Multiple choice

All of the following can be inferred from the passage about Hemingway's style of writing, except

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Ernest Hemingway’s style of writing cultivated a mass following for him not only while he was alive but also after his death. Most essayists and critics agree that Hemingway abhorred the use of adjectives and used nouns exhaustively in order to prevent his characters from being bigger than life. Others have accused Hemingway of being rather bland in the description of his characters and transferring the onus onto the readers to build the characters in the way that seems fit to them. Another belief that has emerged about his writing is that he made the characters and their dialogues stay in our heads by laying selective emphasis and by the use of repetition. Hemingway himself acknowledged that he did most of his work in his head and that any sentence, before it could be penned down, had to fit his standards of comprehension and brevity. Hemingway acknowledged that he sometimes felt that his style of writing was more suggestive than direct and that the reader had to involve himself to not miss the subtle nuances of his (Hemingway’s) writings.

  1. Misinterpretation of Hemingway's intent was possible if the reader wasn't attuned to the writing.

  2. Hemingway wanted to leave a certain leeway in the interpretation of his characters.

  3. Hemingway shunned verbosity and clichés.

  4. Hemingway had a way of drawing the attention of the reader towards the nuances of his plots and characters.

  5. Hemingway portrayed his characters as being no mere mortals.

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E Correct answer
Explanation

(1) Incorrect; Hemingway himself said that reader involvement was necessary so as to not miss the subtle nuances of his writing. (2) Incorrect; Hemingway is quoted as saying that his style of writing was more suggestive than direct. (3) Incorrect; the passage mentions that Hemingway shunned adjectives and his writings had to conform to his standards of brevity. (4) Incorrect; the passage mentions that Hemingway made his characters stay in the readers' heads with the use of selective emphasis and repetition. (5) Correct; since Hemingway shunned adjectives in his writings, and used only nouns, it figures that his characters would not take on grandiose proportions.