Like Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell believed that the archetypal story of

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Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the archetypal story of the hero who ventures from the safety of his village, endures many trials and triumphs, and returns with knowledge or goods that will save or enlighten his people, is part of the collective unconscious of all humankind.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Grammatical Construction

• Semicolons are used for joining two independent clauses.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun phrase "story of the hero" with the singular noun "is". Further, Option A acts upon the independent noun "story of the hero" with the active verb "is" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Additionally, Option A uses the clause "story of the hero...is part of the collective unconscious of all humankind", conveying the intended meaning - that the archetypal story of the hero who ventures from the safety of his village, endures many trials and triumphs, and returns with knowledge or goods that will save or enlighten his people, is part of the collective unconscious of all humankind. Moreover, Option A avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option B, as it employs no semicolons.

B: This answer choice incorrectly inserts a semicolon into the independent clause "the archetypal story of the hero...is part of the collective unconscious of all humankind"; please remember, semicolons are only used to join two independent clauses, meaning it cannot be used in the middle of an independent clause.

C: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "story" with the plural verb "are".

D: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "are" is a part of the modifying phrase "who are the collective unconscious of all humankind", there is no active verb to act upon the subject noun phrase "story of the hero". Further, Option D incorrectly refers to the noun "people" with the phrase "who are the collective unconscious of all humankind", incorrectly implying that the people of the story's hero are part of the collective unconscious of all humankind; the intended meaning is that the [b]story[/b] of the hero is part of the collective unconscious of all humankind; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

E: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "being" is a noun modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject noun phrase "story of the hero".

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Usage of Periods and Semicolons" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team