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1 Many cultures have a tradition of mythical creatures.2 Some malicious, others benefactors, with a variety of powers and special attributes. 3 The ancient Greeks had centaurs and harpies, the Assyrians had mermaids, and the German elves. 4 These creatures remain prevaricate today, to appear in fantasy novels, movies, and even university courses.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 3 be rewritten?
In order to maintain parallelism in this list, we need to add a verb to “the German elves.”
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Although a work of fiction, Mariama Bâ's 1979 novel, So Long a Let ter is also, in a sense, a manifesto of the female African experience, one that has all too often been consigned to a footnote in history books. Within the overarching colonial narrative of African marginalization, black women have been marginalized farther. In their respective accounts, Jomo Kenyatta and Franz Fanon put their own words in the mouths of female subjects: in more objective histories, women are hardly spoken of at all. By taking a comparative approach, however, the history of African women in the colonial and post-colonial eras can be patched together into something comprehensible. With Bâ’s voice as a guide, a more complex narrative comes out of the darkness of historical silence and bias to revealing significant degrees of female agency and expression.
Replace the bolded and underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The original phrase is incorrect because the appositive phrase "So Long a Letter" is essential information required to understand the sentence; as such, it does not need to be set apart from the sentence by commas. A period and a semicolon are both incorrect punctuation choices, because the preceding phrase, “Although a work of fiction, Mariama Bâ's 1979 novel” is not a complete sentence or thought. The phrase "novel So Long a Letter , is also" inserts an unnecessary comma that is grammatically incorrect and confuses the meaning of the sentence. Therefore, the answer must be "novel So Long a Letter is also."
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Although a work of fiction, Mariama Bâ's 1979 novel, So Long a Let ter is also, in a sense, a manifesto of the female African experience, one that has all too often been consigned to a footnote in history books. Within the overarching colonial narrative of African marginalization, black women have been marginalized farther. In their respective accounts, Jomo Kenyatta and Franz Fanon put their own words in the mouths of female subjects: in more objective histories, women are hardly spoken of at all. By taking a comparative approach, however, the history of African women in the colonial and post-colonial eras can be patched together into something comprehensible. With Bâ’s voice as a guide, a more complex narrative comes out of the darkness of historical silence and bias to revealing significant degrees of female agency and expression.
Replace the bolded and underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The full sentence given here combines two separate complete sentences, which calls for a semicolon or a comma followed by a conjunction. A colon, as used in the original phrase, indicates that the second sentence is the result or an example of the first, whereas in actuality they are two related but separate thoughts. A comma would create a run-on sentence, as would the lack of any punctuation. Finally, “subjects, being in more” confuses the meaning of the sentence. “Subjects; in more” must be the correct choice.
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1 Tattoos have even been found on ancient Icelandic, Egyptian, and South American mummies.2 On their various voyages to the South Pacific, Captain Cook and other European explorers brought back accounts of colorfully inked natives, and their sailors soon began to adopt the practice. 3 Early medieval Northern European tribes such as the Picts and Visigoths were often heavily tattooed; particularly the warriors. 4 Over the centuries, various cultures have described various meanings to tattoos, with indelible ink signifying everything from royalty to gang membership to magical powers.
5 Interestingly modern-day tattooing’s popularity evolved out of its adoption by wealthy British nobility, and by American celebrities, musicians, and actors. 6 While tattoos do have a dark past, most notably at Auschwitz, where Nazi’s identified prisoners by tattooing numbers on their arms. 7 Tattoos can be signs of joy, belief, or even healing, such as the colorful tattoos that breast cancer survivors use to cover mastectomy scars.
8 Today, there are more options than ever before, tattoo artists often have fine arts training, lengthy apprenticeships, and can offer specialty inks that glow in the dark or are easier to remove. 9 The internet is full of design ideas, tattoo parlor rankings, and even horror stories about bad tattoo experiences. 10 Now more than ever, information about ink abounds. 11 Choose wisely!
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 8 be revised?
The original version of Sentence 8 is an example of faulty parallelism, with only two of the three items in the list containing a verb. To correct this error, we need to either delete all the verbs or add a verb to the lacking clause.
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1 Although agritourism is a fairly recent phenomenon in the Western world; it is proving popular in many countries. 2 Agritourism is broadly defined as any activity or attraction that draws visitors to a farm, and it can include anything from corn mazes and apple picking to vineyard tours, workshops on animal husbandry, and work-stay exchange programs. 3 The practice is particularly prevocalic in North America, Europe, and Australia. 4 With a huge variety of farms and activities available to agritourists. 5 For example: visitors can learn how to run a cattle drive in Wyoming, make cheese in France, harvest olives in Sicily, or pick kiwi fruit in New Zealand.
6 Income generated from agritourism can help small family farms remain soluble as well as educate the public about where their food comes from. 7 Henceforth, most people agree that agritourism is benevolent for everyone involved. 8 While there are some who argue that it is a cheap ploy designed to make selfish tourists feel better about their vacations. 9 All in all, it will be interesting to see how agritourism continues to develop in the future.
Which of the following sentences needs a colon added to or deleted from it?
In Sentence 5, we have a colon introducing a list. Generally, this is the correct usage of a colon, but remember that the colon is only necessary if the part of the sentence preceding it is an independent clause. Correctly punctuated, Sentence 5 would read, “For example, visitors can learn how to run a cattle drive in Wyoming, make cheese in France, harvest olives in Sicily, or pick kiwi fruit in New Zealand.”
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1 Some of the best-known badlands occur in North America; Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah, and the Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan. 2 Have you ever been to the badlands? 3 Despite their name, badlands are often fascinating topographical regions. 4 With beautiful vistas as well. 5 Elsewhere badlands can be found in Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and Argentina.6 Badlands are distinguished by their stark, dry terrain, their sharply eroded landscapes, their lack of vegetation, and their colorful, clay-rich rocks. 7 They often include geological features such as canyons, gullies, mesas, buttes, and hoodoos. 8 Nevertheless, visiting badlands can be an uncommon but rewarding experience.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 1 be rewritten?
Here, we have an independent clause that introduces a list, so the appropriate punctuation mark is a colon.
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1 Some of the best-known badlands occur in North America; Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah, and the Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan. 2 Have you ever been to the badlands? 3 Despite their name, badlands are often fascinating topographical regions. 4 With beautiful vistas as well. 5 Elsewhere badlands can be found in Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and Argentina.6 Badlands are distinguished by their stark, dry terrain, their sharply eroded landscapes, their lack of vegetation, and their colorful, clay-rich rocks. 7 They often include geological features such as canyons, gullies, mesas, buttes, and hoodoos. 8 Nevertheless, visiting badlands can be an uncommon but rewarding experience.
Which sentence needs a comma added to it?
In Sentence 5, we need a comma to separate the introductory word (“Elsewhere”) from the rest of the sentence. Correctly punctuated, it would read: “Elsewhere, badlands can be found in Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and Argentina.”
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1 Deaccession or deaccessioning is defined as the intentional disposing or selling of books from library’s collections. 2 And is often undertaken to make room for newer volumes, to shift the focus of the library’s collection, or to reflect changing trends in literature. 3 Many people disagree vehicularly about which books should be deaccessioned, when and how books should be disposed of, and even whether books should be deaccessioned at all. 4 Book deaccession: It sounds boring, but is in fact one of the more controversial and problematic aspects of running a library. 5 Though others argue that it allows libraries to remain current and relevant to the public’s reading needs. 6 No doubt it is a topic that will continue to provoke debate for years to come.
Which sentence contains an apostrophe error?
Sentence 1 is discussing collections belonging to multiple libraries, so the singular possessive “library’s” is incorrect. Instead, the phrase should read “from libraries’ collections.”
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1 Deaccession or deaccessioning is defined as the intentional disposing or selling of books from library’s collections. 2 And is often undertaken to make room for newer volumes, to shift the focus of the library’s collection, or to reflect changing trends in literature. 3 Many people disagree vehicularly about which books should be deaccessioned, when and how books should be disposed of, and even whether books should be deaccessioned at all. 4 Book deaccession: It sounds boring, but is in fact one of the more controversial and problematic aspects of running a library. 5 Though others argue that it allows libraries to remain current and relevant to the public’s reading needs. 6 No doubt it is a topic that will continue to provoke debate for years to come.
How should the beginning of Sentence 5 be rewritten?
The original version of Sentence 5 lacks the appropriate commas. Starting a sentence or a clause with “though” and a comma is rarely grammatically correct, so changing the order to “Others, though, argue” is the best option.
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1 Many painters have strong sediments about whether oil or acrylic paints produce the best results. 2 On the one hand, oil paints take longer to dry and are therefore more conductive to slow painstaking work and careful blending. 3 While, they also require the use of more toxic chemicals such as turpentine and mineral spirits. 4 Professional artists are often meritorious about the materials they use. 5 Acrylic paints are now favored by more and more artists, not only because they are odorless and nontoxic and also because their colors are not effervescent, they don’t fade when exposed to light. 6 However, many of the worlds’ great masterpieces were created with oil paints. 7 With some artists understandably feel nasturtium when they see oils being replaced by cheaper, more popular acrylics.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 5 be rewritten?
The correct construction is always “not only… but also” with no intervening commas or other punctuation.
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1 Many painters have strong sediments about whether oil or acrylic paints produce the best results. 2 On the one hand, oil paints take longer to dry and are therefore more conductive to slow painstaking work and careful blending. 3 While, they also require the use of more toxic chemicals such as turpentine and mineral spirits. 4 Professional artists are often meritorious about the materials they use. 5 Acrylic paints are now favored by more and more artists, not only because they are odorless and nontoxic and also because their colors are not effervescent, they don’t fade when exposed to light. 6 However, many of the worlds’ great masterpieces were created with oil paints. 7 With some artists understandably feel nasturtium when they see oils being replaced by cheaper, more popular acrylics.
Which sentence contains an apostrophe error?
The possessive of the singular “world” is “world’s,” not “worlds’.”
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1 The Moluccas is a chain, or archetype, of islands belonging to Indonesia. 2 Historically, these islands were known as the Spice Islands for their abundance of nutmeg, cloves, mace, and pepper, this profundity of spices eventually drew colonial attention. 3 Spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, anise, and pepper were particularly popular during the medieval times. 4 In the 1600s, the Spice Wars arose as a result of competing Portuguese and Dutch interest’s in the Spice Islands. 5 The bloody conflict ended in the deaths of many native Moluccans as well as European traders, wherefore both Portugal and the Netherlands gained and lost territories ranging from Africa and South America. 6 For this day, strife occasionally breaks out on the islands although it is now motivated by religious and not colonial disagreements.7 It is located just west of New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean, and its more than 1,000 islands are home to more than 2 million people today.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 5 be rewritten?
The proper grammatical construction is always “ranging from __________ to __________.”
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1 One such example of regional cooking could be found in the American South. 2 Wherefore foods such as gumbo, barbecue, fried chicken, and watermelons can now be found all across the country, it was once specific to states south of the Mason-Dixon line. 3 And while Southern cuisine has been influenced by Native American tribes, Scottish immigrants, and Cajun settlers, one of the most significant culinary inspirations came from the South’s black population. 4 Dishes such as cornbread, succotash, collard or turnip greens, pimento cheese, crawfish, and sweet tea all hale from the South, as well. 5 For example, okra, black-eyed peas, and sorghum are all foods brought to America and cultivated by African slaves. 6 Soon, soul food (a sometimes contentious term among black chefs) began to be served in black-owned restaurants in the South. 7 Borne out of competing cultural influences and not-infrequent strife, it should be no surprise that Southern food remains a complex delicious cuisine to this day.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 2 be rewritten?
Here, there is a problem with the pronoun referent. The subject of this sentence (“foods such as barbecue, black-eyed peas, okra, sorghum, and watermelons”) is plural, so the pronoun must be as well.
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1 Glass; a material most people take for granted, is an essential constitute of modern life. 2 Most glass throughout history have been made of silicon dioxide; which is found in sand. 3 Typically glass is made by melting down and refining raw materials in processes that remove bubbles, improve strength, and augur durability. 4 This process can be tailored to create the desired end product, be that stained glass windows for a church and glass fibers for thermal insulation. 5 Because glass blowing can be used to create fanciful shapes and delicate figurines, most glass today is made more quickly and cheaply in factories. 6 These factories can produce everything. 7 From windshields and sterile medical equipment.
Which sentence needs a comma added to it?
The word “Typically” is functioning as an introductory clause here, so it must be separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma.
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1 Glass; a material most people take for granted, is an essential constitute of modern life. 2 Most glass throughout history have been made of silicon dioxide; which is found in sand. 3 Typically glass is made by melting down and refining raw materials in processes that remove bubbles, improve strength, and augur durability. 4 This process can be tailored to create the desired end product, be that stained glass windows for a church and glass fibers for thermal insulation. 5 Because glass blowing can be used to create fanciful shapes and delicate figurines, most glass today is made more quickly and cheaply in factories. 6 These factories can produce everything. 7 From windshields and sterile medical equipment.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 7 be revised?
The correct construction is “from __________ to __________.” No other word can be substituted in place of “to” in this construction.
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1 Think about medieval Christianity. 2 What do you see? 3 Likely you’re imagining monks, gloomy Gothic cathedrals with flying buttresses, or witches burned at the stake. 4 But what you may not be cognitive of is: the concept of the anchorite. 5 This is the moniker for a religious recluse who elects to be walled up in a small room inside a church. 6 The anchorite was not left to die, however, they were fed through small windows and used the imprisonment to participate more fully in the spiritual life of the community. 7 It is a spiritual calling that is now very rare; few if any anchorites still exist in the world today.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 3 be rewritten?
The original phrase is correct. No colon is used unless the part of the sentence preceding the colon is an independent clause.
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1 The purpose of this agricultural practice is to produce large amounts of meat, milk, eggs, and textiles, such as wool and leather, at low costs. 2 It has many negative consequences; however, and many activists have raised concerns about sustainability, environmental risks, and ethics. 3 Factory farming, sometimes known euphonically as intensive animal farming, or industrial farming, is the practice of raising livestock at very high densities in order to decrease the costs of production. 4 On most factory farms, animals are reduced to commodities: bred unnaturally, confined in uncomfortably small cages, and dosed with high strength antibiotics to reduce concomitant infections. 5 Although, the livestock suffers considerately, drug-resistant bacteria become more common, and significant environmental hazards arise from the high quantities of animal waste. 6 Does the phrase manure lagoons sound familiar? 7 As a light of this issue, many people choose to become vegetarian or join anti-factory farming campaigns. 8 What will you do?
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 1 be rewritten?
A comma is only ever required before the phrase “such as” if the phrase is part of a non-restrictive clause, which “such as wool and leather” is not.
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1 The word wig itself comes from the English word periwig and can demote a variety of styles, materials, and colors. 2 Have you ever wondered what goes into making a wig? 3 Historically wigs have served a variety of functions and took a number of forms. 4 Wigs have been used as fashion accessories, costume components, and to disguise baldness. 5 These days, wigs are most commonly made from synthetic materials, real human hair, or hair from animals, such as goats and yaks.
should the underlined portion of Sentence 5 be rewritten?
A comma is only ever required before the phrase “such as” if the phrase is part of a non-restrictive clause, which “such as goats and yaks” is not.
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1 As anyone who has tried it can tell you, Filipino food is an exciting intriguing blend of flavors. 2 Due to interaction with various nations and cultures, it’s cuisine is marked by influences from Austronesia, Spain, China, Malaysia, and the United States. 3 Some typical dishes including pancit, longganisa, lumpia, kare-kare, pinakbet, sinigang, and adobo. 4 For example, one could find everything from Spanish paella and Chinese spring rolls (locally called lumpia) if you walked into a Filipino restaurant.
5 Another important compound of Filipino cuisine is street food. 6 These street foods include many fried foods, such as bananas, plantains, dumplings, squid balls, battered quail eggs, and fruit or vegetable spring rolls.7 Taho, a warm street food, is composed of bean curd, a caramel syrup or arnibal, and tapioca pearls.8 Don’t forget dessert! 9 With such a variety of flavors, textures, and cooking styles, there’s certainly to be something for every gourmand.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 4 be rewritten?
The correct construction is always “everything from __________ to __________” or “including ____________ and ___________.”
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1 While many people feel strongly about the genetic modification of foods. 2 Most do not understand the full nature of genetically modified (GM) plants and animals. 3 For example, did you even know that GM was the abbreviation for genetically modified? 4 Genetic modification is defined as the artificial manipulation of a specie’s DNA usually for the purpose of improving crop yield, resistance to disease, or nutritive value. 5 And did you know it has been going on for millennia, because ancient farmers were selectively breeding foods to provide better flavor, produce smaller seeds, or withstand drought and flooding?
6 Today, however, having more sophisticated tools allow scientists to transfer genes from one organism with another, this purposely provokes better pest resistance and other desirable characteristics. 7 Opponents of genetic modification argue that the DNA modifications are unstable, undesirable, and unhealthy for the environment. 8 Additionally, some are also arguing that consuming GM foods is unsafe for humans, despite much scientific evidence to the contrary.
How should the underlined portion of Sentence 6 be rewritten?
The correct grammatical construction is always “transfer from ___________ to ___________.”
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