integrated essay1: 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.
The article states that the Chevalier de Seignalt’s memoir is inaccurate and provides three reasons to support. However, the professor explains that his memoir is quite precise because of several reliable sources and refutes each of the author’s reasons.
First of all, the article posits that the Chevalier claims that he was really wealthy is not true because there is an evidence shows that he borrowed money from a Swiss merchant. However, the professor explains that loaning money does not imply that he is poor. In order to get money for spending on parties and gambling, he needed to sell all his properties and he might be short of cash while he was waiting for a few day to get money. Therefore, it is normal that he loaned some money for other people during waiting for the money from selling the properties.
In addition, the article states that it is impossible that he could memorize all conversation that he had with the famous writer Voltaire. The professor casts doubt on this point and she explains that Chevalier wrote all of his memories every night after the meeting. Thus, the memoir can possibly capture all conversations because he could his notes to express his memories.
Finally, the article says that escaping the prison by using a piece of metal to make a hole in the ceiling and climbing to through the roof is hard to believe. In contrast, the professor states that it might be true that he was able to escape by using that method. The professor claims that there are a lot of powerful prisoners in the jail and they were able to help him. Additionally, there is an evident that the ceiling of the cell that he stayed got repaired.
- Do you agree or disagree with the statement? The opinions of celebrities, such as famous entertainers and athletes, are more important for the young people than theyare to the older people. 80
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A person’s childhood years (the time from birth to twelve years of age) are the most important years of a person’s life. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 60
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement Your job has more effect on your happiness than your social life does 63
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement Compared with people who live in urban areas the people who live in rural areas can take better care of their families 62
- integrated essay1: 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 writer 85
Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 26 in 30
Category: Very Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 13 12
No. of Words: 292 250
No. of Characters: 1344 1200
No. of Different Words: 147 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.134 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.603 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.35 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 92 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 71 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 40 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 18 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 22.462 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 6.392 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.692 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.395 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.618 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.276 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 4