In the canon of North African literature, Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi's 1954 novel The Simple Past (Le Passé simple) looms...

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 the canon of North African literature,
  • Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi's 1954 novel The Simple Past (Le Passé simple)
    • looms large.
• A coming-of-age story,
  • a social meditation,
  • and a sober gaze into the dark maw of French colonialism,
• ______ [?]
  • interrogates systemic power with memorable intensity.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• 'In the canon of North African literature, Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi's 1954 novel The Simple Past (Le Passé simple) looms large.'
  • This tells us about a specific novel that's important in North African literature
  • The novel is by Driss Chraïbi, published in 1954
  • 'Looms large' means it's very significant and influential

Now the second sentence begins with three descriptive phrases:

• 'A coming-of-age story, a social meditation, and a sober gaze into the dark maw of French colonialism'
  • These are three ways of describing something
  • They're separated by commas in a list

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

• Choice A starts with "Morocco gained its independence..."
• Choice B starts with "Chraïbi's debut novel..."
• Choice C starts with "Chraïbi wrote a debut novel..."
• Choice D starts with "published two years before..."

To see what works here, let's read what comes after the blank:

• 'interrogates systemic power with memorable intensity.'

Now let's think about what this sentence is telling us:

The three descriptive phrases at the beginning describe something:

• 'A coming-of-age story' - this describes a book or novel
• 'a social meditation' - this also describes a book or novel
• 'a sober gaze into the dark maw of French colonialism' - again, describing a book

What do we notice about the structure here?

When we have descriptive phrases like these at the start of a sentence, set off by commas, they need to describe whatever comes RIGHT AFTER them.

So what should come after these phrases?

• The thing being described - which is the novel
• NOT Morocco's independence (Choice A)
• NOT Chraïbi as a person (Choice C)
• The novel itself needs to be the subject

Also, "interrogates systemic power" needs a subject to perform that action:

• The novel is what interrogates systemic power
• So we need "the novel" to be positioned as the subject of "interrogates"

The correct answer is Choice B: "Chraïbi's debut novel, published two years before Morocco gained its independence,"

This works because:

• "Chraïbi's debut novel" comes right after the descriptive phrases, so those phrases correctly describe the novel
• "Chraïbi's debut novel" serves as the subject of "interrogates"
• The timing information (published two years before independence) is tucked in as an additional modifier
• The complete meaning flows naturally: The novel, described as a coming-of-age story and more, interrogates systemic power

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Placing Descriptive Phrases Next to What They Describe

When you begin a sentence with descriptive phrases (called appositives or modifying phrases in grammar terms) set off by commas, those phrases must describe whatever noun comes immediately after them. This is crucial for clear communication.

The Pattern:

• Descriptive phrase(s), [thing being described], rest of sentence

Example 1:

• ✓ Correct: "A talented musician, Sarah performs at venues across the city."
• "A talented musician" describes "Sarah" (which comes right after)
• ✗ Incorrect: "A talented musician, the venues across the city feature Sarah's performances."
• "A talented musician" seems to describe "the venues," which makes no sense

Example 2:

• ✓ Correct: "An innovative approach to urban planning, the proposal received widespread support."
• "An innovative approach" describes "the proposal"
• ✗ Incorrect: "An innovative approach to urban planning, city officials discussed the proposal."
• "An innovative approach" seems to describe "city officials," not the proposal

In this question:

• "A coming-of-age story, a social meditation, and a sober gaze into the dark maw of French colonialism" are descriptive phrases
• They need to describe the novel
• Therefore, "Chraïbi's debut novel" must come immediately after these phrases
• Choice B accomplishes this correctly