Food and the sensation of taste are central to Monique Truong's novels. In The Book of Salt, for example, the...

Sentence Structure

• Sentence 1:
  • Food and the sensation of taste are central to Monique Truong's novels.
• Sentence 2:
  • In The Book of Salt, for example,
  • the exiled character of Bình connects to his native Saigon through the food he prepares,
  • while in Bitter in the Mouth,
  • the character of Linda [?] a form of synesthesia whereby the words she hears evoke tastes.
• [?] = experienced/had experienced/experiences/will be experiencing

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning to understand what this passage is telling us.

The first sentence gives us the big picture:

• 'Food and the sensation of taste are central to Monique Truong's novels.'
  • This is a general statement about the author's work
  • Notice it uses present tense: 'are'

The second sentence provides two specific examples:

First example:

• 'In The Book of Salt, for example, the exiled character of Bình connects to his native Saigon through the food he prepares'
  • In this novel, there's a character named Bình who is exiled
  • He maintains connection to his home (Saigon) through cooking
  • Notice: 'connects' is present tense

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank:

• 'while in Bitter in the Mouth, the character of Linda ______ a form of synesthesia'

Let's look at our choices:

• We're deciding between different tenses: experienced (past), had experienced (past perfect), experiences (present), will be experiencing (future)

What have we seen so far?

• The passage uses present tense to describe what happens in these novels
  • 'are central' (first sentence)
  • 'connects' (first example)
• We're presenting two parallel examples of how food/taste work in different novels

So we need present tense to match the pattern: experiences

This creates parallel structure:

• In The Book of Salt → Bình connects
• while in Bitter in the Mouth → Linda experiences

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

• 'a form of synesthesia whereby the words she hears evoke tastes'
  • Synesthesia is when one sense triggers another
  • For Linda, hearing words causes her to taste things
  • Notice: 'hears' and 'evoke' are also present tense

What do we notice about the structure here?

• This passage is describing what happens in these novels
  • When we discuss literature, we use present tense - treating the events as always happening "now" whenever someone reads the work
  • This is true even for novels that already exist
• The sentence presents two parallel examples:
  • Both describe what characters do in their respective novels
  • Both need the same tense to maintain parallel structure
  • Both use simple present: 'connects' and 'experiences'

So we need: Choice C - experiences

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Present Tense When Discussing Literature (Literary Present)

When we discuss what happens in books, plays, poems, or other literary works, we use the present tense—even if the work was written long ago. This convention is called the "literary present" in grammar terms. It treats the events of the text as always happening "now" whenever a reader engages with the work.

Examples:

• Discussing a novel: In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway observes the wealthy lifestyle of East Egg.
  • Not "observed" (even though the book was published in 1925)
• Describing a character: Hamlet struggles with indecision throughout the play.
  • Not "struggled"
• Explaining plot: In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet misjudges Mr. Darcy at first but eventually comes to appreciate his true character.
  • Not "misjudged" or "came"

In this question:

• The passage describes what happens in Truong's novels
• First example: Bình connects (present tense)
• Second example: Linda experiences (present tense)
• Both maintain the literary present throughout

Additional pattern - Parallel Structure:
When presenting comparable examples, use the same grammatical form. Since both examples describe what characters do in their respective novels, both verbs need to be in the same tense (present).