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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 06 Nov 2020, 05:32
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metallicafan
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E works fine here.

The starting modifer is an absolute phrase (His right arm crippled by bullet...) modifying the noun Horace.

All the other choices just seem so wordy... with "there had been" or "being crippled."

How does this phrase modify the noun Horace? If you don't add a word to show the contrast (i.e. Despite or In spite of); there wouldn't be a logical link between the phrase and the main clause.

Please your comments.
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I have the same doubt. I chose B only because I felt the sentence needed some logical link. Some contrast.
E is clearly the best answer grammatically but shouldn't there be a link ? Despite having his hand crippled, H held the brush with his right hand.
Can someone explain ?
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 11 Sep 2021, 21:50
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Use of His before Noun is looking incorrectly as per my knowledge
Please can anybody help with this topic.
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 13 Sep 2021, 10:02
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Correct option : E

This SC question needs to be tagged under Modifier.

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

With one Bullet, A, B, and D can be eliminated for use of present participle of "TO BE" being
C is eliminated because of "Becasue" usage, Worng tense use of "Had been", and Wordy

Remaining is E , the complete phrase modifiy <His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War> Horace Pippin
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 27 Sep 2021, 13:37
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egmat

In option E, isn't construction wrong?

His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

Now doesn't it contain two IC?

1st IC- His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
2nd IC- Horace Pippin worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

So shouldn't they be connected with a semicolon or a ", + FANBOY"?

Or are they both not IC? If not can you help me understand, that why they are not IC?

Thanks
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 31 May 2022, 06:55
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GMATNinja egmat

I understand the problem of C, but could you elaborate the absolute phrase in E?
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 31 May 2022, 14:32
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bojunk

An absolute phrase is a modifier consisting of a noun and its own modifier. So "His arm crippled" just adds clarifying detail to the following clause. Why did Pippin use his brush in this way? Because his arm was crippled by a bullet.

It's important to note that this phrase is NOT a clause. "His arm" is not the subject of the sentence; it's just part of a modifier.
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 01 Jun 2022, 04:45
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Incidentally, our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Absolute modifiers, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 20 Jun 2022, 10:03
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EducationAisle
Incidentally, our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Absolute modifiers, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Can I have that detail? I have never heard about Absolute Modifiers before.

I used to read sentences similar to this : Horace Pippin, his right hand and arm crippled by a bullet, worked by ...... .
But can his right hand.... come before "Horace Pippin" ?
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 26 Oct 2022, 07:25
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@GMATNinja can you please share an example or two explaining the "BEING" rule further? It has been mentioned multiple times across the thread but still not able to wrap my head around it.

Thanks :)
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri 24 Oct 2023, 13:30
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Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

Option Elimination -

(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War - "being" used as a modifier is wrong as it wrongly conveys that the right hand and arm are being crippled as we speak. This happened long ago, during the First World War, not now. Avoid the use of "being" as a modifier. Generally wrong on GMAT (except when used as a noun/noun phrase such as Being punctual is an essential trait in the business world/The philosophy course explores the nature of being (here the nature of being refers to the philosophical inquiry into existence and reality) or passive continuous verb such as - The car is being repaired by the mechanics).

(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War - I know this sounds pretty interesting as it presents the contrast, but we have the same issue of being.

(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm - "Because" introduces a subordinate adverbial clause that modifies the subject and a verb in the following clause, i.e., Horace Pippin worked...It gives a weird meaning: "Because there had been a bullet...., Horace Pippin worked. Not good.

(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War - the same issue of being.

(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War - At first, this sounds very weird, but if we look closely, it's just a modifier that is modifying Horace Pippin. So here we have two modifiers for "Horace Pippin." One after and one before. This is usually done to avoid confusion because if put both modifiers after "Horace Pippin," it'll look bizarre: Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, his right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War...Another issue with noun modifiers is that we must put them as close to the noun they modify, unlike the adverbials. So, the best solution here is to add one noun modifier before and put another one after the noun.
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