Gmat Prep SC

[mithilesh.vnit85]

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand.

A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War
B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
D) The right hand and arm being cripped by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War.

My initial View was,

C is not logical hence I eliminated it.
In case of D,
i) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
ii) Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand
Two clauses joined by comma. Isn't it the Case of Run on sentence?
I found the same issue with E also,

Then I left with option A and B, In case of B, In spite of is generally used in a negative context. hence I eliminated B.

And left with an option A.

But OA is E.

Can you please explain where I am wrong?

[pradeepkaushal9518]

i think its a modifier problem, correct placement of modifier

"His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War" it correctly modifies horace pippin

modifier and what it modfiy should be placed next to it.

other options are too wordy or not properly modifeis

[anshumishra]

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand.

A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War
B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
D) The right hand and arm being cripped by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War.

My initial View was,

C is not logical hence I eliminated it.
In case of D,
i) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
ii) Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand
Two clauses joined by comma. Isn't it the Case of Run on sentence?
I found the same issue with E also,

Then I left with option A and B, In case of B, In spite of is generally used in a negative context. hence I eliminated B.

And left with an option A.

But OA is E.

Can you please explain where I am wrong?

Option E has a classic use of Absolute modifiers.

There are two very commonly tested modifiers you should look for : Appositives and Absolute.

Appositives rename noun phrases and are usually placed beside what they rename .
The following example shows a noun phrase in apposition to another:
The lady, our president, spoke out against racism.

"Our president" renames the subject "the lady" and so is
in apposition to it.

Absolute phrases are made of nouns or pronouns followed by a participle and any modifiers of the noun or pronoun. Absolute phrases contain a subject (unlike participial phrases), and no predicate. They serve to modify an entire sentence : A group of words that modifies an independent clause as a whole.

Joan looked nervous, her fears creeping up on her.
noun/subject: her fears
participle: creeping
modifier: up on her
absolute phrase: her fears creeping up on her

Tom paled when he came home, his mother standing in the
doorway.
noun/subject: his mother
participle: standing
modifier: in the doorway
absolute phrase: his mother standing in the doorway

Hope that helps !

[uwhusky]

Good job on spotting the absolute modifier.

Another explanation that was offered in my reading is that absolute modifier provides additional information of the scene; kind of like a detective in a crime scene, and absolute modifier allows him to zoom in to the particular information.

In this case, we are provided with additional information of Horace Pippin like we're zooming in on the details why he was painting differently than others.

Absolute modifiers are perhaps the most difficult modifier used in GMAT, and there are several examples of them in the OG. I would also try searching on this forum just by using the term "absolute modifier." A lot of us would actually point them out when we see them.

[GMATGuruNY]

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand.

A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during th First World War
B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
D) The right hand and arm being cripped by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War.

My initial View was,

C is not logical hence I eliminated it.
In case of D,
i) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
ii) Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left hand
Two clauses joined by comma. Isn't it the Case of Run on sentence?
I found the same issue with E also,

Then I left with option A and B, In case of B, In spite of is generally used in a negative context. hence I eliminated B.

And left with an option A.

But OA is E.

Can you please explain where I am wrong?

Quickest approach:

The use of being in answer choices A, B and D is incorrect. A modifier that ends in -ing expresses contemporaneous action: an action that is happening at the same time as the action of the main verb (in this case, worked). Since Horace was crippled before he worked, eliminate A, B and D.

In C, the modifier that crippled his right hand and arm is incorrectly modifying the First World War. Eliminate C.

The correct answer is E.

As noted above, His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War is an absolute phrase. An absolute phrase:

-- consists of a noun and a modifier and perhaps a few other words
-- is connected to an independent clause without a conjunction
-- modifies the entire clause and provides context.

In the sentence above, His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War tells us in what context Horace Pippin worked.