One Writing question

<p>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while others lauding him as the most influential composer of his age. No Error </p>

<p>Why can't you use while in this sentence? The explanation says that it is an incorrect conjunction and you're supposed to use "and" instead..but why?????</p>

<p>Has anyone used Barrons SAT 2009 book before? What do u think about this book? </p>

<p>Do u think I should only use the blue book for SAT writing section?</p>

<p>thx for reading:)</p>

<p>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while others lauding him as the most influential composer of his age. No Error</p>

<p>opinions on him have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as this and other listeners regarding him as that…the “and” combines the two groups so that two ideas are expressed:</p>

<p>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners…
Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with other listeners…</p>

<p>“and” combines these two groups so you dont have to repeat it…</p>

<p>so in the phrase “with some listeners…and other listeners…” the “with” is implied for “other listeners” so it doesn’t have to be repeated. if you say “while” you break that parallelism.</p>

<p>you shouldn’t focus on which book to use as much as you should focus on getting the right answer on every question you see. if you only have time to use one book, you should use the blue book but the barron’s may be helpful</p>

<p>^I think it’s acceptable to use “while” because the sentence shows contrast with that use of conjunction. Am i wrong somewhere?</p>

<p>According to dictionary.com, the use of “while” as a conjunction can be in terms of:
–conjunction 3. during or in the time that.
4. throughout the time that; as long as.
5. even though; although: While she appreciated the honor, she could not accept the position.<br>
6. at the same time that (showing an analogous or corresponding action): The floor was strewn with books, while magazines covered the tables. </p>

<p>According to #5 of that usage, “although”, the sentence shows contrast between the two ideas and is perfectly acceptable.
I think it’s a debatable question.</p>

<p>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while others lauding him as the most influential composer of his age.</p>

<p>–> wrong because of parallel structure. With…regarding…while…lauding is incorrect. It should be either:</p>

<ol>
<li>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, WITH others lauding him as the most influential composer of his age.</li>
</ol>

<p>or</p>

<ol>
<li>Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners regarding him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while others LAUD him as the most influential composer of his age.</li>
</ol>

<p>Anyone else agree?</p>

<p>^No way. The original structure is already parallel. Analyze it closer:
Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners REGARDING him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while others LAUDING him as the most influential composer of his age.</p>

<p>Both words in caption are in the present participle, which is parallel structure. Also the answer is “while”, so it doesn’t deal with parallelism at all but rather the usage of certain conjunctions.</p>

<p>^ I disagree:</p>

<p>I see the parallel structure regarding the verb tense, but I’m talking about the preposition v. conjunction difference. A conjunction like ‘while’ connects two or more independent clauses if a subject follows the conjunction (i.e. “while I playing” is a phrase that doesn’t make much sense, as opposed to the correct “while playing*” due to the lack of a subject in the latter).</p>

<p>It follows that “while others LAUDING” has to be either “while LAUDING” or “while others LAUD” to be grammatically correct. “While” in this case is used incorrectly as a preposition and can’t be correct because it is not parallel with “WITH some listeners regarding.” Parallel rules can’t be applied to a phrase beginning with a preposition and another with a conjunction.</p>

<p>*e.g. While playing the guitar, my friend interrupted. v While I was playing the guitar, my friend interrupted. NOT While I playing…</p>

<p>^^ Yeah, I think so too… But I’m definitely not a good source.</p>

<p>It follows that “while others LAUDING” has to be either “while LAUDING” or “while others LAUD” to be grammatically correct.</p>

<p>That’s incorrect. “while others LAUDING” is correct because the while sets up the contrast and “others” is needed to denote the opinions of another group. If you have “while LAUDING”, it doesn’t show the the opinions of other groups but rather the opinion of one group.
Opinions on Charles Ives as a composer have always been split, with some listeners REGARDING him as, at best, an entertaining eccentric, while LAUDING him as the most influential composer of his age.</p>

<p>If you have “while LAUDING”, then it seems as if the listeners who regarded Charles Ives as an entertaining eccentric, also lauded him as the most influential composer of his age. And that doesn’t make much sense.</p>

<p>And it can’t be “while others LAUD” b/c that’s not parallel.</p>

<p>I’ve never heard of parallelism regarding prep. vs conj. but i can assure that doesn’t matter so long as the conj and the prep display the purpose intended, which in this case, it does.</p>

<p>both make a very good point
thx guyz!!! u guys are great
I found it very helpful :)</p>

<p>^ …signifying the end of that debate. Ah, well. Good debate, fresh101, that was fun.</p>