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Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

The correct word to use here would be "lies" - verb for singular "originality". However, none of the options has "lies". Therefore, the past verb for lay is to be used.

(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these - Incorrect. Uses wordy construction.
(E) laid in his integration of these - Correct!
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We require "lay". "Laid" is incorrect. Eliminate option C and E. "lay in the fact of" is not idiomatic. Eliminate option B. Option A does not have any clear referrant for "he". Hence, eliminate.

Answer option D.
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I chose A

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
" of his integrating something into something " cannot modify " fact". Also "his integrating" is noun phrase, can not be followed by "into".
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
" laid" used as modified, this segment has no verb.
(D) lay in his integration of these
integration into - not idiomatic.
(E) laid in his integration of these
no verb in this segment; integration into - not idiomatic.
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Laid is preferred than lay.

A. Tense error
B. Tense error
C. Wordy
D. Tense error
E. Correct

Posted from my mobile device
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Answer is E
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
lay is the present tense. here we should use simple past tense to maintain the consistency of the sentence.
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
Same as A
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
in the fact of his integrating is absurd.
(D) lay in his integration of these
again lay is the wrong verb tense
(E) laid in his integration of these
Correct verb tense. and Logically sounds
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Bunuel
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these


 


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should be laid, so get rid of A B and D.
C is cumbersome.
E is the answer.
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Quote:
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.
(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these

Nothing wrong with A and clearly reflect the intended meaning. keep A

the verb here should be lie not lay => lie => past tense is lay. C,E use laid thus out
B: "his integrating" integrating has a noun form => should use noun form "integration"
"in the fact of" << "in the fact that"
Clearly B << A. B out

A and D
verb is better than noun: he integrated these > his integration of these
More importantly, the phrase "in the fact that" plays an important role to reflect the intended meaning.
D << A

Answer: A
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Bunuel
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these


 


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Since this sentence is stating a universal truth or fact. We need to use present tense "lay" instead of the past tense "laid". On basis of this we can eliminate options C and E.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
Unnecessarily wordy because of "in the fact" and the correct idiom should be "integration of". Eliminate this option.
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
Unnecessarily wordy because of "in the fact" and the correct idiom should be "integration of". Eliminate this option.
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
Incorrectly uses the past tense "laid" we need to use present tense "lay". Eliminate this option.
(D) lay in his integration of these
This seems correct option. Correctly uses the present tense "lay" and the correct idiom "integration of". Let's keep this.
(E) laid in his integration of these
Though it correctly uses "integration of" but it incorrectly uses the past tense "laid". Therefore eliminate this option.

The correct answer is option D.
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(E) laid in his integration of these

laid is required because it is already done and the object he gives more clarification . Hence E
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(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
Since originality is a singular noun, lay can not be used. We can eliminate this option

(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
Since originality is a singular noun, lay can not be used. We can eliminate this option

(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
laid in the fact of ... doesn't give a clear meaning and is an awkward construction

(D) lay in his integration of these
Since originality is a singular noun, lay can not be used. We can eliminate this option

(E) laid in his integration of these
Correct. His originality was there in his integration of those personifications
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Question: Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

NOTE: Frankly what a question man, I am not gonna lie ;) I had to google some differences between lie, lay, laid as I knew very little about them and then I answered the question.

Meaning Analysis: ok here sentence gives info that Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays and the personification in hamlet fights over man's soul. Shakespeare’s originality lay in the integrations of personification inside the internal psych of the protagonist.
(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these => these is wrong as this conveys meaning that originality lay in the "fact" but is actually lay in the integrations itself. so not the ans
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these => same as above not the ans
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these => Now here we go laid is the past tense for "to lay" (for e.g Burglar laid down his gun in front of police) and lay is the past tense of (to lie) which is right verb for us
(D) lay in his integration of these = > this is our ans.
(E) laid in his integration of these => again laid is not the right verb here

so ans is D
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
the pronoun 'he' with antecedent as a positive noun ie, 'Shakespeare's' is wron

(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
awkward with respect to grammatical structure vis--vis 'his integration of these specifications'

(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
use of 'laid' instead of 'lay' is incorrect verb tense usage; also, awkward with respect to grammatical structure vis--vis 'his integration of these specifications'

(D) lay in his integration of these
use of 'lay' is correct tense usage; also, 'his integration of these specifications' is the correct grammatical structure instead of 'his integrating these'

(E) laid in his integration of these
use of 'laid' instead of 'lay' is incorrect verb tense usage


(D) is the CORRECT answer
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#1: The phrase "lay in his integration of these" is more concise and clear. It also emphasizes the fact that Shakespeare's originality lay in his own actions, rather than in the fact that he integrated the personifications into the protagonist's psyche.
#2: LAY vs LAID, use of lay is more correct as LAID does not convey the intended meaning.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these: Error #1
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these: Error #1
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these: Error #2
(D) lay in his integration of these: Correct, both errors rectified.
(E) laid in his integration of these: Error #2

IMO D.

Bunuel
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these


 


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Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these

Explanation:

The original underlined phrase correctly uses the past tense ('lay') of the verb 'lie' in the second independent clause.
However, the use of 'in the fact that' sounds unnecessary and wordy. There can be alternative ways of saying or conveying the same idea i.e. 'Shakespeare's originality lay in the integration of personifications'. The originality was in the integration of personification into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

Based on this, we can straightforwardly discard options C and E as 'laid' is used here instead of 'lay'.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these: As discussed above, wordy and unnecessary use of 'in the fact that'. WRONG
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these: Awkward use of 'in the fact of his integrating'. The intended meaning is to show that the originality was in the manner in which shakespeare integrated the personifications. WRONG
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these: As discussed above, incorrect use of 'laid' instead of 'lay'. WRONG
(D) lay in his integration of these: Sounds the best logical choice as it correctly uses the verb tense 'lay' and conveys the intended meaning coherently and concisely. CORRECT
(E) laid in his integration of these: As discussed above, incorrect use of 'laid' instead of 'lay'. WRONG
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(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these "In the fact" is redundant here, originality lay in his integration not in the fact
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these same error as A
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these same error as A
(D) lay in his integration of these Corrects that the error
(E) laid in his integration of these corrects "In the fact" error, but uses past tense form rather than simple present form of the verb "lay". Author is simply stating a fact and hence doesn't require past tense form of the verb
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Bunuel
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on a style of morality plays, wherein personifications of vice and virtue fight over a man’s soul; Shakespeare’s originality lay in the fact that he integrated these personifications into the internal psyche of the protagonist.

(A) lay in the fact that he integrated these
(B) lay in the fact of his integrating these
(C) laid in the fact of his integrating these
(D) lay in his integration of these
(E) laid in his integration of these


 


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Since 'Shakespeare's originality' is the subject of the underlined sentence, lay as a verb fails the subject-verb agreement. So, we can eliminate A,B,D. Also, the first sentence's verb tense is in past (was based). So, it makes more sense for the second sentence to continue that tense. Between C and E, E is the better choice for two reasons.
1. Replacing his with Shakespeare's makes C "X laid in the fact of Shakespeare's integrating these Ys" does not make any sense.
2. Thinking about meaning, his originality laid in his integration, not in the fact of his integration.

So, E is the right choice.
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Option A

(A) Correct use of the present tense 'lay' to announce a general statement. This option is grammatically correct and structurally sound. Correct choice
(B) This option is wordy and not the best way to put it
(C) Past tense is used here which is incorrect
(D) what pronoun 'his' refers to is unclear
(E) same error as C
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