how about E....to consider and to portray are in parallel.

here the idiom for consider is tested...consider shld always follow by a noun no verbs nothing shld come in b/w...So ans is E

Here is a more formulaic answer.
The correct idiom is Consider X Y....
not Consider X to be Y

D could never be right because 'as if' is saying the X is not Y, it's as ifX is Y. In this case, the poor ARE legitimate subjects -- it's not a comparison. It's not as if they are, they simply are.

I m confused b/w A & E.
I think its A b'coz "consider" is used so we should use subjunctive form.

Let me know if i am wrong.

muks!

A cant be right, ppl cant be associated with THESE.. E is the answer IMO! is parallel as well!

Option A.
'these' to refer to people is totally wrong.Thus, this option is incorrect.

Option B.
This option suffers the same fate as option A.Therefore, incorrect.

Option C.
'as being' it makes the option too wordy thus the option is incorrect.

Option D.
'as if they were' this is an invalid statement here and does not need to be included since it is a consideration by a writer.

Option E. This is the correct answer as it correct explains the mind of the writer in a concise and simple way without being wordy.