Question

Difficulty: HardParallel Structure

In his influential mid-century essays, literary critic Northrop Frye argued that literature does not merely reflect the external world, but rather organizes human experience into coherent archetypal patterns. According to Frye, a literary work's significance is derived not from its correspondence to actual historical events, but from _______

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A
    relating the work to other works within the literary universe.
  2. B
    to relate the work to other works within the literary universe.
  3. its relationship to other works within the literary universe.Answer
  4. D
    how the work relates to other works within the literary universe.

Answer

The correct option is the one that uses a parallel noun phrase structure: 'its relationship to other works within the literary universe.'
The correct answer maintains parallel structure by matching the noun phrase pattern of the first element in the comparison ('its correspondence to actual historical events'). The phrase starting with 'its relationship to other works' successfully uses a possessive pronoun followed by a noun and a prepositional phrase, aligning with the grammatical structure of the first compared element.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical construction and the elements being compared or listed in the sentence.
The sentence uses the comparison structure 'derived not from [Element A], but from [Element B]'.
To satisfy the conventions of parallel structure, Element A and Element B must share the exact same grammatical form.
2
Analyze the grammatical structure of Element A.
Element A ('its correspondence to actual historical events') is a noun phrase composed of a possessive pronoun ('its'), a noun ('correspondence'), and a prepositional phrase ('to actual historical events').
Identifying the structure of the first element dictates the required structure of the second element.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that matches this noun phrase structure.
The phrase 'its relationship to other works within the literary universe' successfully matches the structure of possessive pronoun + noun + prepositional phrase.
Only this choice maintains the necessary parallelism to make the sentence grammatically correct.

Key Concept

Parallel Structure
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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