In a difficult words-in-context question, identify details that pull in different directions and select the choice that accounts for both. Reject options that fit one detail but overstate or ignore another, especially distinctions such as weakening a boundary versus eliminating or reversing it.
Hints
- Hint 1
Track both features
Consider separately what the smaller type suggests and what the annotations' grammatical role suggests.
- Hint 2
Evaluate the boundary's status
Ask whether the distinction disappears completely, becomes stronger, exchanges direction, or remains visible while becoming less functionally secure.
Step-by-step
- Step 1
Identify what remains unchanged
Ruiz retains the annotations' smaller type, so readers can still visually distinguish annotations from the surrounding poetry.
- Step 2
Identify what changes
Some annotations now occur inside poetic lines and provide verbs or objects required by the lines' grammar. They can no longer function as merely optional commentary.
- Step 3
Synthesize the competing details
The revision neither completely removes the boundary nor simply strengthens it. Instead, it preserves the boundary visually while undermining it structurally, so “destabilize” is the most precise choice.