A punctuation question with several changing marks tests where sentences end and how a list joins a sentence. Split at each changing mark and ask, can these words stand alone? Look for a subject and a main verb, which says what the subject does or is. A colon follows a full sentence and introduces a list or explanation; periods and semicolons need full sentences on both sides. Test each boundary, because a phrase can't join two sentences.
Hints
- Hint 1
Start with Sen's sentence about how she grouped the poems. Find its subject and main verb, then test whether it stands alone once the first missing word is added.
- Hint 2
Check what explains the kinds of documents. Ask whether those words have a main verb of their own or name examples of a group.
- Hint 3
Look at “these ordinary records reveal” and trace back to the start of that sentence. Set aside any describing phrase while checking what separates it from Sen's sentence.
Step-by-step
Test each boundary
Step 1Find the first full sentence
In editor Mira Sen grouped the poems, Sen is the subject and grouped is the main verb, which says what she did. With several marks changing, let's test where this sentence can end. Can it stand alone after transform? Yes, because it tells how she grouped the poems, so the first sentence is complete.
- Step 2
Test the document list
What comes after that complete sentence? Recipes, weather reports, and court transcripts name the kinds of borrowed documents, but the list has no main verb. A colon can attach that list to a full sentence, but a semicolon needs a full sentence after it. The version with a semicolon after transform ends the list at a period, with no main verb.
- Step 3
Find the next sentence's subject
Read on to these ordinary records reveal. Which words give this sentence its subject and main verb? The subject is records, and the main verb is reveal. The phrase recast as lyric poems describes how the records were rewritten, so it doesn't give the list a main verb. The next sentence already has its subject. The version with a period after transform starts with the list, then repeats that subject without a word linking them.
- Step 4
Separate the two sentences
What separates Sen's complete sentence from these ordinary records reveal? The version with a comma after transcripts leaves only a comma between two full sentences, a comma splice, even with the describing phrase in between. Use the version with a colon after transform and a period after transcripts, which lets Recast as lyric poems open the new sentence. Choice B.