Question

Joi is writing a paper about Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha. Here is the first paragraph of her draft.

(1) Siddhartha is a novel about a young man's search for enlightenment. (2) The title character has led a life of privilege. (3) Siddhartha is a member of the highest Hindu caste, the Brahmins. (4) He leaves his home, he leaves his material wealth, and he leaves his family to go on the search. (5) Siddhartha and his best friend, Govinda, join the Samanas. (6) A life of self–denial was led by the group.

How can Joi revise sentence 6 so that it is not written in passive voice?
A.
A group of Samanas lived life in self–denial.
B.
The Samanas denied themselves.
C.
The group led a life of self–denial.
D.
The Samanas group led lives of self-denial

Answer 1

old question, answering to close

(6) A life of self–denial was led by the group.

Because the life is receiving the action, rather than performing the action, we can re-write the sentence so the subject is performing the action. Without changing the meaning of the sentence, we can make the group do the action, and say that the group led a life of self-denial (C). The other choices are also in active voice but C best preserves the meaning of the original sentence.