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harsh8686
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 12 Apr 2020, 02:25
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has
B) Dickens’s fiction, with its nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities, have
C) The nuanced humor and social realities’ disturbing representation in Dickens’s fiction have
D) The nuanced humor, along with disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction, has
E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have
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harsh8686
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 12 Apr 2020, 02:26
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harsh8686
In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has
B) Dickens’s fiction, with its nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities, have
C) The nuanced humor and social realities’ disturbing representation in Dickens’s fiction have
D) The nuanced humor, along with disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction, has
E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have
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Offical answer.

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harsh8686
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 12 Apr 2020, 03:04
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harsh8686
In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has
B) Dickens’s fiction, with its nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities, have
C) The nuanced humor and social realities’ disturbing representation in Dickens’s fiction have
D) The nuanced humor, along with disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction, has
E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have
Show more

Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal

My question is not about which option is correct rather about parallelism. When I saw this question, I first thought that its a replica of OG18 question 782. However, to my dismay, it wasn't so. Anyways, I am still not clear whether in the option choice E, the usage of the prepositional phrase — "in DIckens's fiction" — is correct.

The structure of the option E is [Noun] and {Noun] [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction] [verb]. However, that of choice A is [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction], [Noun A] and [Noun B] [verb]. I want to know which one is more unambiguous. Initially, I was little leery to pick E because I thought that maybe it's ambiguous but using POE, I narrowed down to E. Can you please help me with this conundrum.
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 13 Apr 2020, 13:39
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harsh8686
harsh8686
In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has
B) Dickens’s fiction, with its nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities, have
C) The nuanced humor and social realities’ disturbing representation in Dickens’s fiction have
D) The nuanced humor, along with disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction, has
E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have

Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal

My question is not about which option is correct rather about parallelism. When I saw this question, I first thought that its a replica of OG18 question 782. However, to my dismay, it wasn't so. Anyways, I am still not clear whether in the option choice E, the usage of the prepositional phrase — "in DIckens's fiction" — is correct.

The structure of the option E is [Noun] and {Noun] [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction] [verb]. However, that of choice A is [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction], [Noun A] and [Noun B] [verb]. I want to know which one is more unambiguous. Initially, I was little leery to pick E because I thought that maybe it's ambiguous but using POE, I narrowed down to E. Can you please help me with this conundrum.
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Thanks for the question harsh8686!

Since you want to focus on the differences between A & E, let's start there. From a grammar standpoint, the only main problem with option A is the subject/verb agreement issue (uses a singular "has received" for the plural subject "the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities"). While there isn't technically any problem with placing the prepositional phrase "In Dickens's fiction" in either spot, I do have a preference when it comes to ambiguity:

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

If I were told to choose between these two options, I wouldn't choose this one. Why? Because placing the phrase "In Dickens's fiction" at the beginning and ending it with a comma, you've now told writers that this is non-essential information. I would argue that it absolutely is! If I took that part of the sentence out, we now don't know WHAT the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities belongs to. I think this would be the more problematic sentence because it removes important context.

E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have received critical acclaim over the years.

By not using commas to off-set this prepositional phrase, we are forced to include it as essential information - which it is! There is not problem with the reader thinking this information is "optional," and it gives us the context we need for the rest of the sentence to make sense.

I hope that helps!

Also - we have started up the kudos contest again, so feel free to check that out HERE if you'd like to participate again!
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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 15 Apr 2020, 20:08
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harsh8686
harsh8686
In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has
B) Dickens’s fiction, with its nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities, have
C) The nuanced humor and social realities’ disturbing representation in Dickens’s fiction have
D) The nuanced humor, along with disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction, has
E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have

Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal

My question is not about which option is correct rather about parallelism. When I saw this question, I first thought that its a replica of OG18 question 782. However, to my dismay, it wasn't so. Anyways, I am still not clear whether in the option choice E, the usage of the prepositional phrase — "in DIckens's fiction" — is correct.

The structure of the option E is [Noun] and {Noun] [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction] [verb]. However, that of choice A is [prepositional phrase - in Dicken's fiction], [Noun A] and [Noun B] [verb]. I want to know which one is more unambiguous. Initially, I was little leery to pick E because I thought that maybe it's ambiguous but using POE, I narrowed down to E. Can you please help me with this conundrum.

Thanks for the question harsh8686!

Since you want to focus on the differences between A & E, let's start there. From a grammar standpoint, the only main problem with option A is the subject/verb agreement issue (uses a singular "has received" for the plural subject "the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities"). While there isn't technically any problem with placing the prepositional phrase "In Dickens's fiction" in either spot, I do have a preference when it comes to ambiguity:

A) In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities has received critical acclaim over the years.

If I were told to choose between these two options, I wouldn't choose this one. Why? Because placing the phrase "In Dickens's fiction" at the beginning and ending it with a comma, you've now told writers that this is non-essential information. I would argue that it absolutely is! If I took that part of the sentence out, we now don't know WHAT the nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities belongs to. I think this would be the more problematic sentence because it removes important context.

E) The nuanced humor and disturbing representation of social realities in Dickens’s fiction have received critical acclaim over the years.

By not using commas to off-set this prepositional phrase, we are forced to include it as essential information - which it is! There is not problem with the reader thinking this information is "optional," and it gives us the context we need for the rest of the sentence to make sense.

I hope that helps!

Also - we have started up the kudos contest again, so feel free to check that out HERE if you'd like to participate again!
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Thank you for your response :)

I thought that if we place any prepositional phrase at the beginning of the clause, then it modifies the entire clause.
For example
(1) In Louisiana, hurricanes are said to be a manifestation of God's anger.
(2) Hurricanes in Louisiana are said to be a manifestation of God's anger.

In the (1) sentence, the meaning is all hurricanes are believed to be .....
However, in the (2) sentence, only hurricanes of Louisiana are believed to be....

Similarly, I thought that in option A, "In Dickens’s fiction" is modifying the entire sentence. Please the diagram that I have made for two and let me know where is my thinking is wrong. Again, I know that option A is wrong because of sub-verb agreement as you can clearly see in the diagram but I am more concerned about the understanding of the modifier.
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File comment: Option E diagram
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.29.32 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.29.32 AM.png [ 176.55 KiB | Viewed 3423 times ]

File comment: Option A diagram
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.24.19 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.24.19 AM.png [ 150.76 KiB | Viewed 3427 times ]

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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 15 Apr 2020, 20:11
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or maybe option E can be diagramed like this. If so then is that initial modifier can't be used to eliminate answer choices?

EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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File comment: diagram of option E
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.38.26 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 8.38.26 AM.png [ 159.77 KiB | Viewed 3387 times ]

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In Dickens’s fiction, the nuanced humor and disturbing representation 07 Nov 2020, 22:56
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Why not Option C?

I was confused between C and E. I decided to go with C because option E construction led to a confusing meaning (whether the nuanced humor also modifies social realities or just the disturbing realities modifies social realities). No such confusion in C, hence chose C.

Any help?
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