In her 1851 magazine series, later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom

In her 1851 magazine series, later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause.

(A) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

(B) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery further, and the abolitionist cause

(C) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

(D) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery, furthering the abolitionist cause

(E) which had later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

Choices A and D include a modifier error with "later becoming...", as it is unclear whether that modifier refers to the magazine series or to Stowe herself.

This problem is rectified in choices B, C, and E with the clear relative pronoun "which", which has to refer to "series".


Choices B and D make the mistake of having the modifier "In her 1851 magazine series" refer to "Stowe's mission" - in these choices, Stowe herself is never introduced as the subject, as "Stowe's" is only a description of the mission.

Choice E includes a verb tense error, as the past-perfect "had become" would set "Stowe sought to (in her 1851 series)" later in time than "had become" - a sequence incompatible with the term "later" already assigned to "become".
As this tense/timeline is illogical and incompatible, E is incorrect, and
C is the correct answer.

OFFICIAL SOLUTION by Veritas:

Choices A and D include a modifier error with "later becoming...", as it is unclear whether that modifier refers to the magazine series or to Stowe herself. This problem is rectified in choices B, C, and E with the clear relative pronoun "which", which has to refer to "series".
Choices B and D make the mistake of having the modifier "In her 1851 magazine series" refer to "Stowe's mission" - in these choices, Stowe herself is never introduced as the subject, as "Stowe's" is only a description of the mission.
Choice E includes a verb tense error, as the past-perfect "had become" would set "Stowe sought to (in her 1851 series)" later in time than "had become" - a sequence incompatible with the term "later" already assigned to "become". As this tense/timeline is illogical and incompatible, E is incorrect, and C is the correct answer.

Harriet Beecher should be the subject as the modifier tells about her magazine series. So B and D are eliminated.
From A, C, E,
A - later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin....what is later becoming is not clear. There should be which ...
C and E are similar except in one the use of would and in other past participle had.

The use of had is incorrect. had should be used for an event which has happened previous to another event. But in this case the 1851 magazine series would later become the famous novel. So, would is appropriate here as from the 1851 series perspective, it will become novel in future...So, had is incorrect and would is appropriate here.

Answer should be C.

Can you please explain the soln of this? Why E is the correct option ? daagh.

Thanks!

Priya
Why do you say E is the correct answer. It is not because of the past perfect' had become'. C is the correct one.

In her 1851 magazine series, later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause.

POE:
Eliminate (B) & (D) - modifier error; 'Harriet Beecher Stowe's mission is wrongly modifying her in the sentences'
Eliminate (A) - tense error; past tense is required
Eliminate (E) - uses of double past is wrong

(A) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

(B) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery further, and the abolitionist cause

(C) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause - CORRECT

(D) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery, furthering the abolitionist cause

(E) which had later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

C. Choices A and D include a modifier error with "later becoming...", as it is unclear whether that modifier refers to the magazine series or to Stowe herself. This problem is rectified in choices B, C, and E with the clear relative pronoun "which", which has to refer to "series".

Choices B and D make the mistake of having the modifier "In her 1851 magazine series" refer to "Stowe's mission" - in these choices, Stowe herself is never introduced as the subject, as "Stowe's" is only a description of the mission.

Choice E includes a verb tense error, as the past-perfect "had become" would set "Stowe sought to (in her 1851 series)" later in time than "had become" - a sequence incompatible with the term "later" already assigned to "become". As this tense/timeline is illogical and incompatible, E is incorrect, and C is the correct answer.

In her 1851 magazine series, later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause.

(A) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause -- not sure what later is modifying in the sentence

(B) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery further, and the abolitionist cause -- subject is incorrect

(C) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

(D) later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s mission was to portray the impact of slavery, furthering the abolitionist cause -- subject is incorrect

(E) which had later become the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause -- past perfect tense is incorrect here.

Hi,

Can anyone please explain more about why 'A' is wrong.

AjiteshArun sir,
Why is option A incorrect?
"Later becoming" should logically modify "magazine series".
It cannot refer to anything else.

Please explain.

Thanks

Hi krndatta,

I think they're trying to test ambiguity here. That is, in {element}, {modifier}, {element}, it isn't possible for us to be absolutely sure what {modifier} refers to. The correct option uses a modifier that refers to a noun before it, and is therefore clearer. That said, you may want to tag one of the Veritas instructors here, as this seems to be a Veritas question.

Also, you may want to take a look at this official question.

(C) which would later become the famous novel Uncle Tom???s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause
(E) which had later become the famous novel Uncle Tom???s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause
(F) which later became the famous novel Uncle Tom???s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause

Given these 3 options wherein if i add option F which has simple past tense only to refer to both the events, is it correct?
Do we necessarily have to use past perfect to refer to 2 different events in the past? since "later" is mentioned if we only use simple past with both events and it would still keep the meaning intact

The correct option is C by the way and option C does not use past perfect.

Past perfect is used to depict the earlier of the two events, while option E uses past perfect with later.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Past perfect tense, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Hello PalkinGarg,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your Option F is correct.

Further, Option E is actually incorrect due to its use of the past perfect tense verb "had...become", as the answer choice uses it to refer to the latter of the two actions; remember, if a sentence refers to two actions that concluded in the past, the helping verb "had" is used to refer to the earlier of the actions.

Additionally, Option C is entirely correct in not using the past perfect tense, as the use of "later" conveys the order of the events; remember, if the sentence conveys the order of events through words such as "later" or the mention of times or dates, the past perfect tense is not needed, though not incorrect either.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

i WAS STUCK IN OPTION A AND C .... PLEASE TELL ME MORE ON INg MODIFIER MISTAKE IN OPTION A OR KINDLY PROVIDE ALINK FROM WHERE I CAN STUDY TE LACK IN MY CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINg ,,,,, AS PER ME IN OPRTION A USAgE OF BECOMINg HAS NO ERROR ,,,, PLEASE HELP

Hello kakakakaak,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in Option A due to the construction of the modifying phrase "later becoming the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin", it is unclear whether the phrase modifies the preceding noun - "magazine series" - or the following clause - "Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to portray the impact of slavery and further the abolitionist cause"; in the latter case, the construction would illogically suggest that Harriet Beecher Stowe later became the famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Another way to look at this error is that Option A incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "becoming" in this sentence); present participles refer to actions that are ongoing in nature, whether in the past, present, or future and in this sentence, the action of the magazine series becoming a famous novel is not an ongoing one; it is an action that concluded in the past that is referred to from a point even further in the past, so the appropriate tense form is "would + base form of verb"; remember, "would + base form of verb" is used to refer to a past action from a point in time further in the past; for example, "When I left, I did not realize I would be late."

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team