Complete the account of Montaigne’s method and its motto.
The verb essayer means to ______, as one assays a metal. Montaigne announces that he is himself the ______ of his book, wagering that each man bears the entire form of the human ______. His motto, "Que sais-je?", makes scepticism a working ______ rather than a despair.
Word bank: attempt · matter · condition · assumption · conclude · audience
Hints
- The first blank is the meaning of the title itself.
- The wager is that one ordinary person examined closely reaches what is common.
Show the answer
The verb essayer means to attempt, as one assays a metal. Montaigne announces that he is himself the matter of his book, wagering that each man bears the entire form of the human condition. His motto, "Que sais-je?", makes scepticism a working assumption rather than a despair.
The chain is the whole argument: an attempt rather than a proof, the self as material rather than as boast, and doubt as a working method. "Que sais-je?" lets him hold a position without pretending it is settled.
Practise Montaigne’s Essais: Inventing a Form to Think In
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More questions on Montaigne’s Essais: Inventing a Form to Think In
- Montaigne revised the Essais by adding new material without deleting what he had already written.
- Sort each feature of the Essais by whether it follows from Montaigne’s METHOD or describes his SUBJECT.
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- In which year did Montaigne first publish the Essais?
- How does Montaigne’s "add, never delete" method change the book a reader finally holds? Select every effect…
- Montaigne’s digressions are best understood as a failure to organise his material.
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