Question 91·Easy·Boundaries
Painter Kara Walker's latest exhibit Shadowland explores the legacy of _____ confronting its violence and trauma.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation and boundaries questions, first split the sentence around the blank and decide whether each side is an independent clause or a phrase. If the part after the blank is not a full sentence (for example, a participial phrase like "confronting..."), it cannot follow a period or semicolon; instead, it should usually be connected to the main clause with a comma or left within the sentence. Compare each option against this structure rule rather than relying on what “sounds” right, which helps you quickly eliminate choices that create fragments or run‑ons.
Hints
Find the complete thought
Read up to the blank. Does that part already form a complete sentence with a subject and a verb?
Check the phrase after the blank
Look at "unflinchingly confronting its violence and trauma." Ask yourself: does this have its own subject and a fully conjugated verb, or is it describing how the exhibit explores the legacy of slavery?
Match punctuation to structure
If the part after the blank is not a full sentence, should it be joined to the main clause with a full stop (period), a semicolon, or a lighter separation that still keeps it in the same sentence?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the main clause
First, find the part of the sentence that can stand alone as a complete thought:
"Painter Kara Walker’s latest exhibit Shadowland explores the legacy of slavery"
This has a subject ("Painter Kara Walker’s latest exhibit Shadowland") and a verb ("explores"), so it is an independent clause.
Analyze the phrase after the blank
Now look at the words that come after the blank: "unflinchingly confronting its violence and trauma."
- The key word is "confronting," which is a participle (a verb form acting like an adjective).
- This phrase does not have its own subject and conjugated verb, so it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
- It functions as a descriptive phrase that tells us how the exhibit explores the legacy of slavery.
Decide how the two parts should connect
Because the part after the blank is not a complete sentence, it should not be separated from the main clause by punctuation that signals a full break between sentences.
- A semicolon or period would separate the sentence into two parts that both must be complete sentences, which is not the case here.
- Instead, we need punctuation that connects the main clause to an attached descriptive/participial phrase.
Match the correct punctuation to the answer choice
The sentence should read:
"Painter Kara Walker’s latest exhibit Shadowland explores the legacy of slavery, unflinchingly confronting its violence and trauma."
The comma correctly connects the independent clause to the following participial phrase. Therefore, the correct answer is "slavery, unflinchingly" (choice B).