What is the problem with this sentence?

Question

Dickens was a very popular novelist, but he had to set a grueling schedule for himself in order to meet his public's demands, for many of his novels were serialized, so he had to publish a new installment every week.

A. The sentence uses excessive coordination

B. The sentence uses excessive slang

C. The sentence does not have enough independent clauses

D. The sentence uses excessive subordination.

 

 

The sentence uses excessive slang

The sentence does not have enough independent clauses
The sentence uses excessive subordination.

Answer 1

Given the multiple choices offered, I would say A.

Each of the four clauses is independent (“Dickens“ clause, “but he had“ clause, “for many” clause, and the “so he had” clause). Because each one (but the first) has a coordinating conjunction, it is “excess coordination” that afflicts this sentence.

 

Let’s cross check: there is no slang, so it’s not B. It has plenty of independent clauses, so it’s not C. There is one subordinate verb phrase “to meet...demand”, and no subordinate clauses, so it’s not D.

 

As Mark says, it needs to be broken into a couple of sentences.

Answer 2

I would say it is "run-on" and needs to be separated into at least two sentences