Kate Chopin, an American writer of the last century, and a feminist

STEP 1 - UNDERSTANDING INTENDED MEANING

Kate Chopin, an American writer of the last century, and a feminist,
1. We are talking about Kate Chopin. The two noun phrases “an….century” and “a feminist” are connected by “and” and both are modifying the noun “Kate Chopin”.
2. So Kate Chopin was an American writer and a feminist
writing about strong independent women before such a movement existed.


1. “Writing” is not a verb for the subject “Kate Chopin” as there is no helping verb before it. Therefore “writing” is a modifier here. What is it modifying? Since there is a comma preceding “writing” it must modify the verb in a preceding clause (without the comma, “writing” would have modified “feminist”). Only, there is no clause preceding “writing”. “Writing” is placed very far away from the noun “Kate Chopin” which is now the only entity it can modify.
2. So, we have three modifiers for “Kate Chopin” but no verb in the entire sentence for the noun!! Without a Subject-Verb pair, this construction cannot be called a sentence.
3. Moreover, it seems “such a movement” refers to “strong independent women” (since it is placed beside it) although we know it must be referring to “feminist” movement.

INTENDED MEANING

1. Kate Chopin was an American writer of the last century.
2. She wrote about strong independent women.
3. So, she was a feminist before such a movement existed

STEP 2 - ELIMINATE CHOICES WITH IDENTIFIED ERRORS
The following choice/s have one or more of the errors present in Choice A.
Choice E (it is also very wordy)

STEP 3: EVALUATE MEANING OF REMAINING CHOICES

CHOICE B

Kate Chopin, an American writer of the last century, was a feminist before such a movement existed, and she wrote about strong independent women.

This sentence is grammatically correct but does not convey the intended meaning. The intended meaning is that SINCE she wrote about strong independent women, she was a feminist even before the feminist movement existed.
This choice does not convey the above. It indicates she was already a feminist and after that she wrote about strong independent women. The two things have not been connected and are shown as independent events.
Incorrect Choice.

CHOICE C
Kate Chopin, an American writer of the last century, wrote about strong, independent women and was a feminist before such a movement existed.

1. Logical
2. Clear
3. Same as the intended meaning
Correct Choice.

CHOICE D

Kate Chopin, an American writer of the last century, was writing about strong independent women and was a feminist before the existence of such a movement.

The use of the past progressive tense (was writing)is incorrect to show a past event that is over.
Also, “before the existence of such a movement” is too wordy compared to “before such a movement existed”.

Incorrect Choice.