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Difficulty: HardCommas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

During the Islamic Golden Age, scholars made significant strides in understanding the behavior of light. The physicist Ibn al-Haytham , who is often considered the father of modern optics, revolutionized scientific methodology through his rigorous experiments. In his influential work *Book of Optics*, he demonstrated that light travels in straight lines and enters the eye to produce vision.

Which choice best punctuates the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    , who is often considered the father of modern optics revolutionized
  3. C
    ; who is often considered the father of modern optics, revolutionized
  4. D
    , that is often considered the father of modern optics, revolutionized

Answer

The correct answer is the option that keeps the original punctuation (NO CHANGE). The clause 'who is often considered the father of modern optics' is a nonessential relative clause because the subject 'Ibn al-Haytham' is a proper noun and already specifically identified. Therefore, the clause must be set off with a pair of commas. Keeping the comma before 'who' and after 'optics' correctly punctuates the sentence.
The clause starting with 'who' is nonessential because the subject 'Ibn al-Haytham' is a proper noun and is already fully identified. Therefore, this parenthetical information must be enclosed by a pair of commas. The original text correctly places a comma before 'who' and a comma after 'optics' before the main verb 'revolutionized'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical role of the underlined clause.
The clause starting with 'who' is a relative clause modifying the proper noun 'Ibn al-Haytham'.
Determining whether a clause is essential (restrictive) or nonessential (nonrestrictive) dictates how it must be punctuated.
2
Determine whether the clause is essential or nonessential.
Because the subject 'Ibn al-Haytham' is already a specifically named individual, the relative clause is nonessential information that could be removed without changing the core meaning of the sentence.
Nonessential elements must be set off from the rest of the sentence by a matching pair of punctuation marks, such as commas.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the correct punctuation structure.
A pair of commas must enclose the clause. The comma before 'who' and the comma after 'optics' correctly isolate the nonessential element.
Omitting one comma, using a semicolon, or using a restrictive pronoun with commas would violate standard punctuation and usage rules.

Key Concept

Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements
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Topics

Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

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