hmgmat Wrote:A mixture of poems and short fiction, Jean Toomer's Cane has been called one of the three best novels ever written by Black Americans"”the others being Richard Wright, author of Native Son, and Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man.
A. Black Americans"”the others being Richard Wright, author of Native Son, and Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man
B. Black Americans"”including Native Son by Richard Wright and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
C. a Black American"”including Richard Wright, author of Native Son, and Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man
D. a Black American"”the others being Richard Wright, author of Native Son, and Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man
E. a Black American"”the others being Richard Wright's Native Son and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
OA is E.
This question is a 3-to-2 split question. I wonder why it is "a Black American".
My understanding is that "ever written by Black Americans/a Black American" modifies "the three best novels".
Should those 3 books be written by 3 different blacks (or mixed of them)?
Thanks in advance.
don't split on word choice first. that's not a smart way to split.
go with grammar first.
in this case, parallel structure is pretty easy. the sentence makes it clear that you're comparing
novels, not their authors, so (a), (c), and (d) are instantly out because their second halves mistakenly mention the people themselves as part of the comparison.
(b) is not as parallel as (e), either. since the original says "jean toomer's cane", the others should also have the form "X's Y", not "Y by X".
--
word choice is a sticky thing. for instance, it's actually
better to say "birds have a four-chambered heart" than to say "birds have four-chambered hearts", because the former makes it clear that each bird has exactly 1 heart. both, however, are acceptable.
in a similar vein, the construction of (d) and (e) makes it more clear that each book has exactly 1 author.
remember - don't question correct answers; learn from them.
--
NEVER split on word choice before parallelism (which is possibly the single most important topic in SC). that's a recipe for disaster.
--
i'm curious as to why you actually took the time to write
"This question is a 3-to-2 split question."
do you think this is important?
...because it isn't. there have even been "4-1" or "2-2-1" splits in which the "1" is correct.
or, worse yet, do you automatically prefer the "3" over the "2"? i certainly hope not.