In 1453, English King Henry VI became unfit to rule after falling gravely ill. As a result, Parliament appointed Richard,...

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

• Sentence 1:
  • In 1453,
  • English King Henry VI
    • became unfit to rule
      • after falling gravely ill.
• Sentence 2:
  • As a result,
  • Parliament
    • appointed Richard,
      • Third Duke of York,
        • who had a strong claim to the English throne,
    • to rule as Lord Protector.
• Sentence 3:
  • Upon recovering two years later,
  • [?] forcing an angered Richard from the royal court
    • and
  • precipitating a series of battles
    • later known as the Wars of the Roses.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's read through and understand what's happening:

Sentence 1 tells us:

• In 1453, King Henry VI became too ill to rule.

Sentence 2 explains what happened as a result:

• Parliament appointed Richard (the Third Duke of York) to rule in Henry's place as Lord Protector.
  • We also learn Richard had a strong claim to the throne himself.

Now Sentence 3 begins:

• "Upon recovering two years later..."
  • This means Henry got better after two years.

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A: "Henry resumed his reign,"
• Choice B: "the reign of Henry resumed,"
• Choice C: "Henry's reign resumed,"
• Choice D: "it was Henry who resumed his reign,"

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The sentence continues with:

• "forcing an angered Richard from the royal court"
  • meaning pushing an angry Richard out of court
• "and precipitating a series of battles later known as the Wars of the Roses"
  • meaning triggering/causing these famous battles

So the complete picture is:

• Henry recovered from his illness
• [Someone/something] did something
• This action forced Richard out and started the Wars of the Roses

What do we notice about the structure here?

• "Upon recovering two years later" is a phrase that describes HENRY
  • Henry is the person who fell ill
  • Henry is the person who recovered
• This opening phrase needs to connect logically to whoever is doing the main action in the sentence
  • The subject right after this phrase should be the same person who recovered
• Looking at our choices:
  • Choice A makes "Henry" the subject → Henry recovered, Henry resumed
  • Choice B makes "the reign" the subject → The reign didn't recover
  • Choice C makes "Henry's reign" the subject → The reign didn't recover
  • Choice D makes "it" the subject (cleft construction) → Wordy and unclear

The correct answer is Choice A: "Henry resumed his reign,"

• "Henry" properly connects with "Upon recovering" (he's the one who recovered)
• "resumed his reign" is the clear main action
• "forcing" and "precipitating" then show the consequences of Henry's return

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Connecting Introductory Modifying Phrases to the Right Subject

When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase (also called an introductory modifier), that phrase needs to logically connect to the subject that immediately follows it. The subject of the main clause should be the person or thing the opening phrase describes.

The Pattern:

Modifying phrase + comma + [Subject doing that action] + verb

Example 1:

• Correct: "Upon recovering from her injury, Maria returned to the team"
  • "Upon recovering" describes Maria
  • "Maria" is the subject → Connection is clear
• Incorrect: "Upon recovering from her injury, the team welcomed Maria back"
  • "Upon recovering" describes Maria
  • "the team" is the subject → Who recovered? Unclear/illogical

Example 2:

• Correct: "After studying for weeks, the students felt prepared"
  • "After studying" describes the students
  • "the students" is the subject → Clear connection
• Incorrect: "After studying for weeks, the exam felt easier"
  • "After studying" describes students
  • "the exam" is the subject → The exam didn't study!

In our question:

• "Upon recovering two years later" describes Henry (he was ill, he recovered)
• Therefore, Henry must be the subject: "Henry resumed his reign"
• Choices that make "the reign" or "Henry's reign" the subject create dangling modifiers because the reign didn't recover - Henry did

This is why the subject immediately following an introductory phrase matters so much - it tells us who or what is performing the action described in that opening phrase!