Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the

The reply above has addressed most of your questions. I'll just add a quick point.

This (pronoun reference through parallelism) is not really a "rule". Think of it as a "signal" (to the reader). Sometimes the parallelism helps your reader understand what you are trying to refer to. Sometimes it doesn't. For example:

It may not be the healthiest food, but chocolate remains part of his diet.

Here it is reasonably easy to understand that the it refers to chocolate.

In these situations, check whether there is a better option. Don't try to start solving a question by looking at pronoun ambiguity issues (ambiguity should be kept for later, after the more "sure" concepts).

Apples are red and they grow in Washington state.

But it is INCORRECT to say:

They are red and apples grow in Washington state.

We can only switch to the pronoun AFTER the subject (apples) has been mentioned. We can't substitute the pronoun into the first independent clause.

Does that help clear things up here? If not, let me know
-Carolyn

Can you please tell me if this phrase "A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden" is a Appositive Modifier?

... But can someone please explain why option A is incorrect.

Hi, I have certain doubts in below options. Please review my understanding below.

(C) Selma Lagerl??f was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and in 1909 she became the first woman in addition to the first Swedish writer winning

??? when I compared this option with d], both of them made same sense of meaning to me. The major difference I note here is of 'ing verbal-winning' describing the Swedish writer who is Selma only.
??? Although, when I try to speak the sentence, I do get a feeling of incompleteness and 'to win' sounds better.
Just wanted to be sure instead of going by the feel of it

??? Does meaning changes because of giving additional info through the use of -ing modifiers


(D) A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, Selma Lagerl??f became in 1909 the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win

(E) As a novelist, Selma Lagerl??f turned away from literary realism and wrote romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 becoming the first woman and also the first Swedish writer that won

??? will this option be correct if we use 'who' instead of 'that'. My doubt is that 'becoming' is a verbal and option D] uses verb 'became'. Although meaning wise both looks same to me.

There are some meaning issues in the (A) version. The clearest one is in this part of the sentence.

in 1909 Selma Lagerlöf was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Notice that the boldfaced portion communicates that Selma Lagerlöf "became the first woman," as if she somehow became the first woman to exist. Of course, this meaning is nonsensical since Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist in 1909, long after the first woman existed.

Part of the reason why this version conveys that nonsensical meaning is that it uses the wording "who became the first woman AND was also the first to win ...."

We see that the sentence does not convey that Selma Lagerlöf "became the first woman to win."

Rather, it separates the idea that she "became the first woman" from the idea that she "was the first to win," using "and" to connect the two events in list form. It thus communicates that she did two separate things, "became the the first woman" and "was the first to win."

Hi,

in choice E]

isn't the phrase ( after replacing 'THAT' with 'WHO')
''in 1909 becoming the first woman and also the first Swedish writer who won'' is a modifier giving details about the novelist.


is there any other issue except 'who' v/s 'that'

Dear friends,

Here is a detailed explanation for this question -

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Verb Forms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings.
• The infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing") for referring to the purpose/intent of action.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “becoming” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrases "Turning away from literary realism...northern Sweden" and "was the novelist who became the first woman"; the construction of these phrases illogically implies that Selma Lagerlöf was the first women in existence because she turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and as a separate action, in 1909, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Further, Option A uses the passive voice construction "was the novelist who became", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the nouns "woman" and "writer" with the pronoun "that"; please remember, "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and wrote romantic stories...Sweden"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that turning away from literary realism and writing romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden were two separate actions taken by Selma Lagerlöf; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden.

C: Trap. This answer choice uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "winning" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action "became the first woman in addition to the first Swedish writer"; please remember, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing") for referring to the purpose/intent of action. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy constructions "in addition to" and "Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist...", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun errors seen in Options B and E, as it does not use a pronoun to refer to the nouns "woman" and "writer". Further, Option D uses the phrases "A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories...Sweden", "became...the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win", conveying the intended meaning - that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and as a separate action, in 1909, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Additionally, Option D uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + win" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action "became...the first woman and also the first Swedish writer". Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the nouns "woman" and "writer" with the pronoun "that"; please remember, "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings. Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and wrote romantic stories...Sweden"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that turning away from literary realism and writing romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden were two separate actions taken by Selma Lagerlöf; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden. Moreover, Option E further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "in 1909 becoming"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "becoming" in this sentence)" construction incorrectly implies that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and as a result, in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and as a separate action in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “becoming” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team