A punctuation question with a mark already in place tests how the words at the blank fit together. First, test what can stand alone on each side of that mark. A semicolon joins full sentences, while commas separate list items or set off extra wording. Joining words link words, phrases, or clauses; a comma goes before a joining word between full sentences. Then check what each proposed mark or word would connect around the blank.
Hints
- Hint 1
The semicolon is already printed after Harris's view. Test the words on each side of it to see where one full sentence ends and the next begins.
- Hint 2
Set however aside and look for the subject after the semicolon. Which verb says what that subject does?
- Hint 3
Check how the blank connects to critics. Is this a place between separate ideas, or inside the words that name who holds the second view?
Step-by-step
Test the boundary, then build the subject
Step 1Test the existing semicolon
The semicolon after the protagonist's disorienting experience already marks a break, so start by testing whether it joins full sentences. Can Harris's view stand alone? In Evelyn Harris contends, we have a subject, the person making the claim, and a main verb, which says what she does. Her claim about the novel finishes the thought, so the left side is a full sentence. A semicolon needs a full sentence on the right as well.
- Step 2
Find the second subject and verb
Who does what after the semicolon? In critics, however, maintain, the critics are the subject and maintain is the main verb. The commas around however mark extra wording, so we can set it aside without losing who holds this view. That gives us the core idea: critics maintain that the structure obscures weak characterization. The blank comes before the noun in the subject, not between two full sentences.
- Step 3
Keep the describing word with its noun
What belongs with the noun critics at that spot? Other helps name which critics we're talking about, so other belongs directly with critics. The versions with other but and other, but insert a joining word inside the subject; other, splits other critics with a comma. The choice other completes that subject without cutting the describing word off from its noun. Choice A.