Sentence:
Students in the literature course will explore ways in which medieval authors represented themes of their time.
I think substituting "in which" with by which would be better for the sentence because the sentence talks about methods and ways. Why isn't "by which" a better choice?
Best Answer
In this case the preposition is determined by the entity to which which refers, ways. We usually employ different prepositions with different sorts of object. For instance:
These are tendencies rather than rules; but some of them are very strong. Method and means, for instance, almost always take by:
Way on the other hand almost always takes in:
Since in this case which refers to ways, the appropriate preposition is in:
If it were methods, by would be more appropriate: