unknown source - SC Modifiers

[mastevano]

Hello,

I am having trouble understanding this question:

Here it is:

The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons of American literature, greatly beloved by generations past and present.

The answers:

A. The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons
B. Herman Melville the author and Walt Whitman the poet are icons
C. The author named Herman Melville and the poet named Walt Whitman are great icons
D. The author, Herman Melville, and the poet, Walt Whitman, are icons
E. Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, had been icons

I chose E: Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, had been icons

The answer is A: The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons

I cannot understand why the answer is A. Can someone please help me??

Thank you!

[mastevano]

Sorry...I actually chose D, not E

Answer D: The author, Herman Melville, and the poet, Walt Whitman, are icons

Thanks!

Monica

[StaceyKoprince]

A restrictive modifier is a type of modifier that is necessary to understand the meaning of the particular word it modifies. Restrictive modifiers do NOT use commas between the modifier and the noun it is modifying.

Are we saying that poets and authors, in general, are icons? Or that one particular poet and one particular author are icons? If it is the latter case (as it is here), then the names are restrictive modifiers - they are necessary to understand that we are talking only about this particular poet and this particular author. If they are restrictive modifiers, we can't use commas to set them off.

[mastevano]

That makes sense!

Thanks for your help!

[StaceyKoprince]

No problem!

[ssb]

No problem!

Why B IS INCORRECT

[StaceyKoprince]

Hmm. The only good reason is the lack of commas around "the author" and "the poet" - but this test doesn't make you rely solely on commas to make such a choice.

And I just noticed something else: the word "icons" ends every answer choice - that is, there's no difference in the last word across all the choices. That means this is NOT a real question. Official questions all have at least one difference at the very beginning of the underline and at least one difference at the very end (if you look across all five choices).

So someone mis-labeled this; it's not an official question. And this is not a good one to study - if the writer didn't follow the basic rule about having a difference at the beginning and a difference at the end, who knows what other rules the writer didn't follow. Ignore it!

[TanmayA522]

Hmm. The only good reason is the lack of commas around "the author" and "the poet" - but this test doesn't make you rely solely on commas to make such a choice.



And I just noticed something else: the word "icons" ends every answer choice - that is, there's no difference in the last word across all the choices. That means this is NOT a real question. Official questions all have at least one difference at the very beginning of the underline and at least one difference at the very end (if you look across all five choices).



So someone mis-labeled this; it's not an official question. And this is not a good one to study - if the writer didn't follow the basic rule about having a difference at the beginning and a difference at the end, who knows what other rules the writer didn't follow. Ignore it!

Hi Stacey,

I have a small doubt. Wouldn't the following be a better construction of the sentence -

Author Herman Melville and poet Walt Whitman are icons of American literature, greatly beloved by generations past and present.

"The" has been removed from the original sentence. I feel that the "The" is not needed. Kindly clarify.

[RonPurewal]

The presence/absence of "a"/"an"/"the" is NEVER tested on the GMAT. It's a non-issue.