SAT question 5fd86f4b (Form Structure And Sense)

Question

The ghazal, a poetic form originating in seventh-century Arabic poetry, has an intricate structure. The twentieth-century Kashmiri American poet Agha Shahid Ali explains that each one of a ghazal’s couplets, while adhering to the patterns of rhyme (qafia) and refrain (radif) established in the poem’s opening lines (matla), thematically and logically autonomous, resulting in a poem with “a stringently formal disunity.” Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

College Board · Accepted Answer

The correct answer is A. Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verb forms within a sentence. The singular verb "is" agrees in number with the singular subject "each one of a ghazal’s couplets." While the prepositional phrase "of a ghazal’s couplets" within the subject contains a plural noun, the head of the subject ("each one") is singular, indicating that each individual couplet (not the couplets as a group) is "thematically and logically autonomous," or self-standing.

Explanation

Why the other choices are wrong

SAT Question 5fd86f4b: Form Structure And Sense answer and explanation

Explanation

Why the other choices are wrong