A punctuation question with extra information inside extra information tests whether you can track where each part begins and ends. Find who or what the sentence is about and what it does, then trace the marks between them. Cross out each insert, a piece of extra information, to check that the sentence still works. In the middle of a sentence, each insert needs matching marks: paired commas, paired dashes, or parentheses. Closing a smaller insert doesn't close the one around it.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for the sentence's main thought about the return. Which words tell you what the heroine's return does?
- Hint 2
The comma after and may open a smaller insert. Try crossing out the comment about the closing speech to see which words it interrupts.
- Hint 3
The dash after playhouse and the comma after and may belong to different inserts. Track where each insert ends, using the point where the surrounding sentence picks up again.
Step-by-step
Track the inner and outer inserts
Step 1Find the main sentence
The dash in playhouse—both follows the heroine's return, and allows Chen to question says what the return does. What interrupts that main thought? The descriptions of the return form an insert, a piece of extra information, so we need to find where it starts and ends to punctuate it.
- Step 2
Close the speech comment
The comma in and, as her closing speech makes opens a smaller insert inside the longer one. Where does the speech comment end? Every option has clear, which finishes makes clear, and then gives a second description of the return. Cross out the speech comment, and and connects to that second description. The smaller insert needs a closing comma after clear, because a comma opened it.
- Step 3
Find the longer insert's end
How far does the longer insert run? both a nod to Gothic convention and joins two descriptions, so it includes the second one through her. Cross out both descriptions and the speech comment, and the heroine's return still allows Chen to question performance. The longer insert ends where the main sentence picks up again, right before allows Chen to question.
- Step 4
Match both pairs
The version with commas after both clear and her leaves the dash in playhouse—both unmatched. The outer insert needs a closing dash, while the smaller comma pair stays inside it. That makes clear, a symbol of the roles imposed on her— the choice that closes both inserts with matching marks. Choice B.