Question

Although Alice Walker published a number of essays, poetry collections, and stories during the 1970s, her third novel, The Color Purple, which was published in 1982, brought her the widest acclaim in that it won both the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize.

• A. which was published in 1982, brought her the widest acclaim in that it won both the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize
• B. published in 1982, bringing her the widest acclaim by winning both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize
• C. published in 1982, brought her the widest acclaim, winning both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize
• D. was published in 1982 and which, winning both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, brought her the widest acclaim
• E. was published in 1982, winning both the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize, and bringing her the widest acclaim

Answer 1

The correct option is C published in 1982, brought her the widest acclaim, winning both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize

Here, option A has three issues with it - 'which was' is redundant as 'published in 1982' can work as a modifier; 'in that it' shows cause and effect relationship but it is way too wordy , here, verb-ing would work better, and the idiom 'both x and y' is substituted with 'both x as well as y' which is incorrect. Therefore, A is incorrect. In B, 'published' is a modifier and within a comma pair so it cannot function as a verb. Also, 'bringing' acts as a participle modifier and leaves the sentence without a verb as 'published' is also acting as a modifier. Thus, B is not correct. Option D is incorrect because if we use it the meaning changes, and instead of showing a cause and effect relationship, 'winning' modifies the book. Option E uses the idiom 'Both x and y' incorrectly as it says 'both x as well as y'. Thus, option C is the correct answer.