Watching Jonathan Demme's 2004 documentary "The Agronomist" is both a

My answer is (E). It took me 58 seconds.

(A) "Both" should be paired with "And“, not "As well as".
(B) The sentence's subject (Watching Jonathan Demme's 2004 documentary "The Agronomist") is singular.
(C) See above.

(DE) do not contain evident issues. The only difference between (D) and (E) are the "very" in "D". I have to say that an actual GMAT question would not present such a split. But we can come up with several reasons against the use of "very".
<1> "very" is a hugely overused word. To the untrained ears, "very provocative" and "provocative" invoke similar emotional response. In that case, "very" is redundant.
<2> To be parallel with “a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past“, in which no adverb is used to emphasize intensity of the speedy crash course or the tumultuous past, we may get the hint and be reluctant to throw in ”very“.

Ultimately, the sentence writer may claim that (D) can be easily eliminated because (A) does not use "very". Such argument should be rejected though because each version should be evaluated independently. (A) does not necessarily present a view that matches the so-called intended meaning.

A. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative
both X and Y is the correct idiom. Eliminate

B. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative
both X and Y is the correct idiom. Eliminate

C. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative
documentary is singular and don't agree with linking verb 'are'. Eliminate

D. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a very provocative
'a crash course' is not parallel with 'a very provocative'. Eliminate

E. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative
Fixes all the issues in the earlier options and grammatically correct.

So E is the best answer choice.

Correct Option E

Watching Jonathan Demme's 2004 documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens

Sentence Exam on:
- SV Agreement
- Idiom Both X and Y

both X and Y is parallel structure, and both elements are regarded equally.
X as well as Y X is the main focus and Y is an afterthought, of secondary importance
they are definitely not presented rhetorically as equals.
This second structure is NOT parallelism.

Both X and Y - has to be parallel and equally important
X = a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past
Y = a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens

Eliminate A, and B, based on above knowledge.

A. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - Wrong
B. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - Wrong

Eliminate C - SV Agreement flaw
"The Agronomist" - Singular and verb used "are"
C. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative - Wrong

Eliminate D - Parallelism flaw and use of very adjective before provocative
D. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a very provocative - Wrong

Correct Answer E
E. documentary "The Agronomist" is both
- a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and
- a provocative

Watching Jonathan Demme's 2004 documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens


A. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - the structure of the 'idiom' (not sure if its an idiom lol) - both x... And Y, here its both... as well as.. - hence eliminated.
B. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - the subject is singular and hence 'is' is the appropriate verb and not 'are', - hence eliminated.
C. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative- the subject is singular and hence 'is' is the appropriate verb and not 'are', - hence eliminated.
D. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a very provocative - Perfect but the word 'Very' changes the meaning of the sentence. - hence eliminated.
E. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative - Looks perfect!

It took me 44secs to solve

Watching Jonathan Demme's 2004 documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens


A. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - Idiom is Both X and Y
B. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past as well as a provocative - SV ERROR
C. documentary "The Agronomist" are both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative - SV ERROR
D. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a very provocative - Use of word "very" is redundant
E. documentary "The Agronomist" is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative - Correct

Posted from my mobile device

Not clear as to why "is" is correct here? shouldn't "BOTH" be preceded by "are" since "both" is plural?

Hello VelvetThunder,

We hope this finds you well.

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

You are correct that "both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative visit" is a plural noun phrase, however, this phrase is the object of the sentence, not the subject. The subject of the sentence - the "doer" of the action "is" - is the action of "Watching", which is singular.

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