In January 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, an appeal for freedom from the British monarchy that famously helped ignite...

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

• In January 1776,
• Thomas Paine published Common Sense,
  • an appeal for freedom from the British monarchy
    • that famously helped ignite the desire
      • for independence among the American colonists.

• After the colonies achieved their independence,
• Paine moved to Paris,
  • where the provocative (?) author's/authors/authors' political
    • writings/writing's
      • would contribute to another revolution—the French Revolution.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence to get the context:

• 'In January 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense'
  • This tells us when and what Paine published

• 'an appeal for freedom from the British monarchy'
  • This describes what Common Sense was – a call for freedom

• 'that famously helped ignite the desire for independence among the American colonists'
  • This tells us the impact – it helped spark the American Revolution

Now the second sentence:

• 'After the colonies achieved their independence, Paine moved to Paris'
  • So after the American Revolution succeeded, Paine went to France

This is where we have the blank:

• 'where the provocative ______ would contribute to another revolution—the French Revolution'

Let's look at our choices:

1. "authors political writings"
2. "author's political writings"
3. "author's political writing's"
4. "authors' political writings'"

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

The sentence is telling us that something belonging to Paine would contribute to the French Revolution. Specifically, it's his political writings that would contribute.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The phrase needs to show that the "political writings" belong to the "author" (Paine)
  • This is a possessive relationship – the writings are his

• We're talking about ONE author – Thomas Paine
  • So we need singular possessive: "author's"

• "Writings" is describing multiple pieces of political writing
  • This is just a plural noun (more than one writing)
  • It's NOT showing possession – the writings don't own anything
  • So "writings" should NOT have an apostrophe

So we need: "author's political writings" – the writings belonging to the one author.

The correct answer is Choice B.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Apostrophes for Possession vs. Plural Forms

Apostrophes serve a specific purpose: they show possession (ownership or association). Understanding when to use them – and when NOT to – is crucial:

1. Singular Possessive: Add 's

• When ONE person/thing owns or is associated with something
• Pattern: singular noun + 's
• Example: "The author's writings were provocative" (the writings belong to one author)

2. Plural Possessive: Add s'

• When MULTIPLE people/things own or is associated with something
• Pattern: plural noun + s + '
• Example: "The authors' writings varied in style" (the writings belong to multiple authors)

3. Regular Plural: Add s (NO apostrophe)

• When you're simply talking about more than one thing
• Pattern: noun + s
• Example: "He wrote several writings" (just multiple writings, not showing possession)

In this question:

• ONE author (Paine) → "author's" (singular possessive)
• MULTIPLE writings → "writings" (regular plural, NO apostrophe)
• Result: "the author's political writings"

The key is to ask: "Is this showing possession/association, or just indicating more than one?" Only possession needs an apostrophe.