To portray virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "

Question

To portray virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "noble savage" image, according to which the nature of a being is naive  and, therefore, noble, is following in  a long tradition of chroniclers, from Columbus to Steinbeck.
 
A) and, therefore, noble, is following in
B) and, so, noble, was following
C) and, therefore, noble, is to follow in
D) but also noble, was to follow
E) but is noble as well, is following in

raiprem123 · Answer

D is the correct answer... OA please

HBSdetermined · Answer

Well IMO, It should be C....

In C- TO portray something....blah blah...nested modifiers...is to follow in...( Its Parallelism)

If you look in terms stated above rest all will be OUT... for D-'but also' is awkward here moreover in GMAT it is usually used along with NOT ONLY... moreover the preposition 'in' is required which does not lead to ambiguous meaning!

surya167 · Answer

Confused between C and D .. C has a problem of "follow in" while D has 2 problems.. one is Past (Was) and second is "But Also" without "Not Only"
2 Errors > 1 Error.. Hence, I would vote for C as it maintains parallelism.

"To Potray" in original statement is parallel to "to follow"

Phoenix72 · Answer

IMO -A

This is a tough n confusing one. OA please?

vinayparamanand · Answer

OA should C. The underlined portion should start with and, therefore..only 3 options use this A B C

A is wrong as it is.

We need to here to show connectivity and flow..hence C is better among the rest.

HarishLearner · Answer

I will go for C, because "follow in" is correct idiom and tense. By the way, what is the parallelism in C?

blueseas · Answer

LINKING VERBS acts as a parallelism marker.

HERE LINKING VERB IS :  IS

THEREFORE both sides should be parallel.
 TO PORTRAY ....is TO FOLLOW... . ===>PARALLEL.

Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

There is a nonparallel construction in this sentence because two things are being equated, but the two things are not expressed in the same form. The two parts of the sentence that must be parallel are "to portray" and "following in."

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Answer Choice (C) makes the two parallel by substituting "to follow in" for "following in."

Choice (A) is incorrect, since we identified an error in the sentence in Step 1.

Choices (B) and (E) do not make the construction parallel because they do not change "following" to "to follow."

Choice (D) changes the meaning of the sentence by substituting "but also noble" for "and, therefore, noble."

HarishLearner · Answer

Thanks. I always found parallelism difficult to spot, though I get the answer right, on the basis of sound. 
Also isn't there a tense problem? "To portray" is in present tense and "following" is present continuous?

By the way, is a parallelism error an idiomatic error or grammatical error? Can a sentence have a parallelism error but be grammatically correct? I mean the error being "purely idiomatic" or "usage error"?

avohden · Answer

When you remove the modifiers in the middle of the sentence its easier to see the parallelism.

To portray virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "noble savage" image, according to which the nature of a being is naive and, therefore, noble, is following in a long tradition of chroniclers, from Columbus to Steinbeck.

To portay ...is following --- doesn't follow parallelism.

C)  and, therefore, noble,  is to follow in

To portay ... is to follow in --- correctly present the sentence in a parallel structure.

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo C 
 
 The correct is "To x is to Y "

A is wrong as it does not use correct idiom

B same as A and past tense is used 
C correct 
D correct idiom but the sentence is in past and it changes meaning 
E wrong idiom

chesstitans · Answer

stuck with C and D.
D is not correct b/c it does not have "not only"
C still keeps the original meaning intact.

ruchik · Answer

Official Explanation: 
Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

There is a nonparallel construction in this sentence because two things are being equated, with the word "is," but the two things are not expressed in the same form. The two parts of the sentence that must be parallel are "to portray" and "following in."

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

(A), (B), and (C) begin with "and," which continues the direction of the sentence, while (D) and (E) use "but," which sets up a contrast in direction.

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Choice (A) is incorrect based on the parallelism error identified above.

The original meaning of the sentence does not support a contrast, so (D) and (E) can be eliminated.

(B) doesn't make the construction parallel because it doesn't change "following" to "to follow." In any case, the switch to a past tense verb doesn't make sense.

(C) makes the two parts of the sentence parallel by substituting "to follow in" for "following in." This is the correct answer.

TAKEAWAY: Even though an answer choice may fix the original sentence's grammatical error, if it changes the sentence's meaning, it's wrong.

DeeRocket · Answer

I could not understand the meaning of the sentence (considering C is the correct answer).

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  DeeRocket ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can help resolve your doubt.

If we remove all the extra information conveyed through the phrase "according to which the nature of a being is naive and, therefore, noble", we get the core meaning of the sentence- that the act of portraying virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "noble savage" image involves following in a long tradition of chroniclers; the construction "infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb")" conveys that the the first action involves or is the equivalent of the second.

The extra information is conveyed through the modifying phrase "according to which the nature of a being is naive and, therefore, noble", which acts upon "noble savage" image", conveying that as per the "noble savage" image, the fundamental nature of a being is naive, and therefore the nature is also noble.

The complete sentence also modifies "long tradition of chroniclers" with "from Columbus to Steinbeck", implying that this tradition extends from Columbus to Steinbeck.

Thus, the complete meaning of the sentence is that the act of portraying virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "noble savage" image involves following in a long tradition of chroniclers; this tradition extends from Columbus to Steinbeck, and according to the "noble savage" image, the fundamental nature of a being is naive, and therefore the nature is also noble.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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To portray virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "

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To portray virtue as a function of simplicity by using the "

Prep Toolkit

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My Rewards