The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons of American literature, greatly beloved by generations past and present.

(a) The author Herman Melville and the poet Walt Whitman are icons
(b) Herman Melville the author and Walt Whitman the poet are icons
(c) The author named Herman Melville and the poet named Walt Whitman are great icons
(d) The author, Herman Melville, and the poet, Walt Whitman, are icons
(e) Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, had been icons


I am looking for some grammatical rule to differentiate between A and B.

MGMAT says in B, 'The modifiers “the author” and “the poet” for “Herman Melville” and “Walt Whitman” respectively are non-restrictive.' Could someone please explain why/how "the author" and "the poet" are non-restrictive? As per my understanding, when some modifier is seperated by comma or starts with which then that's non-restrictive.

The key to the Question lies in second clause of sentence.

Greatly beloved by generations.

Surely it is indicating that Herman and walt were beloved.

So Main emphasis should be on the these two character, rather than their profession.
IMO:B
then if you see : What were two icon of American literature ?

What it could be: "Herman and walt" OR "author and Poet"

we can not generalize that The Author is the icon ?? Can we..? surely no.

So overall what the sentence want to convey:
Herman and Walt are 2 icons of American literature, greatly beloved by generations.

so their profession actually not required to be mention, so its kind of non-restrictive modifier.

The split was in between B and E, But there is no sequence of even so i choose B.

Thanks Sunny. I got the issue. Check the following URL: http://learnenglish.byexamples.com/noun ... s/#respond

this is a special idiom. if you preface someone's name with a noun describing their occupation (or other word describing what that person does), WITHOUT AN ARTICLE, OR WITH THE DEFINITE ARTICLE "THE", you DO NOT use a comma.

if there's an indefinite article (a/an), you DO use a comma.

if it's an adjective, you DO use a comma.

example:
Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk ... --> correct
A jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk ... --> correct
Creative and original, Thelonious Monk ... --> correct

ron's note: the colored text was added in an edit

Then wouldn't this argue for D, and NOT A, being the correct answer?
[EDITOR: note the changes in my post. nice catch.

yes it should be D then

But the MGMAT says that the Answer is A. Please clarify.
Also, If the the last option (E) was modified as :
Herman Melville, the author, and Walt Whitman, the poet, HAVE been icons

Would it make it a correct option ?

guys, the situation is more complicated with "THE".

here's the deal:

if you are using "THE (description) (name)" to introduce someone for the first time, then you DON'T use a comma.

if you have already introduced two or more people, but you are using "THE (description) to single out one of them, then you DO use a comma.

here are some examples:

The author Ernest Hemingway was known for his drunken and violent escapades.
--> here we are introducing hemingway, so we don't use a comma.

Among her friends were an author and a painter; the author, Ernest Hemingway, went on to become an icon of American literature.
--> we've already introduced "the author"; this time we use a comma to single him out.

hope that helps

I tried to do this question by elimination method

Although i am analyzing why i did not consider other points posted by Ron and others...i wanted to know during crunch time is my thought process correct for this question or am i way off?


B - The “noun as adjective” must always come first, the second noun is the subject matter.

C- "The author named" is too wordy

D- Herman Melville and Walt are covered in COMMAS which make them non essential and thus changing the meaning

E- "Had been" changes the meaning

A- Correct

Thanks

Hi,

I like your question - cutting to the point of how to approach this problem in a time crunch while focusing on some basics. Here's a dissection for your further edification:


You're correct, the adjective must precede the modified noun. B reverses that author and has a more specific noun "Melville" modify a more general noun "the author." That doesn't make sense as clearly the author is meant to modify Melville.


I normally dislike using concision to justify an elimination but you're quite right. "Named" is excess language and the alternative in A is more concise with no loss in meaning.


I likewise normally dislike using meaning to justify an elimination but in this case doing so is necessary. You are correct that the commas make Melville and Whitman modifiers and thus not essential to the sentence. Instead, the main actors are "the author" and "the poet." Clearly that doesn't make sense so out with D!


E is an example of an answer choice that shouldn't be eliminated just based on meaning. "had been" is the verb "to be" in the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense is used to distinguish an earlier past event from another past event. In this case, it is improper to use the past perfect for two reasons: 1. There is no other past event or action in the sentence to compare with "had been" 2. According to the sentence, Whitman and Melville are greatly beloved by generations past and present. The "present" in the sentence suggests that the present tense of "to be" is preferred over the past perfect. Meaning is at play, but I'd rather see you use one of the two reasons as your justification instead.

Either way, great work and I think you have a great way of building your "take aways" for these types of problems. Keep up the good work.

-Chris

_________________
Chris Brusznicki
MGMAT Instructor
Chicago, IL