Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in

good discussion guys....OA/OE time..
OA: C
OE:

The initial connecting word "although" indicates a change of direction will occur later in the sentence, but the subsequent connecting word "and" incorrectly allows the sentence to continue in the same direction instead of introducing a contrast.

(A) This choice is incorrect because it repeats the original sentence.

(B) This choice also uses the incorrect connecting word "and" when the initial "although" indicates a change of direction is necessary. In addition, "it" has an unclear antecedent; it could be referring back to "book" or "lifetime."

(C) CORRECT. This choice correctly removes the connecting word "and," enabling the change of direction indicated by "although" to take place successfully.

(D) This choice uses a semicolon incorrectly. Semicolons require each clause before and after the semicolon to be complete sentences, and here "Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime" is not a complete sentence. In addition, "it" has an unclear antecedent; it could be referring back to "book" or "lifetime."

(E) This choice uses a semicolon incorrectly. Semicolons require each clause before and after the semicolon to be complete sentences, and here "Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime" is not a complete sentence.

Okie, this qtn tests your know how about usage of personal pronouns and demonstrative pronoun

rem demonstrative pronouns refer to the "copy" of the antecedent and not exactly the same antecedent

Also, dem pronouns are more of adj than noun

Usage of personal pronozn is done when we refer the same antecedent

This kills all options of "That"


B and D left

semicolon usage

Independent clause 1; Independent clause 2 ( with IC1 related to IC2)

D meets this format and expresses idea succintly

Choose D

( And -is preferred when we have different item in the second part and hence "and" is a part of all the popular idioms such as Distinguish between X and Y, Betwen X and Y, Connection between X and Y, Both X and Y)

that book is ambigous.. so out of b & D, D is better as B makes it two different things..
IMO D.. what is the OA?

I have gone through the comments

I do agree that when we start with "Although" we already have one connector and hence we do not need a semi colon.

However, usage of that as a modifier as well as a demonstrative pronoun is incorrect in C

why??

Modifier

, that-That always is used as a restrictive modifier and comma is only used in case of non -restrictive clauses

Even if we used which, thats incorrect, as it would modify "life time"

that-demonstrative pronoun always refers to the copy of the antecedent and not the actual antecedent. here, we referring to the same book ( meaning the same stuff)

so, in short lets see the trade -off

C -2 issues

D-1 issue of connector

As per ideal ans would be "Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime, the book is widely considered a masterpiece" or "Reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime; the book is widely considered a masterpiece"

Okie, in such cases, best is to learn concepts and move.

So, as per tradeoff, D wins but I would not be surprised to see C as the answer as too

I would not expect such issues in Mnahattan qtns, in particular. However, there are exceptions to all.

Even GMATPrep qtns show such issues sometime

Iamcste, I agree with what you wrote about use of "that".

I am not sure if I am correct here but here's what I think about use of "that" in this sentence

There is one more rule that is followed on GMAT i.e. the restrictive or non-restrictive modifiers must follow the noun just preceding them.
In case of this sentence, "that" is following "lifetime", another noun.

Though the following makes a weird sentence overall , it depicts correct use of that as restrictive modifier.

[Although] reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book (that is widely considered a masterpiece) in her lifetime.

I may be completely wrong though.

And I completely agree with you that understanding the concept, rather an answer should be the best strategy for such questions.

comma that or ", that" -is an incorrect modifier

comma is used only for non restrictive modifiers like which ( and when "who" is used as a non restrictive modifier)

"that" is a restrictive modifier so no comma

Also, ignoring the comma, as per your, if it modifies "lifttime" so is "lifetime book" considered a masterpiece. Its just the book

so , i think both C and D have their own issues..

so lets put it C/D and move along

But, we had a good revision of modifiers and pronoun

also, if you get a chance to read MG SC 3 on demonstrative pronoun and modifiers , you can understand how Just as "that" is used incorrectly here as a modifier so is "that" incorrectly as a demonstrative pronoun too
.

HERE IS OE

The initial connecting word "although" indicates a change of direction will occur later in the sentence, but the subsequent connecting word "and" incorrectly allows the sentence to continue in the same direction instead of introducing a contrast.

(A) This choice is incorrect because it repeats the original sentence.

(B) This choice also uses the incorrect connecting word "and" when the initial "although" indicates a change of direction is necessary. In addition, "it" has an unclear antecedent; it could be referring back to "book" or "lifetime."

(C) CORRECT. This choice correctly removes the connecting word "and," enabling the change of direction indicated by "although" to take place successfully.

(D) This choice uses a semicolon incorrectly. Semicolons require each clause before and after the semicolon to be complete sentences, and here "Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime" is not a complete sentence. In addition, "it" has an unclear antecedent; it could be referring back to "book" or "lifetime."

(E) This choice uses a semicolon incorrectly. Semicolons require each clause before and after the semicolon to be complete sentences, and here "Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime" is not a complete sentence.

"although " introduces dependent clause hence comma is required and not the semicolon as in D and E.

hence C is the answer

Although indicates contrast so use of "and" is incorrect in this case. Also, use of semi-colon is incorrect as first part is not independent sentences. Use of "it" in D is ambiguous. Hence C, which corrects all above issues.

IMO C .
As its a case of subordinating clause , so clause beginning with that has to modify the book present in sentence beginning with Although.
Option A is wrong because wrong usage of and.
Option B is wrong again for the same reason and the use of it.
Option D wrong usage of semicolon.
Option E wrong usage of semicolon.

I am still confused about the use of "that" in C because of 2 reasons.
1)"lifetime" is the closest word to "that", isn't it a problem?
2)In MGMAT book, I remember something like "that" should only be used as a connecting word such as the person that wears sunglasses, the book that has a nice cover etc. Here it is used differently. Do I remember wrong or can we make some exceptions to this?

Here we have two independent clauses:

1) reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime;

and

2) that book is widely considered a masterpiece.

Two independent clauses must be connected by 1 and only 1 connector.

"Although" appears in the non-underlined part of the sentence, so that's the only connector that we're allowed to use.

(A) and (B) both have "and", a second connector. Eliminate (A) and (B).

(D) and (E) both have a semicolon. Semicolons can precede a connector, but rarely, if ever, follow an introductory clause that begins with a connector. Elminate (D) and (E).

Only (C) has no connector issues: choose (C).

In this question we need "that book" because "it" would properly refer to "her lifetime", not the "one book" - another reason to eliminate (B) and (D).

Hello mikemcgarry

Could you please clarify a little on the use of that?
If not in this context is it possible, for that to come after a comma?

Dear Prashant10692,

I'm happy to respond.

One of the most difficult words in the English language for non-natives to understand is the word "that," because it has several different meanings.

The word "that" can be used as:
1) a demonstrative adjective
2) a demonstrative pronoun
3) a a subordinate conjunction
4) a relative pronoun
These four are explained in this blog:
GMAT Sentence Correction: The Many Uses of ‘That’

The rule with which you may be familiar--use a comma before "which" but not before "that"--is not a black & white rule, because it has exceptions. More importantly, this rule is only relevant to use #4 of the word "that," and is 100% irrelevant to uses #1-3. BTW, the use of comma vs. no comma has everything to do with the logic of the modifier. See:
That vs. Which on the GMAT
GMAT Grammar: Vital Noun Modifiers

In this SC problem, the OA (C) uses the word "that" as a demonstrative adjective, use #1, so whether a comma precedes it is 100% irrelevant.

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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How is below clause starting with 'although' an independent clause.

"Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime"

pls help

mikemcgarry bb egmat @souvikk:

Can someone please explain why the following sentence is incorrect?

Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime, it is widely considered a masterpiece.

Why can 'it' refer to lifetime? Can someone's 'lifetime' be a masterpiece? Shouldn't it refer only 'book' without any discrepancy?

Thanks.

Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime and that book is widely considered a masterpiece.

(A) lifetime and that book - incorrect connector usage - usage of AND to connect an independent clause and a dependent clause
(B) lifetime and it - incorrect connector usage - usage of AND to connect an independent clause and a dependent clause
(C) lifetime, that book - Correct
(D) lifetime; it - here semicolon acts in the same way as comma +FANBOYS; The part of the sentence before semicolon is not complete
(E) lifetime; that book - The part of the sentence before semicolon is not complete


1. In options A and B, don't we need a comma to precede "and" for it to act as coordinate conjunction?
2. As per the OE posted, the antecedent of pronoun 'it' in options B and D is unclear. In my opinion, the ONLY logical antecedent for pronoun 'it' is 'book' in these options.

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyMurray , DmitryFarber , daagh , generis , other experts - please enlighten


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Skywalker
Whether there is a comma or not A and B are blatant fragments because the first part is only a subordinate clause and it cannot be joined with an IC by a coordinate conjunction.

With regard to the 'it' in B and D, you couldn't be more correct.
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