In his anthology of prose pieces titled Sketches by Boz, Charles Dicke

I did not choose A because "vividly depict" and "focus particularly" did not seem parallel. One element has [adverb] + [verb] and the other [verb] + [adverb]. Can anyone tell me why this is considered parallel? Am I just supposed to focus on verbs in such cases?

I second your thought.

I could eliminate all but D. Chose D at the end.

My analysis for this question is as follows:

A. several essays that not only vividly depict life on the streets of Victorian London but also focus particularly on the perils faced by children

Charles Dickens published several essays...not only vividly depict..but also focus..seems parallel and no other errors. so I kept it aside to check other choices.

B. several essays vividly depicting life not only on the streets of Victorian London but also focusing particularly on the perils faced by children who had been

The essays by Charles are depicting life not only on streets...but also focusing..This seems not correct as one would expect not only on streets but also on river side or something like that. This is changing the meaning and so not correct

C. not only several essays that vividly depict life on the streets of Victorian London but also focus particularly on the perils faced by children who were

same mistake as in B here: not only several essays..but also focus. I would expect not only several essays but also poems. so C is out.

D. several essays that vividly depict life on the streets of Victorian London and that focus particularly on the perils faced by children who had been

Here the not only..but also idiom is removed, everything seems to be correct, except the part ...children who had been.
The not underlined part of the sentence has "children who had been forced to work in factories when their parents were jailed for being unable to repay their debts." There is no need of pastperfect tense here. so D is out.


E. not only several essays in which life on the streets of Victorian London is vividly depicted but also they focus particularly on the perils faced by children

Has similar mistake as in C.

So A is correct answer.