Sentence Correction

The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons of American literature, greatly beloved by generations past and present.
A The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons
B Herman Melville the author and Walt Whitman the poet are icons
C The author named Herman Melville and the poet named Walt Whitman are great icons
D The author, Herman Melville, and the poet, Walt Whitman, are icons
E Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, had been icons

whats wrong in B. OA A

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Study essential and non essential modifiers. In choice B, "the author" and "the poet" would be non-essential modifiers and would require commas. In order for option B to be grammatically correct it would have to be written as:

"Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, are icons"

Agree with Osirus..comma makes the difference.