In Mira Solano’s short story “The Lantern Keeper,” the disappearance of a coastal village’s warning bell seems resolved when a sailor confesses to taking it. Yet the confession’s final _____ in a hurried hand, crowded into the page’s lower margin, and addressed to the lighthouse keeper rather than to the magistrate, overturns that account by indicating that the sailor arrived only after the bell was gone.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For sentences with long descriptive interruptions, first remove the interruption and identify the main subject and verb. Then restore the descriptive words and determine whether they form a modifying phrase or another main predicate. Nonessential modifying phrases within a sentence should be enclosed by matching commas.
Hints
Find the main verb
Read from the subject “the confession’s final sentence” to the end and determine which word expresses what that sentence does.
Examine the intervening description
Consider whether the details about handwriting, placement, and addressee form the main predicate or merely describe the sentence.
Check the commas as a pair
The prompt already supplies a comma after the descriptive material. Decide whether a matching comma is needed where that material begins.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the main clause
Temporarily remove the long descriptive phrase. The sentence’s core is “the confession’s final sentence overturns that account.” Thus, “overturns” is the main verb.
Fit the modifier into the sentence
The words from “written in a hurried hand” through “rather than to the magistrate” describe the final sentence. Because this information interrupts the main clause and is nonessential, it must be enclosed by commas.
Choose the correct verb form
The participle “written,” rather than the finite verb phrase “was written,” allows the inserted material to function as a modifier. The comma after “sentence” pairs with the comma already provided after “magistrate.”