Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that Jean Luc Godard is an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre, and he directed films whose relation to to the French New Wave is what Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly's relation to the spaghetti western is.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Idioms

A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses "An auteur whose movies define the genre" to modify "Jean-Luc Godard's films", illogically implying that the films directed by Jean-Luc Godard are an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; the intended meaning is that Jean-Luc Godard is an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses "An auteur whose movies define the genre" to modify "Jean-Luc Godard's films", illogically implying that the films directed by Jean-Luc Godard are an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; the intended meaning is that Jean-Luc Godard is an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "A are to B like X is to Y"; please remember, "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses "An auteur whose movies define the genre" to modify "Jean-Luc Godard's films", illogically implying that the films directed by Jean-Luc Godard are an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; the intended meaning is that Jean-Luc Godard is an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "A are to B just as X is to Y"; please remember, "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "that are to the French New Wave similar to...is to the spaghetti western"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that Jean Luc Godard directed films whose relation to to the French New Wave is what Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly's relation to the spaghetti western is.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the uses "An auteur whose movies define the genre" to modify "Jean-Luc Godard", conveying the intended meaning - that Jean Luc Godard is an auteur whose movies define the French New Wave genre. Further, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "A are to B what X is to Y", conveying the intended meaning - that Jean Luc Godard directed films whose relation to to the French New Wave is what Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly's relation to the spaghetti western is.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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The correct answer is E.

Why? Because if you see, the first part of the sentence is acting as a modifier. An auteur whose movies define the genre, Jean-Luc Godard's films are to the French New Wave what Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is to the spaghetti western.
What is it modifying/describing? Jean-Luc Godard, and not his films. Hence the answer is E.

Hope that is clear.

what is wrong with option A ...it maintains the proper parallel structure ....Jean-Luc films are compared to French New wave

Between D and E

E is because What X .. is to Y construction
D is wrong because similar to X ... is to Y

I went for D and E options as in beginning of the sentence we have the word "auteur" which means film director. Option a,b,c have mentioned "Jean-Luc Godard's films" which at high level means film in which Jean-Luc Godard has acted. But option D and E mention films directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Among D and E, went for E as i wanted to to maintain parallelism.

Can i add this (What X .. is to Y ) my Idiom list?

Experts kindly confirm

Hi,

Yes you can add this idiom to your list.

Actually 2 idioms are used for analogy:

1. X is to Y what A is to B
2. X is to Y as A is to B

This is a good question to learn modifier rule very well .
So let us just break down the original sentence .
"An auteur whose movies define the genre" is a modifier that should modify "Jean-Luc Godard" but that is not happening in choices A,B, and C .
So we are left with D and E
In D correct idiom dictates that we use "what " so E is out answer

Correct Answer: E

Answer choice A contains a modifier error: "An auteur" refers to Jean-Luc Godard, not "Godard's films." Choices B and C both replicate the same error, and also use unidiomatic words ("like" and "just as") to compare Godard and Leone. Answer choice D corrects the dangling modifier but uses the incorrect construction "are to" similar to make the comparison. Answer choice E is correct. The opening modifier correctly describes Godard, and properly constructs the comparison between the two men's films, with the construction "A's are to B what X is to Y."

Bunuel
Can anyone help me understand the usage of "like" and "just as" in terms of comparison, as highlighted in the explanation?
Or any article explaining the same would do the help
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VERITAS OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Answer choice A contains a modifier error: "An auteur" refers to Jean-Luc Godard, not "Godard's films." Choices B and C both replicate the same error, and also use unidiomatic words ("like" and "just as") to compare Godard and Leone. Answer choice D corrects the dangling modifier but uses the incorrect construction "are to" similar to make the comparison. Answer choice E is correct. The opening modifier correctly describes Godard, and properly constructs the comparison between the two men's films, with the construction "A's are to B what X is to Y."
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As per my earlier experience we use "like" whenever there is comparison.

Thus in option B if we correct the modifier error then will the option B is correct ?

Kindly help.

Not quite, Harsh2111s. Even after correcting the possessive Jean-Luc Godard's to the name of the auteur himself, the idiomatic construction called for is

A is to a what B is to b.

You could use like to compare just the nouns, as in

A, like B, ...

A sample sentence could be, Captain Picard, like his predecessor, Captain Kirk, is to Star Trek lore what Captain Solo is to Star Wars lore.

Notice that the idiom remains intact, though. I hope that helps. If you have further questions, please let me know.

- Andrew

Hello A is wrong because, An auteur whose movies define the genre is a appositive modifier . it must modify Jean-Luc Godard and not his films