I was given a test, and asked to complete this sentence:
On many college campuses, the study of film has become ________ .
With one of these five choices:
A. as common as that of the novel
B. like the novel, as common
C. common, as is that of the novel
D. as common as the novel's study
E. just as the novel's study is common
I picked choice D, but was told the correct answer is A. Can someone explain why?
Usually genitives in -'s and preposition phrases headed by of mean pretty much the same thing; but when these modify nouns which are derived from active verbs or have an active sense there is usually a distinction:
A genitive designates the Subject/Agent of the underlying verb
An of PP designates the Object/Patient of the underlying verb.
For instance, in analyzing Thomas Mann's Dr. Faustus we might write about
the novel's study of artistic genius
Here we mean that the novelsubject studies artistic geniusobject.
Consequently, your D and E imply incorrectly that the study is performed by the novel, while A and C imply correctly that the study is performed upon the novel, just as other study is performed upon film.
It's not a hard-and-fast rule. A verb-derived noun which in context may be understood to express a passive meaning, in which the Subject is the Patient acted upon, may take a genitive expressing the Subject/Patient.
We're celebrating John'ssubject/agent completion of his novelobject/patient = John has completed the novel
We're celebrating the novel'ssubject/patient completion = The novel has been been completed
