Like Haydn, Schubert wrote a great

[maren.j13]

Like Haydn, Schubert wrote a great deal for the stage, but he is remembered principally for his chamber and concert-hall music.
(A) Like Haydn, Schubert
(B) Like Haydn, Schubert also
(C) As has Haydn, Schubert
(D) As did Haydn, Schubert also
(E) As Haydn did, Schubert also

I wanted to post this question in General Verbal Section but found it has been closed. I could choose the correct answer here but wanted to know more about the correct usage and the correct reasons to eliminate others.

(A) Like X, Y wrote Z.
(B) Like X, Y also wrote Z.
(C) As has X, Y wrote Z.
(D) As did X, Y also wrote Z.
(E) As X did, Y also wrote z.

As per my knowledge, we use "like" to compare nouns and "as" to compare actions or verbs or clauses. But here we can say that we are comparing "X" and "Y" (nouns) and we can also say that we are comparing their writings (actions). Hence this was not looking to me the correct reason to eliminate any choice. Please clarify.

(B) "also" seems redundant and we can eliminate this choice.
(C) if we expand this, it will be
As has X (wrote Z), Y wrote Z.
here "has" seems wrong. But if we replace "has" with "did", will this choice be correct ?
(D) if we expand this, it will be
As did X (wrote Z), Y also wrote Z.
It is "sounding" correct to me. Is "also" redundant here ? What change in this sentence would make it correct ?
(E) if we expand this, it will be
As X did (wrote Z), Y also wrote Z.
How is it different from (D) ? I have same questions here as in (D).

Many thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

As per my knowledge, we use "like" to compare nouns and "as" to compare actions or verbs or clauses. But here we can say that we are comparing "X" and "Y" (nouns) and we can also say that we are comparing their writings (actions). Hence this was not looking to me the correct reason to eliminate any choice. Please clarify.

yeah, i don't think that there are any issues with like/as on this problem.

however, you should not START a sentence with "as + HELPING VERB + subject", or with "as + subject + HELPING VERB". in those instances, the sentence is better written with "like + SUBJECT".

this preference should be highly robust on the gmat problems.

in other words:
as did his brother, james graduated at the head of his class --> wordy/awkward/inferior
like his brother, james graduated at the head of his class --> better.

you can eliminate all of (c), (d), (e) for this reason.

(B) "also" seems redundant and we can eliminate this choice.

yes. if you have the comparison term -- "like" or "as" -- you should NOT also have "also".

(C) if we expand this, it will be
As has X (wrote Z), Y wrote Z.
here "has" seems wrong. But if we replace "has" with "did", will this choice be correct ?

it's still considered overly wordy / awkward / inferior to "like X".

note that this will ALWAYS be the case, since any initial construction with "as + helping verb + X" must modify the subject of the following clause. if we're making this comparison with the subject of the following clause, then "like X" will ALWAYS be better.

(D) if we expand this, it will be
As did X (wrote Z), Y also wrote Z.
It is "sounding" correct to me. Is "also" redundant here ? What change in this sentence would make it correct ?

"also" is redundant, for the same reason as in choice (b).

when you say that this choice "sounds" correct to you, are you saying that it sounds attractive when it is literally spoken out loud?
it shouldn't; no native speaker of english would say "as did X" out loud, even in places where it's preferred in written language (i.e., after the main clause), unless he/she were intentionally trying to sound pompous or overly formal.

(E) if we expand this, it will be
As X did (wrote Z), Y also wrote Z.
How is it different from (D) ? I have same questions here as in (D).

"also" is still redundant, and the opening modifier is still wordy / awkward / inferior, for the reasons discussed above.