TomBor

Hey, I can't seem to understand these question that involve either/or neither/nor AND *in* something.

I mean, I know that the idiom is Either X or Y, or Neither X nor Y.
But when you combine them with IN I get confused. For example:

BB page 193:
18. The revolt against Victorianism was perhaps even more marked in poetry than (either fiction or drama).

A) either fiction or drama
B) either fiction or in drama
C) either in fiction or drama
D) in either fiction or drama
E) in either fiction or in drama

Correct Answer: D.

I understand that A) makes an illogical comparison, so does B) and so does C) [doesn't it?] I get confused between D) and E)

I guess that the IN in D) goes for both things in the either/or, so the second IN in E) is redundant?

Can someone please confirm?

Bassplayer08

Yes, I think it that.

Basically I'd say that if you see that both D and E sound right and seem to have the same meaning, then you should probably pick the shortest.

But if you look again the sentence E does not sound that right. Actually it seems to lack parallelism you see :
If you don't have a "in" before the first noun then why should you have a "in" before the second one ?

For me it should be either "either in fiction or in drama" or "in either fiction or drama".

But well I am not 100% sure.

TomBor

Yes I think you're right.
I think that the first way you revised the sentence would also be acceptable, but it doesn't appear in the answers. Maybe that's why.

I see what you say about the parallelism, too.
Thanks