Question 148·Easy·Boundaries
Throughout her memoir, Wilde notes that her _____ master storyteller and avid gardener—shaped Wilde's love of folklore and botany.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation and boundary questions, first strip away modifiers to find the core subject–verb structure. Then identify any extra descriptive or interrupting phrases and check how they are (or should be) set off. Ensure such phrases are enclosed with matching punctuation on both sides (comma–comma, dash–dash, or parentheses–parentheses), and use any punctuation already provided in the sentence to guide your choice.
Hints
Locate the main clause
Try to find the subject and verb of the main statement if you cover up the middle description. What are the words that must stay together for the sentence to make sense?
Classify the middle words
Think about the words "a master storyteller and avid gardener." Are they the main action of the sentence, or are they extra information about "her grandmother"?
Match the punctuation
Look closely at the punctuation that comes right after "a master storyteller and avid gardener." What punctuation mark is already there, and what should come before the phrase to match it?
Step-by-step Explanation
Find the core sentence
Ignore the blank for a moment and read around it:
"Throughout her memoir, Wilde notes that her _____ master storyteller and avid gardener—shaped Wilde's love of folklore and botany."
The core idea is: "Wilde notes that her grandmother shaped Wilde's love of folklore and botany." So the subject is "her grandmother" and the verb is "shaped." Everything between those two is extra description.
Identify the extra descriptive phrase
The words "a master storyteller and avid gardener" describe "her grandmother" in more detail.
This is an interrupting phrase (also called an appositive) that gives extra, nonessential information. In standard English, such a phrase must be set off from the rest of the sentence with matching punctuation on both sides (commas, dashes, or parentheses).
Notice the punctuation that is already there
Look at what comes right after the descriptive phrase:
"a master storyteller and avid gardener—shaped Wilde's love..."
There is already an em dash (—) after the phrase, just before "shaped." That means the phrase is being set off with an em dash at the end, so it needs the same kind of punctuation at the beginning.
Choose the matching punctuation
We need the option that places an em dash immediately after "grandmother" to open the interrupting phrase and match the em dash after "gardener."
- A comma ("grandmother, a") would require a closing comma, not a dash.
- No punctuation ("grandmother a") leaves the interrupting phrase unmarked.
- A colon ("grandmother: a") does not match the dash after the phrase and also typically follows a complete clause, which "her grandmother" is not.
Therefore, "grandmother—a" correctly matches the closing dash and properly sets off the descriptive phrase.