Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Leg

Question

Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are set in the area around Albany, New York,  a region whose history also suggested some details of the novels' plots.

(A) Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are set in the area around Albany, New York,

(B) Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each of them novels in William Kennedy's "Albany Trilogy"-are set in the area around Albany, New York,

(C) William Kennedy's "Albany trilogy" novels-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are all set in the area around Albany, New York,

(D) Novels by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels, is set in the area around Albany, New York,

(E) Novels by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-every one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels are set in the area around Albany, New York,

Highlight below
Step 1: What's the subject of the verb "are"? It's "each" from the beginning of the sentence. Each is singular, so "are," being plural, is incorrect. Eliminate choices (A) and (B).

Step 2: The sentence can correct this error in one of two ways: it can make "each" plural and keep the plural verb, or keep "each" singular and offer a singular verb. Choice (C) has "novelsâ€¦are" so it's okay. Choice (D) gives you "novelsâ€¦is" so eliminate it. Choice (E) gives you "every oneâ€¦are" so eliminate it.

Step 3: Choice (C) remains.

Step 4: William Kennedy's "Albany trilogy" novels-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are all set in the area around Albany, New York, a region whose history also suggested some details of the novels' plots. Yes.

The question is (B) is not wrong as the explaination said because "each" is in the modify phrase. Can someone tell me why (B) is wrong?

pqhai · Accepted Answer

Hello amostofi

I'm glad to help.

Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are set in the area around Albany, New York, a region whose history also suggested some details of the novels' plots.

(A)  Each  of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- are  set in the area around Albany, New York,
 Wrong.  S-V agreement problem. "each + nouns" ==> singular. Thus, "are" is wrong.

(B) Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- each of them novels in William Kennedy's "Albany Trilogy "-are set in the area around Albany, New York,
 Wrong.  B  switches main subject "each of WK's novels" to modifier.  Modifier is just the additional part of the sentence. We can't omit it without meaning changes. But that's not the case here.

(C) William Kennedy's "Albany trilogy"  novels -Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- are  all set in the area around Albany, New York,
  Correct.

(D)  Novels  by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels,  is  set in the area around Albany, New York,
 Wrong.  S-V agreement problem.

(E) Novels by William Kennedy- Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game -every one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels are set in the area around Albany, New York, 
 Wrong.  If we delete the modifier ==> The sentence becomes:  Novels by WK every one of the "Albany Trilogy novels... " <== very awkward sentence. Definitely wrong.

Hope it helps.

rthothad · Answer

'B' should have a singular verb 'is' instead of 'are' to go with the subject   'each   of them'

target780 · Answer

'B' is wrong because of incorrect usage of pronoun "them" and not because of 'each---are' combination

The usage of 'are' is correct in choice B, because 'each' is in the modifying clause. i,e, you can read the sentence correctly, by neglecting the portion within dashes.
in that case, the sentence will become "Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-are set in the area around Albany, New York,......blah blah.,," which is perfect.

However, the problem is with the modifying phrase itself. 
.... .each of them  novels in William Kennedy's "Albany Trilogy...... its incorrect use of "them". 

You cannot use "them" to refer to books. Had it been "these", then the sentence wud have been correct.

amostofi1999 · Answer

can somebody please explain why b is wrong?

8 year bump ftw:D

amostofi1999 · Answer

thanks a lot! this makes a lot more sense than the official explanation.
this is from the online quizzes that come with Kaplan GMAT Premier book, and as you see in the first post, kaplan claims b was wrong because of subject-verb agreement!

Senthil7 · Answer

Each of X is Y - this is the correct subject-verb form singular-singular.

Clearly C is only one with this structure while other choices have rhetorical constructions.

narendran1990 · Answer

pqhai : In option A: Each of the novels..and billy phelan's..As there are two different subjects, marked by coordinating conjunction 'and' the verb 'are' should make sense, right.?

sayantanc2k · Answer

No, the subject is just "Each of the novels".

The trilogy consists of 3 books (the reason that it called  trilogy ): 
1. Ironweed
2. Legs
3. Billy Phelan's Greatest Game

"Billy phelan's game" game is the third item of the list (within the modifier between two dashes) and NOT the second subject.

Divyadisha · Answer

Subject that starts with 'each' must have singular verb.

(A)  Each of  William Kennedy's novels  in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-  are  set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(B) Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each of  them  novels in William Kennedy's "Albany Trilogy"-are set in the area around Albany, New York,.  'them novels' is not correct 
(C) William Kennedy's "Albany trilogy"  novels  -Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-  are  all set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(D) Novels by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels, is set in the area around Albany, New York,  'Albany trilogy' and other novels mentioned are different. Not the intended meaning 
(E) Novels by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-every one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels are set in the area around Albany, New York,  'Albany trilogy' and other novels mentioned are different. Not the intended meaning

HKD1710 · Answer

SV agreement is tested here.

(A)  Each  of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- are  set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(B) Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each of  them  novels in William Kennedy's "Albany Trilogy"-are set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(C) William Kennedy's "Albany trilogy"  novels -Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- are  all set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(D)  Novels  by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game-each one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels,  is  set in the area around Albany, New York, 
(E) Novels by William Kennedy-Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan's Greatest Game- every  one of the "Albany Trilogy" novels  are  set in the area around Albany, New York,

hdwnkr · Answer

The word "Each" comes with the auxiiliary verb "is". It does not take "are". This helps eliminate A,B and E.

Option D: The sentence structure falls apart if we remove the text between the two hyphens and evaluate the statement.

Hence, C

Helium · Answer

Step 1: What is the subject of the verb "are"? It's "each" from the beginning of the sentence. "Each" is singular, so "are," being plural, is incorrect. Eliminate choice (A).

Step 2: Eliminate (B).

Step 3: (C) seems to be correct. (D) has a confusing structure — is the subject of the sentence "novels" (from the first part), or "each one" (from the second part)? Eliminate. (E), like (D), also has a confusing structure. The subject is not clear. (C) is correct.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

C

In questions like this, temporarily ignore words set off by dashes. Ignoring this material in each version should make it easier for you to "hear" what's wrong. In the original sentence, the actual subject is  each ; this singular noun doesn't agree with the plural verb  are . (D) reverses the problem: the plural  novels  doesn't agree with the singular verb  is . (E)'s  every one of the novels  makes the sentence a virtual run-on. (B) has subject/verb agreement but adds the awkward, wordy "each of them novels in William Kennedy's 'Albany Trilogy! (C) is much less awkward and also features agreement between the plural  novels  and  are , therefore it is correct.

TryingToAceVerbal · Answer

Given the community responses, I still don't understand why B is wrong.
1. the meaning is changed - that's true, but as some language experts have pointed out, the meaning doesn't have to match the original sentence. 
2. "  - each ... - are" is still correct SV because "each ..." is set off from the independent clause.
3. "each of them" referring to books could be wrong, but I'm not sure. If this is the critical part, please explain why it is the critical part.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  TryingToAceVerbal ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the error in Option B is, indeed, a change of meaning; by switching which portion of the sentence is presented between dashes, Option B alters the intended meaning of the sentence enough to render itself incorrect.

We hope this helps.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Leg

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Each of William Kennedy's novels in the "Albany Trilogy"-Ironweed, Leg

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