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Difficulty: Very hardPronoun Clarity and Reference

The following passage contains an underlined portion.

During the late nineteenth century, anthropologist Alice Fletcher worked closely with Omaha ethnologist Francis La Flesche to document the tribe's complex ceremonies. Fletcher focused on transcribing the ritual melodies, while La Flesche translated the accompanying sacred chants. Because they were so intricate, the recording process required hours of focused cooperation.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined word to ensure the sentence is clear and grammatically correct?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. the melodies and chantsAnswer
  3. C
    this
  4. D
    it

Answer

the melodies and chants
Replacing the pronoun with the specific noun phrase 'the melodies and chants' eliminates the ambiguity of the pronoun 'they,' which has multiple potential plural antecedents in the preceding sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined pronoun and its potential antecedents in the preceding context.
The pronoun is the plural 'they,' and the preceding sentence contains multiple plural nouns: 'ceremonies,' 'melodies,' and 'chants.'
To evaluate pronoun clarity, we must ensure the pronoun has a single, unambiguous noun to which it refers.
2
Analyze the clarity and grammatical correctness of the pronoun in context.
The pronoun 'they' could refer to any of the plural nouns, making the reference ambiguous and grammatically incorrect under formal writing standards.
Standard written English requires that every pronoun has a clear, specific, and unambiguous antecedent.
3
Evaluate the alternative options to find the one that resolves the ambiguity without introducing new grammatical errors.
Replacing 'they' with 'the melodies and chants' provides specific nouns that clarify the sentence, while the options 'this' and 'it' are singular pronouns that lack matching singular antecedents and create agreement errors.
Using specific nouns is the most effective way to eliminate pronoun ambiguity, and the chosen option must agree grammatically with the rest of the sentence.

Key Concept

Pronoun clarity and reference issues, specifically resolving ambiguous and vague antecedents by replacing pronouns with specific nouns.
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Topics

Pronoun Clarity and Reference

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