Question 172·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
Author Octavia Butler's novels remain influential decades after their publication. One of the _____ themes in her work is that of human adaptability, which recurs throughout her stories.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For possessive-apostrophe questions, first decide whether the noun should be singular or plural using the surrounding context (look for clues like "their" vs. "its" or whether one or many items are discussed). Then decide if possession is needed by seeing if you could rewrite the phrase with "of" (for example, "themes of the novels"). If you need possession and the noun is plural and already ends in s, add only an apostrophe after the s; if it is singular, usually add 's. Finally, eliminate any option where the apostrophe is attached to an adjective or where the form doesn’t clearly show the owning relationship.
Hints
Check the noun right after the blank
Look at the word that comes immediately after the blank. What kind of relationship does that word have with "novels"?
Think about ownership or association
Try rephrasing the part with the blank as "themes of the novels." What kind of noun form do we use in English instead of saying "of the novels"?
Use the context for singular vs. plural
The previous sentence uses "novels" and "their." Does the blank need to refer to one novel or more than one? How does that choice affect where the apostrophe goes?
Step-by-step Explanation
See what the sentence is saying
Read the full sentence:
"Author Octavia Butler's novels remain influential decades after their publication. One of the _____ themes in her work is that of human adaptability, which recurs throughout her stories."
We are talking about themes that belong to or come from her novels.
Decide what kind of noun form is needed
The blank comes right before the noun "themes," and we want to express "themes of the novels."
That means we need a possessive noun: a form that shows that the themes are associated with (or belong to) the novels.
Check singular vs. plural
Look at the previous sentence: "Author Octavia Butler's novels remain influential decades after their publication."
- "novels" and "their" tell us we are clearly talking about more than one novel.
- So the word in the blank must work with a plural (more than one) owner, not a single novel.
Apply the rule for plural possessives
For a plural noun that already ends in s (like "novels"), we make it possessive by adding just an apostrophe after the s: novels’.
Then we put it before "central themes" to get the phrase meaning "central themes of the novels."
Among the options, only C) novels’ central correctly uses a plural possessive and produces a clear, grammatical phrase: "One of the novels’ central themes."