In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the garden at Giverny

Question

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the garden at Giverny became the focal point of  Claude Monet's artistic endeavors, one of the French Impressionists .

A. Claude Monet's artistic endeavors, one of the French Impressionists

B. Claude Monet's, one of the French Impressionists, artistic endeavors

C. the artistic endeavors of Claude Monet, one of the French Impressionists

D. the artistic endeavors of Claude Monet's, one of the French Impressionists

E. one of the French Impressionists, Claude Monet's artistic endeavors

generis · Accepted Answer

Major issues tested: modifier placement (including an appositive) and 
the construction of possessive phrases.

The issues are subtle. 
Like parallelism, modifier placement takes more time to analyze than "one word" errors.

Eliminate answers that may involve modifier misplacement but also involve possessive case problems.

Split #1: POSSESSIVE case on the GMAT

Possessive case 
Possession or belonging is indicated in one of two ways, but not both in the same sentence

• first way: use   of NOUN   or   of NAME  
If you use OF, do not add   apostrophe + s

Correct:  actions OF heroic soldiers • unpublished works OF Hemingway • emotions OF a child 
 
• second way:   or   + object
Correct:  Ethiopia's first woman president • Etienne's address • their house

The sentence refers to "artistic efforts" of Claude Monet
  On the GMAT, we can use "of Monet" or "Monet's,"     but not both.

• B:   the focal point  of  Claude  Monet's , one of the French Impressionists
Correct:  the garden became the focal point of Claude Monet 
Correct:  the garden became Claude Monet's focal point 
  WRONG  : using both OF and Monet'S

• D) artistic endeavors   of   Claude  Monet's 
Same problem as that in B

Eliminate B and D

Split #2: MISPLACED MODIFIERS

In general, a noun modifier should be as close as possible to the noun it modifies
The modification must make sense. These modifiers are  appositives .

Appositives 
• an appositive renames or gives more information about a noun that is right next to the appositive
Every answer contains an appositive.
Ex:  Jenna, a frustrated consumer,  spoke with  Susan P., a customer service representative.

Bob the cat, my father's only pet,  likes anchovies.
 
A)  one of the French Impressionists  incorrectly modifies  endeavors 
An endeavor is not a French Impressionist painter

E)  Claude Monet's endeavors  incorrectly modifies  the French Impressionists. 
French Impressionists (artists) are not endeavors.

By POE, the correct answer is C

Check (C)

Strip the sentence.
The  garden  at G. became the  focal point   of  the artistic  efforts of Monet ,   one of the  French Impressionists .

The phrase  one of the French Impressionists  is an appositive phrase that correctly modifies Monet 
-- Claude Monet was indeed a French Impressionist
-- I have inserted "who was" to demonstrate what the APPOSITIVE structure implies

A special garden became the focal point of artistic works of Monet,   one of the French Impressionists.
That works.

ANSWER C

P.S.  the garden at Giverny

taha1234 · Answer

Official Explanation

The sentence contains a modification problem. It appears in the sentence that the "artistic endeavors" are "one of the French Impressionists." The modifying phrase must be closer to the noun that it is modifying ("Claude Monet").

(A) is incorrect, because the original sentence contains an error.

(B) is incorrect because the garden became a "focal point" of the artistic endeavors, not of "Claude Monet's."

(C) fixes the modification error by placing the modifying phrase close to its subject, so this choice appears to be correct.

(D) fixes the modification error, but it introduces a new problem: "the artistic endeavors of" does not require a possessive noun, so the use of "Monet's" is incorrect.

(E) has swapped out one modification error for another: the modifying phrase "Monet's artistic endeavors" is now modifying "one of the French Impressionists."

(C) is therefore correct.

TAKEAWAY: A modifying phrase needs to be as close to its subject as possible to avoid ambiguity.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the garden at Giverny

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the garden at Giverny

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