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Pokh Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Dash/phrases
1.A mixture of poems and short fiction, Jean Toomer’s Cane has been called one of the three best novels ever written by a Black American—including Native Son by Richard Wright and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
2.A mixture of poems and short fiction, Jean Toomer’s Cane has been called one of the three best novels ever written by a Black American—the others being Richard Wright’s Native Son and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
Guys,
I guess sentence one uses the participle phrase and the second one uses the absolute phrases. However I really don't understand why DASH is used after american and the reason ETS chooses second one over first one? Can someone please help me understand? Is "including" imprecise, suggesting that Native Son and Invisible Man are Black Americans in sentence 1?
Thank you
2.A mixture of poems and short fiction, Jean Toomer’s Cane has been called one of the three best novels ever written by a Black American—the others being Richard Wright’s Native Son and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
Guys,
I guess sentence one uses the participle phrase and the second one uses the absolute phrases. However I really don't understand why DASH is used after american and the reason ETS chooses second one over first one? Can someone please help me understand? Is "including" imprecise, suggesting that Native Son and Invisible Man are Black Americans in sentence 1?
Thank you
Top answer
The dash isn't strictly necessary, the author could have used a comma or even parentheses. The dash is stronger and draws the reader's attention to the other two works better than other punctuation might. To my ear using "including" in the first one is distracting and a bit ambiguous because it forces you stop and consider exactly what the author means.
- The dash isn't strictly necessary, the author could have used a comma or even parentheses.
- The dash is stronger and draws the reader's attention to the other two works better than other punctuation might.
- To my ear using "including" in the first one is distracting and a bit ambiguous because it forces you stop and consider exactly what the author means.
- Figuring it out isn't difficult but you do have to interrupt your reading to do so.
- The second one is clear and unambiguous, thus it is preferred.
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1 Answers
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The dash isn't strictly necessary, the author could have used a comma or even parentheses. The dash is stronger and draws the reader's attention to the other two works better than other punctuation might.
To my ear using "including" in the first one is distracting and a bit ambiguous because it forces you stop and consider exactly what the author means. Figuring it out isn't difficult but
To my ear using "including" in the first one is distracting and a bit ambiguous because it forces you stop and consider exactly what the author means. Figuring it out isn't difficult but
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