Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comi

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT


• misplaced or "dangling" modifier
→ Whenever you see an introductory phrase, start thinking about whether it is a noun modifier and if so, whether the noun it discusses follows immediately after the intro statement.
→ After this introductory phrase, we should be reading about an "influential figure"—a person.

• THAT/WHICH

→ That and which are not interchangeable on the GMAT.

Which-clauses introduce nonessential information that is set off by commas.
That-clauses introduce essential information that is not set off by commas.

In particular, which and its information are flanked by commas, whereas that and its information are not flanked by commas.
In British English, which and that are used interchangeably.
In SWE and on the GMAT, which and that are not interchangeable.




THE OPTIONS


• Misplaced modifier
→ Mr. Kirby's drawing style was not, as the introductory phrase states, "one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics."
→ Nonsensical.
ELIMINATE A

• Misplaced modifier - same as that in option A

• The Missing Verb
→ This sentence lacks a main verb, resulting in a fragment.
ELIMINATE B


• I do not see any errors

• The introductory modifier now has the correct noun to modify: Jack Kirby.

• the main verb is developed. (The other two simple past tense verbs belong to that—a relative pronoun that requires its own verb. In this sentence, the word that takes both of the subsequent verbs.
KEEP


• which cannot function as that
→ Which-clauses are set off by one or two commas.
→ Some people believe that GMAC has softened its stance on the which/that distinction.
I discuss the matter further in Notes, below.

• and also is suspect because the phrase is often redundant.
Sometimes, though, the phrase is correctly used for emphasis.
ELIMINATE D​

[/quote]
• diction disaster: utilizing foreshortening conveying depth
→ the correct idiom is to utilize X TO convey Y
→ you do not need to know this idiom to recognize a hot mess.

Be very suspicious of options that contain too many ___ING words strung together, unless those words are items on a list.
(Writers are taught to use gerunds and participles sparingly. Long story, but the ___ING construction can be or sounds passive.)
Yes, hbkharsh -- too many __INGs together.

Utilizing should be that utilized; we've seen that construction in other options.
Conveying should be to convey; we have also seen that construction in other options.
ELIMINATE E

The correct answer is C.

NOTES

• WHICH/THAT

In British English, which and that are interchangeable.
In U.S. English and on the GMAT, which and that are not interchangeable.
→ which introduces nonessential information and is set off by commas
→ that introduces essential information and is almost never set off by commas

People debate whether GMAT will continue to observe the distinction between which and that.
In at least one official question in the nonunderlined portion, which was used without commas to introduce essential modifiers.

On the other hand, I have never seen a correct answer choice (i.e., the underlined part) in which the word which introduced essential material and was not set off by commas.
SPOILER ALERT: In addition, in 2020, GMAC published a new official question that tests this very distinction.
The question remains in the 2021 Official Guide. You can find that question here.

COMMENTS

Lizaza , welcome to SC Butler.

These answers are thoughtful, well-reasoned, and easy to understand.

Nicely done, everyone!

My answer is (C). It took me 40 seconds.

(A) "Jack Kirby’s drawing style" cannot be called "one of the most influential figures". Eliminated.
(B) See above.
(D) "which" should be used in nonrestrictive clause. Here, "that" should be used. Admittedly, many writers ignore this rule. So I also find another issue: "and also" is redundant.
(E) It is okay to change "that utilized " to "utilizing", but it is not okay to also change "to convey" to be "conveying".

IMO C- Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to

Reasoning:-
1. in A and B Arguably one of.......of comics modifies Jack Kirby's drawing style but it should modify Jack Kirby.
2. D - at the end a 'to' is missing after characters
3. E- utilizing foreshortening conveying and allowing....is wrong. (Too many ing's together?)

Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics, Jack Kirby’s drawing style, which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to “burst” out of panel frames.


A) Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to Incorrect

drawing style cant be a figure

B) Jack Kirby’s drawing style, utilizing foreshortening to convey depth and allowing characters to Incorrect

same as A

C) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to Correct

D) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and also allowed characters Incorrect

also uses redundant

E) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style utilizing foreshortening conveying depth and allowing characters to Incorrect

foreshortening conveying depth- should be 'foreshortening to convey depth'
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A) Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to
Modifier refers to drawing style which is incorrect

B) Jack Kirby’s drawing style, utilizing foreshortening to convey depth and allowing characters to
Modifier refers to drawing style which is incorrect

C) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to
That is a perfect modifier. makes the whole thing essential

D) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and also allowed characters
which makes the clause Non-Essential. Not fair.

E) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style utilizing foreshortening conveying depth and allowing characters to
Meaning change without the use of that. Seems like Jack kirby utilized the depth

(C) is correct

A) Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to

After comma the subject of the introductory modifier shall come - eliminate

B) Jack Kirby’s drawing style, utilizing foreshortening to convey depth and allowing characters to

After comma the subject of the introductory modifier shall come - eliminate

C) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to
Correct

D) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and also allowed characters

Which is used as restrictive modifier and adverb "also" is redundant


E) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style utilizing foreshortening conveying depth and allowing characters to[/quote]

Meaning changed and parallelism is lost
Foreshortening conveying depth changes meaning by missing to intend the purpose
JK did not develop drawing style by allowing characters to “burst” out of panel frames.

My process of elimination:

Option-A:
1) Opening modifier issue – the modifier “although one of the most influential figures…” should modify Jack Kirby but not his drawing style.
2) Fragment – There is no working verb for the subject “Jack Kirby’s drawing style”

Option-B: same reasoning as used in A

Option-C: Correct

Option-D:
1) Missing TO after "allowed characters..." distorts the parallelism
2) ‘And also’ is usually considered redundant, ONLY AND can do the job.
3) THAT is preferred to WHICH when acting as an essential modifier

Option-E:
1) Parallelism between UTILIZING and ALLOWING fails. It would be better to have “utilizing foreshortening to convey depth” in place of “utilizing foreshortening conveying depth”
2) Similarly present participle, when used as a noun modifier, gives a sense of continuation. So the structure “drawing style allowing characters to burst…” would mean “Drawing style is still allowing characters to burst…”
So overall Option-C is better

Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics, Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to “burst” out of panel frames.

A) Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to -> we are talking about a person, not his drawing style. Incorrect modifier.

B) Jack Kirby’s drawing style, utilizing foreshortening to convey depth and allowing characters to -> Same as A. Incorrect.

C) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to -> It is better placed for modifier usage and has parallel structure. Let's keep it.

D) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and also allowed characters -> which is modifying a drawing style, it is not the intended meaning of the sentence. Incorrect.

E) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style utilizing foreshortening conveying depth and allowing characters to -> conveying is incorrect.

So, I think C.

Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics, Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to “burst” out of panel frames.


A) Jack Kirby’s drawing style utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to
Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics, drawing style...doesn't make sense.

B) Jack Kirby’s drawing style, utilizing foreshortening to convey depth and allowing characters to
Arguably one of the most influential figures in the Silver Age of Comics, drawing style...doesn't make sense and Main Verb is missing.

C) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style that utilized foreshortening to convey depth and allowed characters to
Parallel Construction and the use of restrictive modifier makes sense. Correct

D) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style which utilized foreshortening to convey depth and also allowed characters
Which is used for Non-restrictive modifiers and always placed between commas except when used with prepositions in those cases, we can omit the commas. And, the use of 'also' doesn't make sense.

E) Jack Kirby developed a drawing style utilizing foreshortening conveying depth and allowing characters to
Using Present participle 'utilizing' is correct but Parallelism error.
In X and Y construction, both entities should be parallel.

The modifier has to be followed by Jack Kirby and not a possessive form, so eliminate A and B. E is too heavy on gerunds and participles, should also be eliminated. Between C and D, we need to choose C because it addresses the 'allowed characters TO' grammatical requirement.

You can find the official explanation by clicking here.
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