First glance -- make sure that the opening modifier is logically correct. "is" and "are" signal at the end of the underline. Make sure to identify the correct number of the subject.


(A) it was psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are illogical opening modifier subject -- must be the antecedent of "his" - Eliminate.

(B) it was the assertion of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is illogical opening modifier subject -- must be the antecedent of "his" - Eliminate.

(C) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is illogical opening modifier subject -- must be the antecedent of "his" - this subject "assertion" -- not "Bruno" Eliminate.

(D) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are Incorrect subject-verb agreement with "are". "Nature" is singular -- should be "is". Eliminate.

(E) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually Correct

HI,

Actually if you look closely, in option C, usage of HIS for psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion may be ambiguous, but the more glaring error is that this noun-psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion- does not have a verb.

Regards,
Rachit

In his Uses of Enchantment (1976), it was psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development.

(A) it was psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are

(B) it was the assertion of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is

(C) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is

(D) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are

(E) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually

Hi vasuca10! Happy to clarify! (Though I assume you meant to ask why (E) is *correct* )

In the portion of the sentence at hand: psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually [an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development] we're looking for what "is actually an instructive reflection." Here, the nature of many fairy tales is actually an instructive reflection, so we're looking to agree to the singular term "nature."

If you were uncertain of the logic behind this agreement, you can always take a moment to "slash and burn," or learn to read past, modifying language to get at the core of the agreement in the sentence. In this case, "of many fairy tales" modifies nature, and "of a child's natural and unnecessary killing off of successive phases in his or her own development" modifies reflection. So we could simplify this portion of the sentence to read:

the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development

This makes it easy to see that the verb phrase "is actually an instructive reflection" should agree with the singular "nature."

In general, it's important to look out for modifiers, not only when they're actively being tested in a SC example, but also when they're being employed to distract us from the agreement at hand by placing modifying phrases between the verb at hand and its corresponding subject.

I hope this helps!

D. In his Uses of Enchantment (1976), psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development.

E. In his Uses of Enchantment (1976), psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development.

Can I knock out choice D by seeing the word 'an' , which forces us to use 'is' (not are) as 'an' indicate something singular, in the non-underlined part?

GMATNinja egmat

If option D used "is" instead of "are", wont that still be incorrect.

Shouldn't actually modify "An instructive reflection........" and not "The nature of many fairy tales"

GMATNinja

This is about the last question i had posted.
The question is about option D only.

As per elimination there is SV agreement error in that option. But even if that is fixed, i.e., Replacing "are" with "is", wont that still be incorrect due to the misplacement of the modifier "actually". IMO "Actually" should modify "An instructive reflection"
Placed before "is" it modifies the verb "is" but placed after "is" it modifies the "adjective phrase". Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

A similar OG sentence:

In 1982 the median income for married-couple families with a wage-earning wife was $9,000 more than a family where the husband only was employed.


(A) a family where the husband only

(B) of a family where only the husband

(C) that for families in which only the husband

(D) a family in which only the husband

(E) those of families in which the husband only

A similar sentence in which the placement of "only" changes the intended meaning of the sentence.

In his Uses of Enchantment (1976), it was psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are an instructive reflection of a child’s natural and necessary “killing off” of successive phases in his or her own development.

(A) it was psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are

(B) it was the assertion of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is

(C) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s assertion that what is apparently the cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually is

(D) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales actually are

(E) psychologist Bruno Bettelheim asserted that the apparently cruel and arbitrary nature of many fairy tales is actually

Hey GMATNinja,

Is it always true that the part which comes immediately after the comma must be about the main referrant to which the part that comes before the comma is talking about?

I used above to eliminate A, B and also C as C is also talking about the assertion and not the doer.

Posted from my mobile device

Hey GMATNinja,

Is it always true that the part which comes immediately after the comma must be about the main referrant to which the part that comes before the comma is talking about?

I used above to eliminate A, B and also C as C is also talking about the assertion and not the doer.

Posted from my mobile device

Generally, yeah, it's fair to say that if a sentence opens with a noun modifier, the correct answer will put the noun immediately after. But I'd be careful about that "always," as this isn't a rule. For example:

"Tired of the screaming, sick of the incessant complaining, Tim's wife asked Tim to be quiet, since he was somehow way louder than the kids."

Notice that this sentence opens with two noun modifiers, both describing Tim's wife. Seems logical to me. And while I can't think of an official question that uses this construction, it also isn't technically wrong.

All to say: what you did in this question is 100% valid. Just be careful about inventing strict rules.

I hope that clears things up!

I recall from one of your earlier answers that it is not a cool idea to have non-referent pronouns (like, it) and we don't generally see them on the correct answer choices. I used that to eliminate A and B.