Question

For Ralph Waldo Emerson, transcendentalism was his professed ideal over a century before the contemporary American environmental movement was launched with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and he outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” arguing that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it has to offer.

• A. was launched with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and he outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” arguing that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it has to offer.
• B. launched itself with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” which argued that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it offers.
• C. launched with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; he outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” which argued that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it has to offer.
• D. launched Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; Emerson outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” arguing that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it has to offer.
• E. was launched with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; in it he outlined his beliefs in this essay, “Nature,” arguing that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it offers.

Answer 1

The correct option is C launched with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; he outlined his beliefs in his essay, “Nature,” which argued that man does not fully accept nature’s beauty and all that it has to offer.

This is a complex, wordy sentence. There aren’t any grammatical errors in the original, but there is significant grammatical inefficiency, and it is somewhat awkward to use the participle “arguing” after the past-tense “outlined.” (C) is preferable because it uses the same words more efficiently, employing a semicolon to clearly split the clauses.

If you chose (A), though the original is not grammatically incorrect, take the time to scan the other four choices for a more concise, clear version.

If you chose (B), the lack of a pronoun before “outlined” implies that it was the American environmental movement which “outlined his beliefs” when in fact it was Emerson himself.

If you chose (D), the American environmental movement did not launch Rachel Carson’s book. Rather, the book helped to launch the movement.

If you chose (E), the pronoun “it” seems to refer to Silent Spring, but that is not Emerson’s work.