Question

Ryunosuke Akutagawa's knowledge of the literatures of Europe, China, and that of Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing his literary style as much as the content of his fiction.

• A. that of Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing his literary style as much as
• B. that of Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, and it informed both his literary style as well as
• C. Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, informing both his literary style and
• D. Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, as it informed his literary style as much as
• E. Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing both his literary style in addition to

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, informing both his literary style and

The sentence talks about Ryunosuke Akutagawa's knowledge about the literatures of Europe, China and Japan. The noun 'knowledge' is singular and so using 'were' in the underlined part of the sentence is incorrect as it is used with plural nouns. Since the sentence is talking about literatures of different places like Europe, China and Japan, using 'that of' before Japan makes it grammatically incorrect. Therefore, options A and B are incorrect.

The second part of the underlined sentence is simplified enough and so the most apt answer is option C.