Besides the other errors, A , B and E have the same errors: "he" and "his" have no referent
C is awkward

D is the best
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i dont think it changes meaning. just worded differently from the first sentence but still get same point across.
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I reckon there is no change of meaning in D .. this is the best choice !!..

between B and D
B: is grammatically wrong
so D it is
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I am going with D. Others have modifier errors.
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The two options are C & D.
What is wrong with C? to me D seems wordy.

Please explain.

IMO D
it is a modifier type question and only option D show best option and correctly match with modifier.
option A B C E and make dangling modifier err and pronoun type err
thanks

Hi all,

Famed for his masterful use of irony, many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics due to the author slowly revealing at the end of each piece a tragic twist of fate.

There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning conveyed by this sentence and many posters feel the even if Choice D is the correct answer, it does not communicate the intended meaning. Here is my take on this:



The main clause of this sentence says that Guy de Maupassant’s short stories have become classics. So, I feel that this is the crux of the sentence. Whatever extra information is present in the sentence is about why these stories became classics. The reason why his short stories have become classics is that Guy de Maupassant used irony in his writing in a masterful manner. His talent can be seen in the way he revealed a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece.



ERROR ANALYSIS:

1. The opening verb-ed modifier “Famed for his…” is incorrectly modifying the subject of the preceding clause “many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories”. Who was famed? The writer Guy de Maupassant was famed and not many of his short stories. Hence, we have MODIFIER ERROR in this sentence.
2. Usage of “due to” is not correct here. Whether the usage of “due to” is correct or not can be checked by a simple test. Replace “due to” with “caused by”. If the sentence still makes sense, then use of “due to” is correct.

POE:

A. Famed for his masterful use of irony, many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics due to the author slowly revealing at the end of each piece a tragic twist of fate.: Incorrect for reasons discussed above.

B. Many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics because of how he famously and masterfully uses irony, evident in the slow revelation of a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece. Incorrect:
i. “because of” should be followed by a noun or clause beginning with noun.
ii. Non-possessive pronoun “he” cannot refer to possessive “of Guy de Maupassant's” because this entity is an adjective in this sentence that modifies “short stories”. A pronoun cannot refer to an adjective. It can only refer to a noun or another pronoun

C. Famed for using irony in a masterful way, many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics because of the author slowly revealing a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece.: Incorrect. This choice repeats the modifier error of choice A.

D. Many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics because of the author's famed and masterful use of irony, evidenced in the slow revelation of a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece. Correct.

E. Many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics because he slowly revealed a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece, demonstrating his famed and masterful use of irony. Incorrect. . This choice repeats the same pronoun error of Choice B.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hi there,

Well firstly, choice D is the only error free answer choice. And one answer has to be correct. So choice D makes for that correct answer.

Secondly, I again say that the crux of the sentence is that Maupassant’s short stories became classic. Maupassant is not the subject of this sentence. It is his short stories. So we must use modifications that center around his short stories and not the writer.

Choice D does that. The subject remains Maupassant’s short stories as in the original sentence. Maupassant’s short stories became classics. And why did they become classics? They became classics because the writer employed his popular style of using irony. The cause and effect relationship is still here. The evidence of that masterful use of irony is the slow revelation of a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece.

This is my take on the sentence from the meaning standpoint.

Thanks.
Shraddha
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A – “due to” cannot mean “on account of”. Here, we can see that this is exactly how it is meant. Check also if “due to” can be replaced by “caused by”. So option A eliminate
B – Past tense. So it should be “used”. “He” in the second part of sentence has no clear reference. Eliminate
C – First part refers to Guy de Maupassant. So the noun after comma should be the author. Note that there is no possessive pronoun “his” in the sentence before comma. A possesive pronoun can refer to "Guy De Maupassant's stories" That is why Option A did not have this error. Eliminate
D – Keep
E – stories became classic because of his use of irony and not because he slowly revealed a tragic twist. Change of meaning. “he” has no clear reference. Eliminate.