The first commercially successful drama to depict Black family life sympathetically and the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway,
it was Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun that won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1959, and was later made into both a film and a musical.
Meaning Analysis: "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry was the first commercially successful drama that depected Black family life. It was also the very first drama that was played by a black woman. This drama won the NY award and ,based on this play, a movie and a musical was produced.
Sentence Structure: The first commercially successful drama to depict Black family life sympathetically and the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway,
(Noun modifier)it
(Subject ; pronoun refers to the noun "drama")was
(verb)Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
(object of the sentence)that won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1959
(Relative pronoun modifier beginning with "that") ("That" acts as a subject to the verb "won"), and
(parallelism marker)was later made
(second verb to the subject "that")into both a film and a musical.
(Object of the sentence)Quote:
A. it was Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun that won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1959, and was later made
We have a Sentence structure/modifier error out here. The noun modifier "
the first commercially..." must modify a noun. And to make the meaning clear, the noun must be placed right after the modifier. However, we notice that an IC "
it was..." is placed and this structure is incorrect.
I am not quite happy with the ",and" between the verbs "won" and "later mad". I would reject the choice solely based on this reason but I would just be a bit cautious about its presence.
E.g. The actor won the "best actor award" and gave a wonderful speech. (Preferred)
E.g. The actor won the "best actor award", and gave a wonderful speech. (Less Preferred)
Note - Authors do use a COMMA in a sentence to place an "intended pause" while reading. Hence it is advisable not never consider such issues while eliminating - unless we have a COMMA SPLICE, parallelism, comma between a subject and a verb, and other such deterministic errors in which the COMMA plays and important role.
Quote:
B. in 1959 A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and was later made
As mentioned, we need a noun immediately after the modifier.
Quote:
C. Lorraine Hansberry won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, and it was later made
Now the modifier "the first commercially..." seems to modify the noun "Lorraine Hansberry" and that is illogical.
Quote:
D. Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun won the New York Drama Critics’Circle Award in 1959 and was later made
The modifier error is rectified and the meaning is conveyed in a clear and precise manner.
Quote:
E. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1959, and later made it
The modifier error is rectified, however, we now seem to have a meaning error towards the end of the sentence. The phrase "
later made it into both a film and a musical" seems to suggest that the drama "A Raisin in the Sun" made something into a film and a musical. This is illogical as a drama cannot make anything as such.
Correct Choice:
(D)