Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 60 Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for youthful consumption,  the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and  as a legitimate literary genre.

A) the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and

B) the art form of the graphic novel is now gaining recognition, as is its reality

C) the graphic novel, gaining recognition not only as an art form but also

D) graphic novels are gaining recognition both as a form of artistic work and

E) recognition of the graphic novel is gaining, both as an art form and

The  best or excellent answers get kudos , which will be  awarded  after   the answer is revealed.

generis · Accepted Answer

Project SC Butler: Day 60 Sentence Correction (SC2)

Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for youthful consumption,  the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and  as a legitimate literary genre.

A) the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and 
B) the  art form  of the graphic novel is now gaining recognition,  as is its reality 
C) the graphic novel, gaining recognition not only as an art form but also    
D) graphic  novels      are gaining recognition both as  a form      of artistic work and
E)  recognition  of the graphic novel  is gaining , both as an art form and

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

• This sentence is correct as written.
The introductory phrase is correctly modifying the graphic novel, and
the comparison between graphic novels as an art form versus a literary genre is parallel

• Choices B and E incorrectly change the subject of the introductory phrase

• Choice C incorrectly removes the verb is, making the sentence incomplete

• Choice D incorrectly describes plural graphic novels as a singular art form.

The correct answer is A

COMMENTS

-- This sentence means that  a concrete noun, the graphic novel , was rejected by elitist literary critics who 
thought that the graphic novel was essentially a book for immature readers.
-- As such, literary critics suggested that the graphic novel was neither an art form (X) nor a legitimate literary genre (Y).

Meaning: Although literary critics once rejected it as immature, the graphic novel is gaining recognition as X and as Y.

• Choice B and E incorrectly change the subject of the introductory phrase 
-- A modifier that begins with a participle (past participle SHUNNED, i.e. verbED) MUST modify the subject that follows.

Option B: Art form? 
-- Which noun makes more sense? Lit crits shunned an art form? Or lit crits shunned the graphic novel?
We may need to use parallelism. 
At the end of the sentence, something is parallel to "legitimate literary genre."
That phrase is a  category , an abstract noun. "An art form" is also a category, and also an abstract noun.

-- The introductory phrase should modify  the graphic novel , not an art form

Option E: recognition? 
-- The introductory participial phrase should modify  the graphic novel , not  recognition 
-- Literary critics cannot shun  recognition  as suitable only for immature readers.
-- Wrong noun. If you missed that part: compare E's  recognition . . . is gaining  to A's  is gaining recognition 
A makes a lot more sense than E, given the two parallel items that follow.

• Choice D incorrectly describes plural graphic novels as a singular art form. 
-- Descriptors such as "an art form  " and "A legitimate literary genre" must match the noun they describe.
-- D, corrected THE graphic novel IS gaining recognition both as a form of artistic work and
(we are locked into a singular "legitimate literary genre.")

Finally, a note on "categories"  -- the GMAT tests both abstract categories and concrete things that can also be categories such as "the graphic novel," or "the sloth," or 
"the ideology of neoconservatism."

The graphic novel  is another way to say "all novels that fall under the characterization of 'graphic,'" in which many pictures are accompanied by text.

The graphic novel is both a category and a more concrete/specific noun than "art form" or "literary genre."

This question is hard. I appreciate the two who braved it and posted.

Best answer:  Yash312  . Kudos!

yash312 · Answer

Imo A

A) the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and ---correct, parallelism and modifier

B) the art form of the graphic novel is now gaining recognition, as is its reality---incorrect, modifier and parallelism error

C) the graphic novel, gaining recognition not only as an art form but also ---incorrect, no verb

D) graphic novels are gaining recognition both as a form of artistic work and---wrong, modifier error and parallelism

E) recognition of the graphic novel is gaining, both as an art form and---wrong, modifier error and parallelism

Posted from my mobile device

nitesh50 · Answer

I feel the answer should be D.

If we look at option A, it says that "the graphic novel" i.e one particular novel is gaining recognition.
Since we are talking about something that was shunned and then gained recognition as an art from, IMO it should be D.

A and D are both grammatically correct.

Regards
Nitesh

Helium · Answer

GMATNinja ,  GMATNinjaTwo ,  aragonn ,  broall ,  generis ,  hazelnut ,  Vyshak

Graphic novels are gaining recognition as a form of artistic work.

Is this sentence grammatically wrong?

Can you please elaborate more why choice (D) is incorrect?

Posted from my mobile device

aragonn · Answer

Helium  - please check comment by  generis . your doubt has been covered there.

In non-underlined part there is "as a legitimate literary genre." some some singular entity is compared with this. subject must be singular. Please read detail explanation in above post.

apple0073603 · Answer

since we have a plural verb "fit", why shouldn't we use plural form in D?

AjiteshArun · Answer

That  fit  is actually not a verb (it's a modifier).

... something  fit  only for... 
is a shorter way of saying
 ... something that  is   fit  only for...  ←  Fit  is still not a verb (  is   is the verb here)

This may be easier to see with a word that does not look like a verb:

someone  capable  of 
is a shorter way of saying
 someone who  is   capable  of  ← Again,  capable  is just an adjective.

abhishekmayank · Answer

Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for youthful consumption,  the graphic novel is now gaining recognition both as an art form and  as a legitimate literary genre.

D)  graphic novels are  gaining recognition both  as a form of artistic work and

Could expert shed light as to why the option D is wrong? I don't think that there is a SV disagreement, as pointed out in the given replies. We can surely refer the plural noun with the singular noun, such as :

Appreciations  are the  recognition  of the hard work.

AjiteshArun 
 AndrewN

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  abhishekmayank . I know what you mean, and I can think of sentences in everyday life in which someone might use a structure just like the one above—e.g.,  Bugattis are fast becoming a symbol of the elite . To be clear, I would not balk at seeing such a sentence, even if I would  prefer  it to start with  The Bugatti is...  On the GMAT™, I would expect a more conservative stance, and since (A) is not questionable in the same way, it would be better to play it safe. If you were uncomfortable making that call, though, you could always take a side-by-side comparison and ask yourself whether the extra words in (D) add anything in the way of clarity of meaning that choice (A) lacks:

Specifically, what does  a form of artistic work  add that  an art form  does not convey? Furthermore, look at the second part of the  both A and B  construct:  as a legitimate literary genre . There is perfect parallelism in  art form  and  literary genre . The balance is off between  a form of artistic work  and  literary genre . I, for one, felt more confident choosing (A) over (D).

I hope that helps. When it comes to the GMAT™, you want to choose the answer that is hardest to argue against, and clear and concise expression of meaning is more important than even subject-verb agreement.

Thank you for bringing my attention to the question.

- Andrew

abhishekmayank · Answer

Thanks  AndrewN  for the post with the detailed explanation !!

soondoobu · Answer

i do not see a grammatical error in D. can you please explain?

Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Shunned by literary critics for decades as something fit only for

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