Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the Ameri

Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the American Revolution personally, Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

A is just awful! "combining with her talent for writing" as ING verb is a modifier of the "point" (not correct, BTW), so the sentence seems to say
"a vantage point to make her (...)": this is not grammatically correct.
A)a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make

Be very literal in the interpretation of a sentence that uses "when", B seems to say that "this point made her (...) when combined with her talent", it's like saying that a thing happened when another thing occurs, hope it's clear...
B)a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, that made

The structure of C is not correct: if you connect the two clauses with "and" you are saying that this "point" made two thing, but those things are not connected.
C)a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing, 1st thing (BTW this part does not make sense if we use such construct)
and it made 2nd thing
this is not what the sentence tries to say

D is not a complete sentence: if you remove the which modifier
D)and this vantage point, which combined with her talent for writing to make (...) of the era.
you're left with "and this vantage point, ???". And the "vantage point" did not "combine her talent".

If we remove the modifier in E the sentence still makes sense, E is correct
E)and this vantage point (, combined with her talent for writing,) made

Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the American Revolution personally, Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make her one of the most valuable historians of the ear

(a) a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make
Wrong. "combining" modifies "a vantage point". It's wrong, a vantage point should be combined (verb-ed modifier, not Verb-ing modifier)

(b) a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, that made
Wrong. The structure (a vantage point, when combined with X, that made....) is very awkward.

(c) a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing, and it made
Wrong. "it" is not clear. It refers to "a vantage point" only or "her talent".

(d) and this vantage point, which combined with her talent for writing to make
Wrong. "to make" is wrong. We don't talk about a plan, so "To + verb" does not convey the right meaning.

(e) and this vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, made
Correct. Verb-ed modifier (combined with....) is correct.

Hope it helps.

The intended meaning of the sentence is that the involvement of Mercy in the political events from 1765 to 1789 and her talent made her the most valuable historian...

A, B and C seem to change the intended meaning of the sentence.

D in entirety is an incomplete sentence

E is the best answer choice- Her involvement in the political events (this vantage point )combined with her talent made her the most valuable historian

A tricky one but the correct answer is E

Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the American Revolution personally, Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

Since we are talking about past tense, the correct verb will be "made".

A) a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make
Wrong :- combining, to make wrong parallelism

B) a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, that made
HOLD IT Nothing wrong with it grammatically per se. This sentence can essentially be read as A vantage point when combined with her talent for writing, that made

C) a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing, and it made
Wrong :- Talent for writing and It made her one of the most famous... AND is only when both clauses have equal weightage and both are independent. In this case Her becoming famous is a result of her writing and thus one thing (writing) is causing other (becoming famous) .. so AND is wrong

D) and this vantage point, which combined with her talent for writing to make
Wrong:- combined , to make .. again wrong parallelism

E) and this vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, made
RIGHT :- better than option B.
Combined, made - parallel,
Use of And is correct. Marry being in centre (independent) and that vantage point making her famous... (independent) so both part of the sentence equal
In B the meaning comes as "Her vantage point made her famous. No it was not only the extraordinary circumstances that she was in centre of politics but also her writing abilities.
OPTION E brings the meaning more accurately

Dear GMATGuruNY DmitryFarber,

Why is choice B. wrong?

Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the American Revolution personally, Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point, WHEN combined with her talent for writing, that made her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

Some previous response says "when" is incorrect. But why is so?
Is it just because "when" is not preceded by "EVEN"?


Below is explanation for similar OA here https://gmatclub.com/forum/?href=-is ... 03940.html

Why is choice B. in this question wrong?
I'm lost here. Please help sir

varotkorn The issue here is more with the placement of the modifier than with the use of "when." If we want to say that when the vantage point was combined with her talent, it made her valuable, we should put this "when" modifier between "that" and "made": "A vantage point that, when combined . . . , made her . . . " In that placement, it clearly modifies the verb "made." Adverbial modifiers have some flexibility, but we still want to get them as close as we can to the action to avoid misunderstanding. One potential misunderstanding here would be to read "when combined" as a noun modifier for vantage point: her position is only a vantage point when combined with her writing skill. That doesn't make sense, but it still causes confusion while we're trying to sort out the correct meaning.

Additionally, "when" is actually a problem, since she presumably didn't sometimes combine her vantage point with her skill and other times not. "When" doesn't have any clear meaning here and would be best left out. "Combined" works all by itself, as seen in the OA.

Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America and the American Revolution personally, Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

(A) a vantage point combining with her talent for writing to make "combining" suggests that the vantage point itself is combining with her talent. Eliminate.

(B) a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, that made Unnecessary change in meaning. "when" implies a condition - only on combining with talent did the vantage point make her valuable. Eliminate.

(C) a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing, and it made "it" has no antecedent. Eliminate.

(D) and this vantage point, which combined with her talent for writing to make Same meaning error as in (A) - suggests the vantage point itself combined. Eliminate.

(E) and this vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, made Correct answer.

Hope this helps.

EducationAisle I went through the forum and there are experts who claim (B) has a meaning error. However, please could you elaborate on this. Rather I preferred (B) an "appositive phrase" over (E) a clause

The usage of "when" is suspect in B Hoozan.

"when" is generally used to refer to a "time frame". In the phrase a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, "when" is obviously not referring to any specific timeframe.

That being the case, when in B is nonsensically suggesting that only in those specific instances/time-periods when vantage point was combined with her talent for writing, was she one of the most valuable historians of the era.

Hi AndrewN sir

A general question

When I saw this question, I solved it quickly and end up in choosing A. ( sentence xyz period, <absolute phrase>)
The structure looks good for A and B .
When I got wrong , I read the meaning and was clear with E immediately.



1. Usually I understand the general meaning --> shortlist --> pick with best meaning and standard .
This is one of the question I missed picking right option. Because of somewhat distorted structure, i overlooked the meaning. In this approach , usually I don't take more than a minute( at max) to solve SC questions.
2. If I change my approach , first meaning then structure . I end up in choosing 3 + options sometimes and that takes time , sometimes 100 seconds . So I changed approach to earlier approach(1)

Could you please share your opinion?
It's more like meaning vs speed. Were you used to get slowed down with meaning approach before ? How can I speed up?
Looking forward to hear comments . how did you crack this question and in how much time ? My bet under 20 seconds?

Thanks AndrewN sir

Hello, mSKR. I think you may be chasing speed too much. Accuracy first. If the approach takes you 100 seconds at first, then so be it. My take on the question, via my newer color-coded image method:


First off, you can see that I spent over a minute on the question myself. Sometimes a longer sentence takes more time to sort out, and you do not want to get trigger-happy.

(A), (B), and (C) all start on questionable ground with the label a vantage point. What, exactly, is that vantage point? At or near the center of political events? I am not sure that works. When I read a vantage point on its own, I am anticipating a physical location, and this one seems more metaphorical (like being the center of attention). Still, my general rule is that if I am not certain something is wrong, I label it a doubt and seek easier points for elimination.

The combining phrase in (A) makes it sound as if the vantage point is joining with one of her talents, and this is too much for the sentence to bear. Combine with in its various forms should be more akin to in addition to or as well as in the context of the sentence. Simply put, a vantage point in addition to her talent for writing to make her [something] makes no sense.

I see that (B) is the most popular incorrect answer as of this writing. A lot of people seem to overlook when, though. Even if you do not pick up on the subtle change in meaning that it creates, a meaning that is discussed earlier in the thread, you should look at it and ask, Is when absolutely necessary? Remove it, and the phrase conveys the same vital meaning: a vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, that made... If when is not necessary, then why would we select this answer choice, not to mention that the combined with element is still a problem. How about we swap it out for as well as this time? A vantage point, when as well as her talent for writing, that made... Yes, this one is definitely out.

(C) misses the mark for the same combined with misuse, and now we get this mysterious it as the subject of the second independent clause. Is it the vantage point? But I thought it was the combination of vantage point and writing talent that made her a valuable historian. After (A) and (B), this should be an easy elimination.

The which clause in (D) subordinates all the information that follows, and without the addition of another comma, the second clause that begins and this vantage point never resolves. SC 101 on full display right here.

In (E), combined with finally makes sense: this vantage point, in addition to her talent for writing, made her [something]. The process of elimination can help you reach this answer, but so, too, can a meaning-based approach.

In short, do not rush SC. When I started, I would often answer questions in under 45 seconds, and sometimes, the subtler questions would get me into trouble, and getting annoyed with myself enough times, I slowed my approach. My accuracy increased to new heights thereafter.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.

- Andrew

and this vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, made
Does not the part within the comma makes it a non-essential part conveying that only vantage point made her one valuable historian? However, as per meaning vantage point along with her talent for writing made her valuable historian.

Yes—and that's definitely the most accurate way to write the sentence.

The two contributing factors mentioned—Ms. Warren's perspective/vantage point and her skill with the written word—are nowhere near equal in importance.

Writing talent, by itself, makes you... a talented writer. That's all.
Obviously, raw writing skill cannot make anybody a good historian, because you have to know history to be a good historian.

Ms. Warren's "vantage point", on the other hand, was the aggregate sense of perspective that she had accrued from being at the center of a seminal historical timeline and from personally knowing multiple key people firsthand.
This perspective is overwhelmingly what made her a great historian. Her writing talent helped incrementally, but wasn't nearly as essential to her prowess.

Let me add one point here:

When a non essential modifier is removed, the sentence still makes sense, but some meaning is lost from the sentence.

Amy, the school captain, was taken to the Principal's office
Amy, a naughty student, was taken to the Principal's office.
Amy, along with her sister, was taken to the Principal's office.

The main emphasis of the sentence, the main point the author wants to convey is that 'Amy was taken to the Principal's office' but each of the above sentences means something different. When we remove the non essential modifiers, some meaning is lost.

Our original sentence: this vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, made her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

The 'vantage point' is the protagonist in this story. The author wants to convey that this vantage point made her one of the most valuable historians. That is where the main emphasis is. Just as 'Amy's sister' is a side character of the plot above, 'talent for writing' has a supporting role in this sentence.

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