Johnson is on Firm Ground When he Asserts that the Early Editors of Dickinsons Poetry Often Distorted her Intentions

Topic: Johnson is on firm ground when he asserts that the early editors of Dickinsons poetry often distorted her intentions. Yet Johnsons own, more faithful, text is still guilty of its own forms of distortion. To standardize Dickinsons often indecipherable handwritten punctuation by the use of the dash is to render permanent a casual mode of poetic phrasing that Dickinson surely never expected to see in print. It implies that Dickinson chose the dash as her typical mark of punctuation when, in fact, she apparently never made any definitive choice at all.

Which of the following best summarizes the authors main point?

1. Although Johnson is right in criticizing Dickinsons early editors for their distortion of her work, his own text is guilty of equally serious distortions.
2. Johnsons use of the dash in his text of Dickinsons poetry misleads readers about the poets intentions.
3. Because Dickinson never expected her poetry to be published, virtually any attempt at editing it must run counter to her intentions.
4. Although Johnsons attempt to produce a more faithful text of Dickinsons poetry is well-meaning, his study of the material lacks sufficient thoroughness.
5. Dickinsons editors, including Johnson, have failed to deal adequately with the problem of deciphering Dickinsons handwritten manuscripts.

“Johnson is on Firm Ground When he Asserts that the Early Editors of Dickinsons Poetry Often Distorted her Intentions” is a GMAT topic of the genre Critical Reasoning. This GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘ 501 GMAT Questions​’. In this particular topic, candidates are asked to select the most appropriate explanation that summarizes the author’s main points. In this question, the candidates need to provide an option that supports the argument provided in the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument.  The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: B. 
Solution and Explanation: 
In this topic, we need to select the answer that summarizes author’s main points. Let us check all the provided options one by one. 

We will start with option A.

1. The only thing that is said in the section is that Johnson's writing is still guilty of its own types of distortion and rejection. The passage says “Yet Johnsons own, more faithful, text is still guilty of its own forms of distortion”. This line does not mean that his own text is guilty of equally serious distortions
2. The passage says that “To standardize Dickinsons often indecipherable handwritten punctuation by the use of the dash is to render …….. never expected to see in print.”. This means that people have misunderstood poet’s intentions. Hence, this is the correct answer. 
   We have got the correct answer. However, to check the validity of the other options, we will explain them too. 
3. There is no proof to suggest that Dickinson never anticipated her poetry being published. The passage does not inform us with any such information on the poetry. Hence, this is also irrelevant. 
4. This states that study materials wer lacking thoroughness. Johnsons attempted to produce a more faithful text of Dickinsons poetry. However, they were lacking meaning. This is out of the topic and unrelated to the passage. Hence, this will not be the correct answer. 
5. By doing this, the emphasis is shifted from examining the distortions made by Dickinson's editors to interpreting Dickinson's handwritten manuscripts, which are out of the question and unimportant.

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