Fans of science fiction will _______ multiple references to classic sci-fi stories in Janelle Monáe's song lyrics, including her recurring...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• Fans of science fiction
  • will ______
    • multiple references
      • to classic sci-fi stories
        • in Janelle Monáe's song lyrics,
    • including her recurring nods
      • to the plot
        • of the 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading:

"Fans of science fiction will ______ multiple references to classic sci-fi stories in Janelle Monáe's song lyrics..."

This is telling us that:

• People who like science fiction
  • will do something with the multiple sci-fi references
  • that appear in Janelle Monáe's songs.

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank: "will ______ multiple references"

Let's look at our choices:

• A: appreciate the (no punctuation)
• B: appreciate. The (period - creating two sentences)
• C: appreciate, the (comma)
• D: appreciate: the (colon)

So we're deciding what punctuation, if any, should come between "appreciate" and "multiple references."

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The basic structure is: Subject + Verb + Direct Object
  • Subject: "Fans of science fiction"
  • Verb: "will appreciate"
  • Direct Object: "multiple references" (this answers "will appreciate what?")

• "Multiple references" is what fans will appreciate
  • It's the object of the verb
  • It completes the action

• In English, the verb and its direct object stay connected
  • They work together as a unit
  • No punctuation should separate them

So we need Choice A - no punctuation. The verb "appreciate" flows directly into its object "multiple references."

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

"including her recurring nods to the plot of the 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis."

• This phrase gives us more detail about the references
  • It tells us one specific example: her nods to Metropolis
  • It's correctly set off with a comma because it's adding extra information

The complete meaning: Sci-fi fans will notice and appreciate the many sci-fi references in Janelle Monáe's songs, including her repeated references to the classic 1927 film Metropolis.

Grammar Concept Applied

Keeping Verbs Connected to Their Direct Objects

In English sentences, a verb and its direct object (the thing receiving the action) should stay connected without punctuation between them. This is part of the basic sentence structure that shouldn't be disrupted.

The pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Direct Object (no punctuation between verb and object)

Examples:

• Correct: Scientists discovered evidence of water on Mars.
  • Verb: discovered
  • Direct Object: evidence
  • These stay connected - no punctuation between them

• Incorrect: Scientists discovered, evidence of water on Mars.
  • The comma disrupts the connection between the verb and what was discovered

• Incorrect: Scientists discovered. Evidence of water on Mars.
  • The period creates a fragment - "Evidence of water on Mars" has no verb

In our question:

• Verb: "will appreciate"
• Direct Object: "multiple references"
• These must stay connected: "will appreciate multiple references"
• No punctuation should come between them

The only time you'd put punctuation between a verb and its object is if there's an interrupting element (like a parenthetical comment) that needs to be set off - but that's not the case here.