KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(E)

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

The construction “both introspective explorations . . .” needs to be completed by and to be idiomatically correct, and the and must be followed by a noun that is parallel with “explorations.” Thus, “as well as” is incorrect, and so is “subverting.” Moreover, the two halves of the phrase “of cultural identity and feminine” should be in parallel form, but since “identity” is a noun and “feminine” is an adjective, this phrase is incorrect as written.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

There’s too much variation in the answer choices to group effectively, so consider them one by one.

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

Eliminate (A) for the errors identified in step 1. With “being feminine,” “that was feminine,” and “the femininity,” respectively, (B), (C), and (D) violate the parallelism of the “of cultural identity and . . .” phrase, so they can be eliminated. (B) and (D) also use “subverted,” which is not parallel with “explorations,” and (D) uses the unidiomatic “both . . . as well as.” (E) completes both parallel constructions properly, so it is the correct answer. Read it back into the sentence to confirm:

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and femininity, and subversions of traditional European portraiture.
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The original sentence is

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered
both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine,
as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

Both X and Y is correct construction.
We can eliminate choices A and D straightaway.
"explorations of a psyche" is not parallel with "subverting traditional European portraiture". The correct structure should be "subversions of traditional European portraiture".
We can eliminate choice B as well.
"a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and that was feminine" lacks parallelism . Identity should be parallel to femininity.
We can eliminate C.

E fixes all the above issues.

imo E
tough one for me to understand the meaning ..


The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

going by grammar rules both X and Y .. where X and Y are paralllel .. Only option E fits in ..

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered
both
introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and femininity,

and and subversions of traditional European portraiture.





A. feminine, as well as subverting

B. being feminine, and subverted

C. that was feminine, and subversions of

D. the femininity, as well as subverted

E. femininity, and subversions of
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The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

A. feminine, as well as subverting -> We need parallelism in "cultural identity" and "feminine". Incorrect.

B. being feminine, and subverted -> being feminine means acting as feminine, which is incorrect.

C. that was feminine, and subversions of -> "and that was"...It is incorrect, as we didn't get parallelism with "cultural identity".

D. the femininity, as well as subverted -> "the femininity" is particular femininity. Why we say so. Incorrect.

E. femininity, and subversions of -> We have parallelism in "cultural identity" and "feminine". further, "...historical notions of.." and "subversions of.." are parallel too. Let's keep it.

SO, I think E.

IMO E

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.


A. feminine, as well as subverting

B. being feminine, and subverted

C. that was feminine, and subversions of

D. the femininity, as well as subverted

E. femininity, and subversions of

Answer : E
The correct structure is Both X and Y.
However, the way, it is structured, femininity seems to be other half of both. But, going through options, none matches that tone.
femininity is part of fist half of both construction. Segregating that, only one options is concise and clear.

as well as is not the correct construction to use with both. And should be used.
feminine should be parallel with cultural identity and femininity is preferred here.


being feminine is not parallel with cultural identity.
subverted is not parallel with introspective explorations...


that was feminine is not parallel with cultural identity.


as well as is not the correct construction to go with both.
the femininity is superfluous here.


Corrects all the errors in options above.

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

Splits
Both X...and Y.... Eliminates A & D
Parallelism 1: both explorations of .... and ......ons of Eliminates B
Parallelism 2: identity and ...ty Eliminates C

A. feminine, as well as subverting

B. being feminine, and subverted

C. that was feminine, and subversions of

D. the femininity, as well as subverted

E. femininity, and subversions of

IMO E
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The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

Structure being used in the sentence is Both X And Y. Hence X and Y need to be parallel.
unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine is a modifier, so we need to keep it aside while applying Both X and Y construction.

A. feminine, as well as subverting

B. being feminine, and subverted - introspective explorations and subverted are not parallel

C. that was feminine, and subversions of - "cultural identity" and "that was feminine" are not parallel

D. the femininity, as well as subverted

E. femininity, and subversions of - "introspective explorations of a psyche" and "subversions of" are parallel. "cultural identity" and "femininity" are parallel.

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.


A. feminine, as well as subverting - Incorrect idiom - both X and Y

B. being feminine, and subverted - Incorrect - subverted is not parallel with explorations of

C. that was feminine, and subversions of - Incorrect - that was feminine is not parallel with unbounded. There should not be any pronoun before feminine

D. the femininity, as well as subverted - Incorrect idiom - both X and Y

E. femininity, and subversions of - Correct

The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.


A. feminine, as well as subverting Incorrect

correct idioms - ...............both X and Y.......

B. being feminine, and subverted Incorrect

parallelism error- ....................... identity and being feminine;
.................both introspective explorations....................and subverted............

C. that was feminine, and subversions of Incorrect

parallelism error- ....................... identity and that was feminine...........

D. the femininity, as well as subverted Incorrect

correct idioms - ...............both X and Y.......

E. femininity, and subversions of Correct

The answer is undoubtedly E. It maintains parallelism on two fronts: the first is that you need a noun that is parallel with cultural identity and the second is that you need the "and" for the idiom both X and Y.

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The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

Idiom: Both X and Y
X and Y should be parallel.
Eliminate A and D.

B. being feminine, and subverted
'cultural identity' and 'being feminine' are not parallel.

C. that was feminine, and subversions of
'cultural identity' and 'that was feminine' are not parallel.

E. femininity, and subversions of
Correct

Choice E is the answer.

Q: The self-portraits of Frida Kahlo can be considered both introspective explorations of a psyche that ranged free, unbounded by historical notions of cultural identity and feminine, as well as subverting traditional European portraiture.

(A) feminine, as well as subverting
(B) being feminine, and subverted
(C) that was feminine, and subversions of
(D) the femininity, as well as subverted
(E) femininity, and subversions of

Solution:

Idiom is ‘both…and’

So we can eliminate A, D
B – usage of being in GMAT is always wrong
C – should be femininity (noun) to be parallel to ‘notions of cultural identity’
Therefore we are left with E – parallel (femininity - notions and subversions – explorations) and idiomatic
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