Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumDashes

A student is editing a draft of an essay about modern art history. Based on the paragraph below, which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to ensure the sentence is punctuated correctly?

Answer:The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo—best known for her uncompromising and vividly colored self-portraits【—】 focused her work on themes of identity, the human body, and death. Although she was active in the mid-twentieth century, her artwork did not receive widespread international acclaim until decades after her passing. Today, she is celebrated worldwide as a pioneer of modern art.

Answer

A dash (—) is required to close the nonessential phrase because it was opened with a matching dash.
The sentence contains a nonessential explanatory phrase set off by punctuation. Because the phrase is introduced with a dash, a matching dash must be used to close the phrase to maintain punctuation consistency.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the nonessential explanatory phrase within the main clause.
The phrase 'best known for her uncompromising and vividly colored self-portraits' is a nonessential modifier describing Frida Kahlo.
Nonessential phrases provide extra information that can be removed without changing the core grammatical structure of the sentence.
2
Examine the punctuation mark that opens the nonessential phrase.
The phrase is introduced with an em dash (—).
To maintain punctuation consistency, nonessential phrases must be enclosed by matching punctuation marks (two commas, two parentheses, or two dashes).
3
Determine the correct punctuation mark to close the nonessential phrase.
A matching em dash (—) must be placed in the blank.
Using a comma, semicolon, or parenthesis would create mismatched punctuation, violating consistency rules.

Key Concept

Dashes must be used in matching pairs when setting off parenthetical or nonessential information within a sentence.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Dashes

More questions from this topic