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Sub 505 Level|   Comparisons|                     
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 19 Oct 2020, 23:51
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If option D was 'As with Auden's, James Merrill’s language', this usage would be correct, right ?
Still, we prefer 'like' to compare 2 nouns.
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 07 Apr 2022, 10:33
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

Like (like is used for comparing nouns) Auden,
the language (subject) of James Merrill is (verb) chatty, arch, and conversational—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

issue 1 - A is compared to the language.

(B) Like Auden, James Merrill’s language
same as A

(C) Like Auden’s, James Merrill’s language
Correct - A's lang is compared to JM's lang

(D) As with Auden, James Merrill’s language
as is used to compare clauses

(E) As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill
same as D
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 02 Mar 2023, 04:15
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
eyunni
Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

(A) Like Auden, the language of James Merrill
(B) Like Auden, James Merrill’s language
(C) Like Auden’s, James Merrill’s language
(D) As with Auden, James Merrill’s language
(E) As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill
Show more

Concepts tested here: Comparisons + Awkwardness/Redundancy

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly compares "Auden" to "the language of James Merrill"; remember, a comparison should always be made between similar things.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly compares "Auden" to "James Merrill's language"; remember, a comparison should always be made between similar things.

C: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly compares "Auden's (language)" with "James Merrill's language".
2/ Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

D:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly compares "Auden" to "James Merrill's language"; remember, a comparison should always be made between similar things.

E: This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy and indirect phrases "As is Auden’s" and "the language of James Merrill", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 16 Mar 2023, 04:20
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hi eyunni,

Thank you for your question. After looking over each answer quickly, there are a couple things that jump out to me:

1. the language of James Merrill / James Merril's language
2. the beginning of each answer: Like Auden / Like Auden's / As with Auden / As is Auden's

Let's start with #1 on the list, since it might narrow down our answers a bit. If you were to say "the language of James Merrill," a reader may misread this to say that there is a language spoken ONLY by James Merrill, or that James Merrill is a LOCATION where people speak a certain language. To better show that we're talking about possession, let's stick with only the answers that clearly show possession by saying "James Merrill's language." Thus, we can rule out answers A & E.

Now that we've narrowed it down to answers B, C, & D, let's look at #2 on the list - how each answer begins. To find the correct answer, we need to find the answer that uses parallel structure, in particular with each author's name:

(B) Like Auden, James Merrill’s language (WRONG = not parallel)
(C) Like Auden’s, James Merrill’s language (CORRECT = parallel)
(D) As with Auden, James Merrill’s language (WRONG = not parallel)

As you can see, answer B is correct because it shows proper possession and uses parallel structure.
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hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal can u please explain the str of sentence specially "—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls"
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 16 Jun 2023, 02:46
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KarishmaB GMATNinja
Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

(E) As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill

Why E is incorrect?
As "Language of Auden" is, the language of JM is .... - Can we rewrite the sentence in this way?
As there is no comma given, how do I construct the sentence structure? Is "As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill...." a single IC?

Please help me to understand the sentence structure and reason to eliminate E.

Thank you for consistently helping me!
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 16 Jun 2023, 09:17
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Sneha2021
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational—given to complex syntactic flights as well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

(E) As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill

Why E is incorrect?
As "Language of Auden" is, the language of JM is .... - Can we rewrite the sentence in this way?
As there is no comma given, how do I construct the sentence structure? Is "As is Auden’s the language of James Merrill...." a single IC?

Please help me to understand the sentence structure and reason to eliminate E.

Thank you for consistently helping me!
Show more

The point is not why not (E). It is why (C)?

The parallelism is great in (C): Like Auden’s, James Merrill’s language ...
possessive for both. Clear and concise.

Look at (E):
As is Auden's' the language of James Merrill is chatty ...
Hard to understand.

I need a comma after Auden's to separate it from the main clause and Auden's uses possessive while we use 'the language of James Merrill' in the second part. Also we want to compare a language to another language. The use of 'like' will be concise and to the point.

We have a much better sentence in (C) then.
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Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and convers 29 Sep 2024, 18:41
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Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

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