Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when
B. in which
C. during which
D. when
E. a period during which

second part states " many successful light-hearted whodunits were written " this clearly implies the sentence is talking about time.
Hence sinc first part talks about agaths's novels, this transition should be clear in second part
thus " a period" is mandatory
This leaves us with A and E
when should to a very specific time event
during which is used to specify range
hence E is better

We have to modify "between 1920 and 1940”.

A. a period when
“when” cannot modify "between 1920 and 1940”, thus it is not preferred here.

B. in which
“in” cannot modify “between 1920 and 1940”.

C. during which
“during” can modify various things. We cannot be precisely sure what it is modifying here.

D. when
“when” cannot modify "between 1920 and 1940”, this is not preferred here.

E. a period during which
“a period” acts as an appositive. This correctly modifies "between 1920 and 1940”.

Answer E

IMO : E

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when
'a period when' is wrong because the when is only for a specific time and 'period' here acts as a noun.
B. in which
in which makes the meaning of the sentence different because the main clause is agatha.... 1940 and not 'a period....written'.
C. during which
between.... during which is incorrect.
D. when
when can be used for a specific time only but not for between an interval
E. a period during which
The time between 1920 to 1940 is a period and this 'period' is the object and during which points to the object when the whodunits were written.

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when: same as an above sentence, it should be used as "a period of time when...."
B. in which: We are talking about time duration, so cannot use in which.
C. during which: This is a proper use of the phrase, during refers to a time window and which refers to the subject/object which is used here.
D. when: Not suitable for a time window or duration of time.
E. a period during which: This is a wrong use of the phrase, it should be like "a period of time during which".

IMO the answer is C.

Please hit kudos if you like the solution.

E IMO

Following are my reasons to eliminate other options:

A. a period when
Wrong. I think "a period during which" or "a period in which" is a better phrase than "a period when". "when" is normally used for a phrase that connects two events happening at the same time.

B. in which
Incorrect, A noun is required for "in which" to refer to.

C. during which

Incorrect. Same as B, "period" is missing.

D. when

Incorrect. "period" is missing.

E. a period during which

Correct.

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

Error analysis

we must refer to the span of time between 1920 and 1940, so we need some expression that conveys that meaning, when is an indicative of a particular moment in time, so it is incorrect usage.

A. a period when - Incorrect as error analysis
B. in which - not clearly antecedent, so incorrect
C. during which - not clearly antecedent, so incorrect
D. when - referring to 1940 not the period between 1920 and 1940, so incorrect
E. a period during which - A period during which is a correct expression to refer a span of time., correct

So (E) is our answer.

Usauge of when is very awkward , it can't refer to a time between years or a period

We can't say that ,"Ghazi ruled the world when between 1800 and 1900"

A and D gone

B can refer to a particular year , we want to refer to between two year

B gone

Similarly D gone too

E is the best , refers to period perfectly

Posted from my mobile device

IMO E

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written. 

A. a period when - ”A period when” something happened is awkward, correct version is “a period during which” something happened

B. in which - ”in which” cannot refer to whole time frame between 1920 and 1940, it only points to the closest one, i.e., 1940

C. during which - ”during which” cannot refer to whole time frame between 1920 and 1940, it only points to the closest one, i.e., 1940

D. when - ”when” is incorrect, as it only points to 1940 instead of the whole time frame between 1920 and 1940

E. a period during which - Correct, properly referring to a period during which something happend

A. a period when
B. in which
C. during which
D. when
E. a period during which

B,C,D incorrect because in, during, when can not modify 1940. a period during which (during which is a modifier modifying period) correct. So, E

Posted from my mobile device

First split: "When" vs "in which" vs "during which":
the intended meaning is that AC wrote its work during an extended period of time, not at one point in the timeline,
When: first: it doesn't convey the time interval , but a certain point of time;
second: as a pronoun, it modify one noun so at best cases it will modify 1940 only. --> A,D out

in which: first: it doesn't imply the extended period of time which is intended by the meaning,
second: "which" can modify one noun, so "in which" will refer to 1940, which will mean that all the work written was in one year only; but this is not what is intended --> B out

Second split: "during which" vs " a period during which":
the noun "period" was so important for "which" to be grammatically correct.
"during which" as no clear antecedent noun to modify. it is implied that we are talking about "a period", but the noun is not there --> C out

E

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when
when refers to a period

B. in which
which can't be used for a time frame

C. during which
no antecedant for which

D. when
if you replace just when, it sounds awkward.

E. a period during which
which is correctly used for "a period"

A. a period when---when refers to a specific time
B. in which---which refers to closest noun.
C. during which-- meaning not clear
D. when---when refers to specific time
E. a period during which--correct

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when ---
B. in which ----in which modifies only 1940 and this is incorrect
C. during which --- this modifies only 1940 and this is incorrect
D. when -- using only "when" distorts the intended meaning
E. a period during which ----


between A and E, they both correctly modify "between 1920 and 1940",
but I believe E is better because this time period (20 years) is something long and "during" fits better here.

IMO E

This one is so short yet so confusing!! Heres my thought process:

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

Looks like a noun phrase modifier?? (I am working on improving my jargon )


XA. a period when
>>DURING WHICH refers to a period better than WHEN. Because it is throughout a continous period.

XB. in which
>>DURING is better because it describes an action performed throughout a continous time period.

XC. during which
>>During which looks correct, but without A PERIOD, it is not clear as to what which refers to, period? works? agatha christie? Option E seems to be better than C.

XD. when
>>DURING is better because it describes an action performed throughout a continous time period.

E. a period during which
>> THIS IS CORRECT. During which is used to describe action performed throughoit time period + a period correctly identified the period 1920 to 1940 which is being modified.


ANSWER: E

The most important part of the sentence is its non-underlined part:

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940...

Next we are going to describe a two-decade period between 1920 and 1940. If we describe this period with a period when, then we will mean that Agatha Christie wrote her best works at some point between 1920 and 1940, let’s say in 1925. A period when will refer to this exact year 1925, and mean that some of her best works were written not periodically during two decades, but exactly in 1925 (or at any other certain time point). Not the intended meaning.

If we describe a two-decade period between 1920 and 1940 with a period during which, then we mean that some of her best works were written during this two decades, let’s say one of them in 1924, the second one in 1932, the third one in 1937, etc. That’s the reason why the author points out to the time period between 1920 and 1940. In order to deliver the correct meaning we prefer a period during which to a period when.

With that in mind let’s analyze answer choices.

A. between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written

We have already thoroughly analyzed why this answer choice doesn’t deliver the intended meaning.

B. between 1920 and 1940, in which many successful light-hearted whodunits were written

Which must refer to a noun, but between 1920 and 1940 is an adverb modifying a verb wrote. Thus which doesn’t correctly modify a time period.

C. between 1920 and 1940, during which many successful light-hearted whodunits were written

Which must refer to a noun, but between 1920 and 1940 is an adverb modifying a verb wrote. Thus which doesn’t correctly modify a time period.

D. between 1920 and 1940, when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written

As in A, when doesn’t correctly emphasize a two-decade time period, but it refers to a certain point in that period. Not-intended meaning.

E. between 1920 and 1940, a period during which many successful light-hearted whodunits were written

As we have already discussed above a period during which conveys the intended meaning.

Hence E.

Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period when many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.

A. a period when
Use of when is incorrect since it is a period and not a specific time.
B. in which
Use of in which is incorrect since it is a period and not a specific time.
C. during which
during which is incorrect since it is not clear whether if refers to "1940" or "between1920 and 1940"
D. when
Use of when is incorrect since it is a period and not a specific time.
E. a period during which
Agatha Christie wrote some of her best works between 1920 and 1940, a period during which many successful light-hearted whodunits were written.
The sentence is correct and unambiguous.

IMO E

Here the underlined part, after the comma should modify the period between 1920 and 1940.

A. a period when : here the noun +noun modifier is incorrectly used because of the word when.
B. in which : this is incorrect modifier as it does not modify the period
C. during which : this is a verb modifier modifying wrote, hence there can be a meaning error.
D. when :same as A incorrect use of when.
E. a period during which :Correct as 'a period' is a noun modifying '1920 and 1940' and during which correctly modifies the period.

Hence option E