Explanation of the Problem
A problem with Writing Skills question 10, in Section 5 of the Tuesday edition of the 2002 PSAT/NMSQT, created the need to rescore the test without the question. The question and directions for answering it are reproduced below:
Directions: The following sentences test your knowledge of grammar, usage, diction (choice of words), and idiom. Some sentences are correct. No sentence contains more than one error. You will find that the error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. Elements of the sentence that are not underlined will not be changed. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer sheet. If there is no error, fill in answer oval E.
The Question:
10. Toni Morrison's genius enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injusticeA
African Americans have endured. No error
The intended answer was (E), "No error." Choice (A), however, could also be considered correct. Although it is clear that the pronoun "her" in choice (A) can only refer to Toni Morrison, some usage manuals advise against such a construction on the grounds that a pronoun should not refer to a noun in the possessive case ("Toni Morrison's") because the noun is functioning as a modifier. If this advice were to be followed here, choice (A) would have to be revised to read "Morrison to create."
The question was thrown out because it had 2 potentially correct answers according to some usage manuals.
(If the formating doesn't reproduce properly here, click on the link to see the original.)