A punctuation question with the same transition in every choice tests whether you can tell where a sentence ends. Cover the transition and split: can each side stand alone? A period or semicolon separates full sentences; commas set off a transition at the start, middle, or end of a sentence. Then test which sentence the transition belongs to by asking which claim contrasts with an earlier one. Punctuation must show both where the full sentences divide and which sentence contains the transition.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the parts beginning “The incisions are not” and “recurring clusters.” Find each part’s subject and main verb once the blank supplies the description.
- Hint 2
Look at how the grain counts relate to the claim about the incisions. Does the sentence after the blank challenge the claim before it, or give evidence for it?
- Hint 3
Go back to Haddad’s first description of the marks. Ask which later claim contrasts with that description, since however belongs to the sentence making that contrast.
Step-by-step
Split first, then test the contrast
Step 1Cover and split
Cover however and split at the blank. Can both sides stand alone? The incisions are not becomes complete when we add the description, with incisions as its subject and are as its verb. After the blank, recurring clusters correspond to quantities of grain has its own subject, clusters, and verb, correspond, so we have two full sentences that need a period or semicolon between them.
- Step 2
Remove the broken punctuation
Which versions fail the grammar test? The version with commas on both sides leaves a comma splice, two full sentences joined by a comma alone, because however can't join full sentences. The version with no comma before however doesn't set off the transition at the sentence's end.
- Step 3
Test the sentence after the blank
Does the sentence after the blank argue against the claim before it? However means despite that, so try it at the start of the sentence about recurring clusters. Those clusters match quantities of grain recorded on nearby accounting tablets, which points to a use for the marks beyond decoration. The match gives a reason to say that the incisions aren't decorative; it doesn't challenge that claim. So however doesn't introduce the grain-count sentence.
- Step 4
Put the transition with the contrast
The earlier sentence calls the incisions decorative flourishes, and the claim that they're not ornamental rejects that description. So however ends that claim, with a comma before it and a semicolon after it to join the sentence giving evidence. The needed form is ornamental, however;. Choice A.