In the late 1960s, inspired in part by the sight of laundry hanging on a clothesline, African American abstract painter...

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 late 1960s,
• inspired in part by the sight of laundry hanging on a clothesline,
• African American abstract painter Sam Gilliam
  • began to create his iconic 'Drape' paintings.

• He applied bold, saturated hues to large canvases
• and [?] them from ceilings or walls,
  • causing the drooping fabric to cascade in dramatic loops and curves.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence gives us background:

• In the late 1960s, Sam Gilliam (an African American abstract painter)
  • began creating his famous 'Drape' paintings
  • was inspired by seeing laundry hanging on a clothesline

The second sentence tells us his process - what he actually did to create these paintings:

• 'He applied bold, saturated hues to large canvases'
  • So he painted these canvases with bright, rich colors

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

• 'and ______ them from ceilings or walls'

Let's look at our choices:

• We need a verb that follows "and" and works with the verb "applied"
• The choices give us different forms of the word "suspend"

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have one subject: "He" (Sam Gilliam)
• This subject is doing TWO actions connected by "and":
  • First action: "applied bold, saturated hues to large canvases"
  • Second action: "[blank] them from ceilings or walls"

• When we connect two verbs with "and" that share the same subject, they need to match in form - they need to be parallel

• "Applied" is in past tense
  • So the second verb must also be in past tense

So we need: suspended

This gives us: "He applied bold, saturated hues to large canvases and suspended them from ceilings or walls"

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

• 'causing the drooping fabric to cascade in dramatic loops and curves'
  • This tells us the result of suspending the canvases -
  • the fabric would droop and create dramatic curves

So the complete picture is:

• Gilliam painted canvases with bold colors, hung them from ceilings or walls, and let the fabric droop to create dramatic shapes

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verb Forms in Compound Predicates (Parallel Structure)

When one subject performs multiple actions connected by "and" (called a compound predicate in grammar terms), the verbs must be in the same form - they must be parallel:

Pattern:

• Subject + Verb₁ + and + Verb₂
• Both verbs must match in form

Examples:

Correct - Past tense + Past tense:

• "She wrote the script and directed the film."
  • Both verbs in past tense

Incorrect - Past tense + Infinitive:

• "She wrote the script and to direct the film."
  • Verbs don't match - breaks parallel structure

Correct - Present tense + Present tense:

• "He teaches math and coaches basketball."
  • Both verbs in present tense

In our question:

• "He applied bold, saturated hues... and suspended them from ceilings..."
  • Both verbs in past tense
  • Perfect parallel structure

The key principle: When connecting verbs with "and" that share the same subject, keep them in the same grammatical form to maintain parallel structure.