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John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write [#permalink]
 10 Nov 2009, 00:29
Question Stats:
56% (02:04) correct
43% (01:10) wrong based on 2 sessions
John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books. 1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels 2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels 3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels 4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels 5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels What do you say? This is a customized one (modeled after another test question  )
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 00:40
John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books.
1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels
2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels
3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels
4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels
5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels
This seems to be a tricky one. Cant choose any for sure. Are u sure you've framed it properly?
A is incorrect because of incorrect pronoun usage. 'Him' should be replaced with John.
E seems best
whats the OA?
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 13:09
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John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books. 1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels 2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels 3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels 4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels 5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels A) Correct...if you change "travels" to "travelers". However, E may be a better choice because it is more concise. B) Too wordy. Moreover, inspiration does not logically refer back to anything else in the sentence. C) Awkward sentence construction. "Prision" and "the stay" do not seem like logical items to compare. D) It is illogical to incorporate a stay at prison into a novel. E) Correct...if it replaces the entire stem of the question. As the question is written, I am not clear if we are to judge the entire statement, or only a part of it.
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 13:17
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E - would be my answer. A is clearly wrong because of "him" but the sub being John's. So, him needs to be John instead. Well, there is no such option "his stay in the prison" is the inspiration. So, that rules out B C. D and E seem to convey the right meanings. But D is poorly constructed. - Prasanna
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 15:15
I tend to agree with zaara here it seems a little bit tricky still and no option seems completely correct.
Eliminate A and E – they both do not contain a referent for his/him.
Eliminate C – distorted meaning. it’s not because of prison, it’s because of his stay at prison.
Between B and D – D is preferred for the active “was inspired” vs “use the inspiration for”.
I choose D for these reasons.
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 16:39
gmattokyo wrote: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books. 1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels 2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels 3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels 4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels 5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels What do you say? This is a customized one (modeled after another test question ) Assuming that "travels" is actually "travelers"... I'd go with A. "Him" clearly refers to "John Grisham." B,C,D are all wrong E seems to be wrong because it changes the meaning and is less concise. "Inspired him" is preferable to "served as inspiration." Moreover, the original sentence says that the stay inspired him to write the novels. E says it was the inspiration for his novels. For all we know, the novels could be about snowboarding, but the stay inspired him to write them (instead of being the inspiration for them).
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 20:06
OA: As many of you have already mentioned... pronoun agreement error. the infamous possesive poison - subject/object pronouns referring back to possessive nouns. The subject in this sentence is "Grisham's travels," not John Grisham himself.
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 20:10
zaarathelab wrote: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books.
1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels
2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels
3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels
4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels
5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels
This seems to be a tricky one. Cant choose any for sure. Are u sure you've framed it properly?
A is incorrect because of incorrect pronoun usage. 'Him' should be replaced with John.
E seems best
whats the OA? Well, the structure and content should be correct  you guyz got the idea at least
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 20:17
But who does "his" refer to in E. John Grisham is not given as the subject in any part of the sentence.
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 21:35
I've some problem to understand the pronoun part.
Let us consider a simple sentence:
X's grooming and upbringing inspired him to deliver some of the finest plays in his time.
Does the above sentence wrong?
I'm confused
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 21:35
yangsta8 wrote: But who does "his" refer to in E. John Grisham is not given as the subject in any part of the sentence. Him is not correct. Usage of His is ok as that is possessive too.. grisham's stay, grisham's novel (second occurrence, name replaced by "his"). here is what i have in notes for possessive poison (may assist in understanding): Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls HIM a pig. Here HIS is fine because that parallel with Jose's. But HIM has to be corrected: Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls Jose a pig. HTH
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 21:38
angel2009 wrote: I've some problem to understand the pronoun part.
Let us consider a simple sentence:
X's grooming and upbringing inspired him to deliver some of the finest plays in his time.
Does the above sentence wrong?
I'm confused Going by the same logic as above, I'd rephrase that to: X's grooming and upbringing inspired X to deliver some of the finest plays in his time. SC busters? comments?
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
10 Nov 2009, 21:48
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yangsta8 wrote: But who does "his" refer to in E. John Grisham is not given as the subject in any part of the sentence. His is referring to John Grisham's. A possessive pronoun can refer to a possessive form of a noun
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
11 Nov 2009, 00:44
Thanks guys got it now
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Re: Inspiration to write... [#permalink]
24 Nov 2009, 09:22
John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books.
1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels
2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels
3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels
4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels
5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels
E looks good for me
A - John Grisham's ... him --> pronoun error
B and D distort the meaning - it is the stay that inspires his novel
C is close but seems more awkward than E and inspiration is unclear.
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Re: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write [#permalink]
02 Jan 2013, 07:05
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Quote: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels; travels can still visit Alcatraz, the model for the prison in one of Grisham's most famous books.
1) John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write several novels
2) Because of his stay at the prison, John Grisham was able to use the inspiration for several of his novels
3) Because of prison, John Grisham was able to use the stay as inspiration for several of his novels
4) John Grisham was inspired to incorporate the stay at prison into several of his novels
5) John Grisham's stay at the prison served as inspiration for several of his novels Answer has to be D. Objective pronoun can never refers to Possessive noun, thus option A & E are eliminated. It was "Stay at the prison" & not the "Prison itself" that inspired Grisham to write novels, thus option C is out. Option B, completely changes the intended meaning in that it says "Grisham was able to use inspiration because he stayed in the prison" in any other case "he was not able to use the inspiration" Note:- 1) Kindly do not post questions unless you are sure of their quality 2) Kindly share the source of the question so that the followers do not suffer much. Fame
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Re: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write [#permalink]
03 Jan 2013, 16:54
His in E is a possesive pronoun for "Novels" hence it can refer back to John Grisham's
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Re: John Grisham's stay at the prison inspired him to write
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03 Jan 2013, 16:54
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