Harriet Tubman

[sjd00d]

Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, herself an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland to guide other slaves along the Underground Railroad to freedom.
(A) herself an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland to guide
(B) being an escaped slave herself, returned again and again to Maryland so as to guide
(C) an escaped slave herself, returned again and again to Maryland for guiding
(D) herself as an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland so as to be the guide of
(E) who had been herself as an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland for the guiding of

Folks, this has been discussed multiple times on other gmat forums, in two separate posts though there was almost a unanimous difference in answer. One vehemently agreed to C and the other to A.

IMO C, no way in hell could this be A ...that is like saying "myself john/blah"

Can experts chime in here and let me know if i am missing anything obvious (of course the participle guiding in C is questionable but that can't be the deal breaker)?[/spoiler]

[x2suresh]

Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, herself an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland to guide other slaves along the Underground Railroad to freedom.
(A) herself an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland to guide
(B) being an escaped slave herself, returned again and again to Maryland so as to guide
(C) an escaped slave herself, returned again and again to Maryland for guiding
(D) herself as an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland so as to be the guide of
(E) who had been herself as an escaped slave, returned again and again to Maryland for the guiding of

Folks, this has been discussed multiple times on other gmat forums, in two separate posts though there was almost a unanimous difference in answer. One vehemently agreed to C and the other to A.

IMO C, no way in hell could this be A ...that is like saying "myself john/blah"

Can experts chime in here and let me know if i am missing anything obvious (of course the participle guiding in C is questionable but that can't be the deal breaker)?[/spoiler]

Between A and C.. I preferred A, becuase GMAT prfers "to infinitive" than "ing" form verb.

Waiting for expert GURUs to give more suggestions.

[awesomeusername]

I say A.

In C, "returned for guiding" just doesn't sound right. I think the infinitive in A sounds much better.

[mjjking]

Harriet Tubman, herself something is a correct idiom, which refers to a bigger group (escaped slaves) that is referred to later on.

[iamcste]

"Infintive To" effectively expresses "Purpose or goal"


Ask the question

why did XYZ return again----immediately response is "To...."

Also, when in doubt between 2 options, succint options wins on many occasions than not.

[sjd00d]

I don't buy that A is the correct answer. A is incorrectly using the reflexive pronoun (it is not the case of idioms here). You can say "harriet tubman, an escaped enslave"

Anyone else?