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Jeff_999 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Need your hands on this sentence completion question

The author did not see the _____ inherent in her scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her own.
A. disinterest
B. incongruity
C. pessimism
D. compliment
E. symbolism

The answer is B. I can tell. But what on earth is the sentence trying to imply?... It may probably be because I got confused with the objective personal pronoun "her" here. Maybe the second "her" refers to the author of a certain book/article, and the first "her" refers to a critic of this book/article's criticism/review. Tell me I got it fully right. If I didn't, what exactly is that?
Thank you so much for your time.
  

Top answer

True, out of context, the reader has to unravel the knots in the 'hers'. I think there are two possibilities: 1. The 'author' refers to the author of the criticism -- The author [Jane] did not see the incongruity inherent in her [Jane's] scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her [Jane's] own.

— Davkett

  • True, out of context, the reader has to unravel the knots in the 'hers'.
  • I think there are two possibilities: 1.
  • The 'author' refers to the author of the criticism -- The author [Jane] did not see the incongruity inherent in her [Jane's] scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her [Jane's] own.
  • 2.
  • The 'author' is not the author of the scathing criticism, but the writer who is the target of the criticism -- The author [Helen] did not see the incongruity inherent in her [Jane's] scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her [Jane's] own.
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7 Answers
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True, out of context, the reader has to unravel the knots in the 'hers'.

I think there are two possibilities:

1. The 'author' refers to the author of the criticism --The author [Jane] did not see the incongruity inherent in her [Jane's] scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her [Jane's] own.

2. The 'author' is not the author of
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Thank you so much, Davkett.

So you suppose both the two "hers" refer to the same person.

What about "The author [Helen] did not see the incongruity inherent in her [Jane's] scathing criticism of writing style so similar to her [Helne's] own" ?

By the way, what is left out behind "her own"?

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Left out is --her own writing style.

So, in no.2, Jane is critical of Helen's writing style, and Helen does not recognize in Jane's criticism, that Jane's style of writing is the same as her own (Helen's own). My hunch is that this interpretation is not the intended one, although it does make some sense, because Helen could be reading Jane's critical review of her [Helen's] rece
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Left out is -- her own writing style.


So “incongruity or not” refers to writing style? I mean both of the authors’ writing styles are congruous or not, if we take the No.2 assumption that “the ‘author’ is not the author of the scathing criticism”.


I see now my version, No.3, is wrong. The author [Helen] did not see the incongruity inhe
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Remember this?

Judge not, lest ye be judged?

It's not really that uncommon for human beings to criticize others for wrongs they themselves are guilty of.
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Or indeed Luke 6:42 –

Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

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It's not really that uncommon for human beings to criticize others for wrongs they themselves are guilty of.

So the author is the hypocrite. And it tells where the answer is from too. Since she was blind to her criticism, how could she see the incongruity?

Thank you.
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