The following text is from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1830 short story “Sir William Phips.”
The knowledge, communicated by the historian and biographer, is analogous to that which we acquire of a country by the map,—minute, perhaps, and accurate, and available for all necessary purposes, but cold and naked, and wholly destitute of the mimic charm produced by landscape painting. These defects are partly remediable, and even without an absolute violation of literal truth, although by methods rightfully interdicted to professors of biographical exactness.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
Explanation
Context: From another Hawthorne passage about historical biography (from the same "Sir William Phips" story). Historical knowledge is like a map — accurate but cold and lacking the vivid charm of landscape painting. Historians constrained by facts produce work less engaging than it could be.
Answer: D) Historians' fidelity to the truth often results in work that is less engaging than it could be.
Why? Hawthorne explicitly says historical/biographical knowledge is accurate ("minute, perhaps, and accurate") but "cold and naked" — lacking the emotional resonance of less constrained art. D captures this critique of fact-bound historical writing.
Traps:
- A) "Writers of fiction possess storytelling skills that historians do not" → Hawthorne compares historical writing to mapmaking vs. landscape painting, suggesting historians could be more vivid, not that they lack skills entirely
- B) "The more famous a person is, the more likely that person is to attract the attention of historians" → about celebrity and historical attention; not mentioned in this passage
- C) "Maps are more practical to own than paintings" → the map/painting comparison is metaphorical; the passage doesn't claim maps are practically superior