Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumCommas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

During the Edo period in Japan, artists perfected the genre of woodblock printing known as ukiyo-e. These vibrant prints, which depicted scenes of theater, travel, and daily life, became highly popular among the merchant class. Because this collaborative production method involved an artist, a carver, and a publisher, workshops could easily mass-produce the prints for a growing audience.

Which choice most effectively punctuates the underlined portion of the passage?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    prints, which depicted scenes of theater, travel, and daily life became
  3. C
    prints; which depicted scenes of theater, travel, and daily life, became
  4. D
    prints, that depicted scenes of theater, travel, and daily life, became

Answer

NO CHANGE
The underlined portion is correct as written. The relative clause starting with 'which' is nonessential because it provides extra descriptive information about 'prints' that is not necessary to identify them. Nonessential clauses must be set off from the rest of the sentence with commas both before and after the clause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the clause embedded within the sentence.
The clause is 'which depicted scenes of theater, travel, and daily life'.
Determining the boundaries of the clause helps analyze its punctuation needs.
2
Determine if the clause is essential (restrictive) or nonessential (nonrestrictive) to the meaning of the sentence.
The clause is nonessential because 'These vibrant prints' is already specific; the clause only adds descriptive detail.
Nonessential elements must be set off with a pair of commas, whereas essential elements should not have commas.
3
Select the option that correctly sets off this nonessential relative clause with two commas.
The correct choice is the original phrasing, which has a comma before 'which' and a comma after 'life'.
Only the correct choice provides balanced punctuation for the nonessential clause without introducing errors like semicolons or restrictive relative pronouns.

Key Concept

Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

More questions from this topic