In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked c

Question

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand  as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself

(B) as either substitutes nor symbols for anything else

(C) neither as substitutes nor symbols for anything other than themselves

(D) as substitutes or symbols for anything else

(E) as substitutes or as symbols in place of something else

Source:  Master GMAT

DanTe02 · Answer

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself
anything outside itself is redudant ; D is better

(B) as either substitutes nor symbols for anything else
either or is the correct usage

(C) neither as substitutes nor symbols for anything other than themselves
changes the meaning the non underlined portion mentioned rarely. So this one says kinda the opposite

(D) as substitutes or symbols for anything else
Short crisp concise

(E) as substitutes or as symbols in place of something else
The use of double as is wrong here to show ||sm

Mona2019 · Answer

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself
 Incorrect  
 D is better 
 
(B) as either substitutes nor symbols for anything else
 Incorrect  
 parallelism issue
either nor is incorrect, either X or Y is correct

(C) neither as substitutes nor symbols for anything other than themselves
 Incorrect 
 
Neither as substitutes nor symbols is missing nor 'as' symbols

(D) as substitutes or symbols for anything else
 Correct  
 X or Y parallelism is right , anything else conveys the intended meaning without being wordy.

(E) as substitutes or as symbols in place of something else
 Incorrect 
 Symbols in place is not right

chillbrorelax · Answer

I think "itself" in option A is incorrect pronoun used to address stories.

In option D, the intended meaning is conveyed clearly: stories rarely stand  as substitutes or symbols for anything else  (but themselves).

jrk23 · Answer

i have the same question, is the usage of "itself" is correct here in option A.

anyone please explain.

winterschool · Answer

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside  itself   Incorrect

SV error- whose is plural whereas itself singular

(B) as  either  substitutes  nor  symbols for anything else  Incorrect

...either......or ..... - correct idioms

(C)  neither as  substitutes  nor  symbols for anything other than themselves  Incorrect

parallelism error - .....neither as......nor ......

(D)  as substitutes or symbols for anything else   Correct

(E) as substitutes or as symbols  in place of  something else  Incorrect

substitute for - correct idioms

Mona2019 · Answer

Whose can be plural or singular, I believe.

Posted from my mobile device

winterschool · Answer

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

modifier - whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

whose stories - main subject and plural

'itself' is wrong with 'whose stories'

hope its helpful

gmatway · Answer

HI,

use of Itself is redundant here because we are contrasting and under that contrast, we are tellin about Norse poetry rarely X for anything ELSE . 
anything else is concise and means that except itself it NP dosen't stand for other things

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked contrast to Norse poetry, whose stories rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself.

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself

(D) as substitutes or symbols for anything else

In such questions you can always check do you really need that extra word? can you do away with the word? would removing create ambiguity ?

I hope it helped!

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer is (D).

The original version incorrectly uses  itself  (instead of  themselves ) to refer to the plural antecedent  stories . Also, although  outside itself  is acceptable,  else  is also appropriate and is more concise. Choice (D) fixes both problems.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

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 meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the stories of Norse poetry rarely stand as substitutes or symbols for anything else.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel.

A:  Trap. This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "stories" with the singular pronoun "itself". Further, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase "anything outside itself", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "either A ("substitutes" in this sentence) nor B ("symbols" in this sentence)" rather than the idiomatic construction "either A or B"; please remember, "either A or B" is a correct, idiomatic usage. Further, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "either substitutes nor symbols", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "rarely stand neither as substitutes nor symbols"; the use of "neither...nor" incorrectly implies that it is rare for the stories of Norse poetry to   not   stand for something else; the intended meaning is that it   is  rare for the stories of Norse poetry to stand for something else. Further, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between A ("as substitutes") and B ("symbols") in the idiomatic construction "neither A nor B"; please remember, “neither A nor B” is a correct, idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel. Additionally, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrases "neither as substitutes nor symbols " and "anything other than themselves", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D:   Correct.  This answer choice uses the phrase "rarely stand as substitutes or symbols", conveying the intended meaning - that it is rare for the stories of Norse poetry to stand for something else. Further, Option D avoids the pronoun error seen in Option A, as it uses no pronouns. Additionally, Option C avoids the idiomatic errors seen in Options B and C, as it uses no idioms. Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E:  Trap. This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy and redundant phrase "as substitutes or as symbols in place of", leading to awkwardness; this usage is redundant, as both "substitute" and "in place of" convey the same meaning.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Either-Or" and "Neither-Nor" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MX3pZnAW2g

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(A) as substitutes or symbols for anything outside itself
outside itself is not the right usage therefore out

(B) as either substitutes nor symbols for anything else
either or is the right usage therefore out

(C) neither as substitutes nor symbols for anything other than themselves
wordy , akward and doesn't convey the right meaning therefore out

(D) as substitutes or symbols for anything else
Consice and the meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

(E) as substitutes or as symbols in place of something else
or as symbols isn't the right usage therefore out

Therefore IMO D

In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked c

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In the Sufi poetry of Asia, metaphors and symbolism abound—in marked c

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