Integrated writing TOEFL The reading and lecture discuss the accuracy of the memoir written by The Chevalier, and therefore if it is a valuable historical source or not. The reading passage talks about the critics’ arguments to explain why the memoir cannot be accurate. The professor, however, refutes those arguments and provides evidence to prove the opposite. Firstly, the reading passage mentions that evidence exists that The Chevalier had to borrow money and could therefore not have been rich as he states in his memoir. The professor refutes this by pointing out that The Chevalier made a living by converting his assets into money and that this took some time. Meanwhile, he would have had to borrow money, but that does not mean that he was poor. Secondly, critics doubt that the conversations between The Chevalier and Voltaire are correctly represented in the memoir. They argue that The Chevalier could not possibly have remembered the exact words from conversations with Voltaire. However, the professor mentions that The Chevalier kept notes from those conversations for years, which he had written down immediately after they had happened. Others confirmed that The Chevalier consulted those notes when he was writing his memoir. Lastly, the reading talks about the adventurous escape from prison that The Chevalier describes in his memoir. Critics believe it is unlikely it happened this way and that rather one of The Chevalier’s powerful friends paid a bribe to get him out of prison. On the other hand, the professor believes that other prisoners had a lot more powerful friends and never managed to get out of prison with a bribe. Moreover, she mentions the existence of documents which state that the ceiling of The Chevalier’s cell had to be repaired after he was gone. This provides evidence for his escape story in the memoir. In conclusion, the professor argues that The Chevalier was not poor, kept notes to represent the conversations in his memoir accurately and that there is proof to support his story about the escape from prison. As a result, she believes that the memoir is a reliable historical source.