A punctuation question with extra information tests whether you can find where a description starts and ends. Read the whole sentence, then cross out the description to check which parts can stand alone. For commas and dashes, extra information needs matching marks; a colon needs a complete sentence before it, and a semicolon needs one on each side. Check both sides of the blank, because a mark farther away can affect which rule applies.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read from the blank through the description of the painting. Where does that description seem to end?
- Hint 2
Find the verb that says what the painting does. Does completed do that job, or does juxtaposes?
- Hint 3
Cross out the description and read what remains. If the sentence still works, what does the mark at the description’s far end tell you about the blank?
Step-by-step
Find the insert and match its marks
Step 1Read ahead from the blank
Read ahead from the blank to a deeply personal work completed shortly after her divorce and the comma that follows it. Which words might that comma set off? They describe the painting, so we're testing whether the blank opens extra information, a description the sentence can do without.
- Step 2
Find the painting’s main verb
Which verb says what the painting does? In juxtaposes dual self-portraits, juxtaposes is the main verb, the verb that says what the painting does. The word completed in completed shortly after her divorce describes the work as finished; it isn't paired with was to form was completed. That means the words before the blank haven't finished the sentence.
- Step 3
Cross out the description
Cross out the description and its closing comma. Does the sentence still work? Frida Kahlo’s painting, followed by its title, connects to juxtaposes dual self-portraits to explore identity and loss. So the description is an insert, extra information we can remove. A colon needs a complete sentence before it, and a semicolon needs one on each side; neither can follow the title alone.
- Step 4
Match the closing comma
The comma in her divorce, juxtaposes is the insert’s closing mark. What must go after the title to match it? A dash would make a mixed pair, so a comma must open the insert before the description. Choice C.