An apostrophe question with two nouns that change tests whether each noun needs to show ownership. Read through the blank and test each noun on its own. Ask does it own what follows?, including the noun after the blank. If swapping the nouns around with of keeps the meaning, the first noun is an owner. Count the owners: one takes ’s, plural owners ending in s take an apostrophe after it, and plain plurals take none.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read from “a series of” through “title character.” For each noun, ask what comes after it.
- Hint 2
Try the ownership test wherever one noun is followed by another: flip them and put of between them. Does that wording still mean what this sentence means?
- Hint 3
Count the owners for any noun that shows ownership. How many plays are named, and what does “a new edition” tell you about that count?
Step-by-step
Test each noun on its own
Step 1Test the first noun
The phrase a series of calls for more than one monologue, so let's test the first noun before we move to the play. Does a monologue own anything here? The words delivered by tell us who speaks the monologues, rather than name something that belongs to them. So the first noun is a plain plural, meaning more than one with no ownership, and the versions with monologue’s add an apostrophe the sentence doesn't call for.
- Step 2
Read past the blank
Now read past the blank to title character, the phrase that follows the second noun. What belongs to what here? The of test gives us the title character of the play, which keeps the sentence's meaning, so the play is an owner and needs an apostrophe. The apostrophe's position tells us whether that character belongs to one play or several, so we still need to count the owners in the passage.
- Step 3
Count the plays
How many plays are named? Shakespeare’s King Lear is the play being discussed, and a new edition is another version of that play, not a second play. Since the character belongs to one play, the noun takes ’s, so we need the version with monologues and play’s. Choice D.