Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome

Hello Everyone!

I already see some great discussion about this question, so let's tackle this question one issue at a time to come up with the correct answer! To get started, here is the original question with important differences between each option highlighted in orange:

Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

(A) by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists,
(B) to be product demonstrators and publicists by manufacturers and utility companies,
(C) to demonstrate and publicize their products by manufacturers and utility companies
(D) by manufacturers and utility companies to be demonstrators and publicists of their products
(E) by manufacturers and utility companies to demonstrate and publicize their products

Right away, a couple major issues jump out at me that we must address:

1. Each option's ending = finding the right antecedent for the modifier phrase "who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers."
2. Use of the pronoun "their" in options C, D, and E

Let's start with #1 on our list. Since the sentence ends with a modifier phrase, we MUST make sure it's being paired up with the correct antecedent. Here is each option with the ending added on. This will helps us figure out which options have a problem.

Remember, to find the correct antecedent, you need to ask yourself the question "WHO initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers?" The answer? The product demonstrators and publicists! Let's see how each answer stacks up:

(A) by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers. --> OK

(B) to be product demonstrators and publicists by manufacturers and utility companies, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers. --> WRONG

This says the companies promoted technology, which isn't true - the demonstrators and publicists did! It's also not grammatically correct to have the word "who" refer to non-humans, including collective nouns like "companies."

(C) to demonstrate and publicize their products by manufacturers and utility companies who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers. --> WRONG

This option has a few problems:
It is incorrectly saying the companies promoted technology, not the people hired as demonstrators and publicists.
Also, it's not okay to use "who" to refer to collective nouns such as "companies."
The lack of comma at the end is also a problem. It turns the phrase, "who initially promoted..." into an essential clause, rather than a modifier. Without the comma, it's telling readers that these women were only hired by companies that initially promoted technology to women, which is unnecessarily specific.

(D) by manufacturers and utility companies to be demonstrators and publicists of their products who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers. --> WRONG

This option is incorrect because the modifier is referring to the word "products," which doesn't make sense. First, the word "who" cannot refer to non-human objects. Second, the products didn't promote technology to women - that doesn't make logical sense. The products aren't going door-to-door by themselves!

(E) by manufacturers and utility companies to demonstrate and publicize their products who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers. --> WRONG

This option is incorrect for the same reason as option D - the word "who" cannot refer to non-human objects, such as the word "products."

There you go - option A is the CORRECT answer because the modifier has a clear and correct antecedent!

I know some of you may have started with #2 on our list (proper use of the pronoun "their"), here is how each answer would break down:

(A) by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, --> OK (no pronoun to deal with)

(B) to be product demonstrators and publicists by manufacturers and utility companies, --> OK (no pronoun to deal with)

(C) to demonstrate and publicize their products by manufacturers and utility companies --> WRONG (In this case, the pronoun "their" is referring back to the women, which isn't accurate. The women weren't hired to demonstrate and publicize their own products - they were hired to demonstrate and publicize the companies' products!)

(D) by manufacturers and utility companies to be demonstrators and publicists of their products --> WRONG (In this case, it's not absolutely clear what the pronoun "their" is referring to - the women who were hired, the companies who made the products, or some other group we don't know about?)

(E) by manufacturers and utility companies to demonstrate and publicize their products --> WRONG (Again, it's not absolutely clear what "their" is referring to - the companies or the women who were hired? If it's not 100% clear, it's probably not the correct option.)

Once you've done this, you're left with options A & B. You can go back to #1 on the list and see that option B is wrong because the modifier isn't referring to the right antecedent, so you'd still end up with option A as your final answer!


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