalier recorded the conversation between himself and the famous writer Voltire, critics point out that it is impossible to remember which held many years earlier. On the other hand, the lecturer says that the Chevalier wrote down everything when they had conversation. He could use that note book to write memoir.
Finally, the passage discusses that even though the Chevalier wrote that he escape from the prison in Venice, critics say that because he had a number of political known friends, they would have given a bribe. However, the lecturer points out that after he left from the prison, if the government had repaired the room where the Chevalier stayed, after his escape, the memoir might be true.
By the way of conclusion, although critics argue some information against to the memoir of the Chevalier, according to the lecturer’s statements, we can come to the conclusion that the memoir might have true story about Chevalier.
- Writing Practice Set 1:Toward the end of his life, the Chevalier de Seingalt (1725−1798) wrote a long memoir recounting hislife and adventures. The Chevalier was a somewhat controversial figure, but since he met many famouspeople, including kings and writ 60
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have raised doubts accuracy of the memoir with some example
have raised doubts about accuracy of the memoir with some examples
the passage says that despite the Chevalier recorded the conversation between himself and the famous writer Voltire
Description: Check books how to use 'in spite of', 'Despite '
that he escape from the prison
that he escaped from the prison
flaws:
No. of Grammatical Errors: 3 2
better to have 4 paragraphs:
para 1: introduction
para 2: doubt 1
para 3: doubt 2
para 4: doubt 3
Don't need a conclusion.
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Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 18 in 30
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 3 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 10 12
No. of Words: 279 250
No. of Characters: 1345 1200
No. of Different Words: 148 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.087 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.821 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.315 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 97 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 71 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 42 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 21 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 27.9 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 10.153 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.8 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.445 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.734 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.263 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 4