Question 218·Medium·Boundaries
Renaissance artists often sketched preliminary studies, quick drawings called _____ before committing paint to canvas.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation-boundary questions, first strip the sentence down to its core to see which words form the main clause. Then identify whether the phrase around the blank is nonessential (extra information), and if so, make sure it is set off with matching punctuation (usually commas) on both sides. Eliminate choices that misuse semicolons or colons by checking whether there are complete sentences on both sides of the mark, and choose the option that preserves a clear, grammatically correct structure with the fewest unnecessary breaks.
Hints
Locate the main sentence
Try to find the core sentence that would still make sense if you removed the extra descriptive words. What are the basic subject and verb?
Look at what comes right before and after the blank
Notice there is already a comma before "quick drawings." Think about whether that phrase is extra information and how such information is usually punctuated in the middle of a sentence.
Check what a semicolon or colon needs
Ask yourself: Is there a complete sentence before the blank and another complete sentence after it? If not, can a semicolon or colon work here?
Match the punctuation
If an interrupting phrase starts after a comma, what punctuation would you expect to see when that phrase ends, right before the sentence continues with "before committing paint to canvas"?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Read the full sentence with the blank:
"Renaissance artists often sketched preliminary studies, quick drawings called _____ before committing paint to canvas."
Notice that the main idea is that Renaissance artists sketched preliminary studies before committing paint to canvas. The words "quick drawings called _____" are extra information describing what those preliminary studies were.
Identify the type of phrase in the middle
The phrase "quick drawings called _____" gives additional, nonessential information about "preliminary studies." This kind of phrase is called an "appositive" or nonessential descriptive phrase. In Standard English, nonessential phrases that interrupt the main sentence are usually set off with commas on both sides.
Decide what punctuation is needed after the blank
There is already a comma before "quick drawings," which starts the nonessential phrase. To correctly set off the entire phrase "quick drawings called cartoons" from the rest of the sentence, you need matching punctuation after the word in the blank to close the phrase before the words "before committing paint to canvas." A semicolon or colon would not match the opening comma and would change the sentence structure incorrectly, and using no punctuation would leave the phrase unclosed.
Choose the answer that correctly closes the phrase
The sentence should read:
"Renaissance artists often sketched preliminary studies, quick drawings called cartoons, before committing paint to canvas."
Only choice C) cartoons, provides the necessary comma to close the nonessential phrase and keeps the sentence grammatically correct.