Hey there
ishwarSubraThank you for the query.
I can see a brilliant question here, but this thread lacks an appropriate explanation.
Let me try and help you guys
Now, whenever we deal with complex comparison questions, like this one, looking at the meaning aspect is the trick.For parts of his life, Burroughs, a writer in self-imposed exile, and in a similar way, Joyce lived a generation earlier, leaving Ireland and choosing to write about his homeland from a distance.
Meaning Analysis
The sentence presents a comparison here between the life of Burroughs and the life of Joyce. The sentence starts by saying that during Burroughs life he was a writer. What type of writer he was? He was a writer in self-imposed exile.
Now to understand the comparison correctly it is important to first understand what ‘a writer in self-imposed exile’ means. This phrase means that Burroughs was a writer who left the country on his own free will, rather than being made to leave. Now in this similar way, Joyce who was of the previous generation from Burroughs also left his county. He felt his county Ireland and choose to pen down details of his hometown.
So, to summarize the sentence is comparing the way both the writers Burroughs and Joyce left their own countries. This is the intended logical meaning of the sentence.
Now let's assess each Answer choice and find the correct one
(A) Burroughs, a writer in self-imposed exile,
and in a similar way, Joyce lived a generation earlier, leaving Ireland and choosing.
This choice is actually comparing Burroughs life to the generation of Joyce. It seems that they both were similar in living in a generation. This meaning is incorrect as explained in the meaning analysis above.
(B)
Burroughs was a writer in self-imposed exile, close to the way that Joyce lived a generation earlier, leaving Ireland and choosing.This meaning conveys that a generation earlier, Joyce left Ireland and choose to write. Also, it seems that the comparison here is done between the writing life of Burroughs and the generation of Joyce. This meaning is incorrect as explained in the meaning analysis above.
(C)
Burroughs was a writer in self-imposed exile, somewhat as Joyce, who lived a generation earlier, left Ireland and choseThis choice presents the perfect comparison between the life of Burroughs and Joyce. Correct
(D) Burroughs was a writer in self-imposed exile;
a generation earlier, Joyce was a similar writer in self-imposed exile, leaving Ireland to choose
This choice somewhat says that both of them were in self-imposed exile, but this choice also means that they were similar writers. This choice, therefore, adds additional similarity between them. The intended meaning does not imply that they had similar writing styles. They are only similar in the way they left their countries and they both are writers.
(E) a writer in self-imposed exile,
Burroughs was similar to Joyce a generation earlier, leaving Ireland and choosingThis choice says that Burroughs was like Joyce a generation earlier, whereas we know that Joyce lived in the earlier generation. So this meaning is opposite to the intended meaning. Also, this choice compares the way both left Ireland and chose to write. From the intended meaning we know that Joyce left Ireland, but there is no information about which country Burroughs left. This meaning is incorrect as explained in the meaning analysis above.
If you like the explanation, do appreciate