Sentence Correction

Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational--given to complex syntactic flights are well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

A. Like Auden, the language of James Merrill
B. Like Auden, James Merrill's language
C. Like Auden's, James Merrill's language
D. As with Auden, James Merrill's language
E. As is Auden's the language of James Merrill

The OA is C

My Question : How to eliminate D and E ?

IMO C
Meaning: Auden and J.M. have similar style of languages

Like is used for comparing Nouns ( characteristics of language ,here)

A. Like Auden, the language of James Merrill ....compares person with language
B. Like Auden, James Merrill's language....same as A
C. Like Auden's, James Merrill's language....compares Auden's language with Merill's Language
D. As with Auden, James Merrill's language....Wrong "AS"...."with Auden" is a prepositional phrase & Auden in a Noun
E. As is Auden's the language of James Merrill....too awkward

vikram4689 wrote:IMO C
Meaning: Auden and J.M. have similar style of languages

Like is used for comparing Nouns ( characteristics of language ,here)

A. Like Auden, the language of James Merrill ....compares person with language
B. Like Auden, James Merrill's language....same as A
C. Like Auden's, James Merrill's language....compares Auden's language with Merill's Language
D. As with Auden, James Merrill's language....Wrong "AS"...."with Auden" is a prepositional phrase & Auden in a Noun
E. As is Auden's the language of James Merrill....too awkward

But Like Auden is also a prepositional phrase

mundasingh123 wrote:Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational--given to complex syntactic flights are well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

A. Like Auden, the language of James Merrill
B. Like Auden, James Merrill's language
C. Like Auden's, James Merrill's language
D. As with Auden, James Merrill's language
E. As is Auden's the language of James Merrill

The OA is C

My Question : How to eliminate D and E ?

option D: as WITH - seems incorrect
option E: Comma(,) missing after Auden's. Even if it is there, C is preferable.

sameerballani wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:Like Auden, the language of James Merrill is chatty, arch, and conversational--given to complex syntactic flights are well as to prosaic free-verse strolls.

A. Like Auden, the language of James Merrill
B. Like Auden, James Merrill's language
C. Like Auden's, James Merrill's language
D. As with Auden, James Merrill's language
E. As is Auden's the language of James Merrill

The OA is C

My Question : How to eliminate D and E ?

option D: as WITH - seems incorrect
option E: Comma(,) missing after Auden's. Even if it is there, C is preferable.

Hi Sameer , I am looking For a better explain than reasons stating awkwordness .This is what the OG says too. Thanks anyways for pitching in

The two things I'd pick on with choice E are:

1) "the X of Y" is always more wordy than "X's Y." It's not wrong, and of course there are times the wordier form might be preferable for variety or clarity, but the GMAT hates extra words.

2) "as" is used as a coordinating conjunction, joining two independent clauses. We would expect a comma separating "Auden's" from the rest of the sentence for clarity.

Jim@Grockit wrote:The two things I'd pick on with choice E are:

1) "the X of Y" is always more wordy than "X's Y." It's not wrong, and of course there are times the wordier form might be preferable for variety or clarity, but the GMAT hates extra words.

2) "as" is used as a coordinating conjunction, joining two independent clauses. We would expect a comma separating "Auden's" from the rest of the sentence for clarity.

Hi Jim so is "As with " incorrect in all cases ? When is As with acceptable ?

mundasingh123 wrote:

Jim@Grockit wrote:The two things I'd pick on with choice E are:

1) "the X of Y" is always more wordy than "X's Y." It's not wrong, and of course there are times the wordier form might be preferable for variety or clarity, but the GMAT hates extra words.

2) "as" is used as a coordinating conjunction, joining two independent clauses. We would expect a comma separating "Auden's" from the rest of the sentence for clarity.

Hi Jim so is "As with " incorrect in all cases ?

In real English "as with" is an ellipsis of "as is the case with" and is acceptable (as long as the things being compared are comparable). In this sentence, the answer with "As with" is wrong because it's comparing Auden to language, rather than Auden to Merrill or their respective languages to each other.

Quick question on this, I didn't know what/who Auden was (nor did I know who James Merrill was). When I read this, I thought Auden was a language, so I chose A. Would the test, on occasion, address a person by only last name if it's not a familiar or household name? The exam makes up names for companies, which made me think the same about that name. In a timed test, I can see this mistake happening.