Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan is known for his remarkable _____ so small that they are best viewed through a...

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

• Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan
        • is known for his remarkable microsculptures [?]

• so small that they are best viewed through a microscope,
• Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials,
                                                    • such as spiderweb strands.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan is known for his remarkable microsculptures [?]

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

• Choice A: microsculptures creations (no punctuation)
• Choice B: microsculptures, creations (comma)
• Choice C: microsculptures. Creations (period, capitalized)
• Choice D: microsculptures and creations (and)

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

The text continues: "so small that they are best viewed through a microscope, Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials, such as spiderweb strands."

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• "so small that they are best viewed through a microscope"
  • This is describing something tiny - so tiny you need a microscope to really see it
• "Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials, such as spiderweb strands"
  • This part has its own subject (Wigan's sculptures) and verb (are made)
  • It's telling us what these sculptures are made from
  • It's giving examples (spiderweb strands)

So the complete picture is:

• We're learning about Wigan's microsculptures
• Then we get more detail about them - they're creations that are incredibly small
• And we learn what they're made from

What do we notice about the structure here?

Let me test Choice C (the period):

• First part: "Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan is known for his remarkable microsculptures."
  • This is a complete sentence
  • It has a subject (Willard Wigan) and verb (is known)
  • It expresses a complete thought
• Second part: "Creations so small that they are best viewed through a microscope, Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials, such as spiderweb strands."
  • "Creations so small that they are best viewed through a microscope" = an introductory descriptive phrase
  • Followed by a comma
  • Then "Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials" = a complete independent clause with its own subject and verb
  • This is also a complete sentence

So we have two complete, independent sentences:

• The first introduces what Wigan is known for
• The second elaborates by renaming them "creations" and describing them in more detail
• Both can stand alone as complete thoughts

The correct answer is Choice C: microsculptures. Creations

We need a period here because we have two complete sentences that should be separated.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Separating Complete Sentences with Periods

When you have two complete sentences (called independent clauses in grammar terms), you need to separate them properly. A complete sentence has:

• A subject (who or what the sentence is about)
• A verb (the action or state of being)
• A complete thought (it makes sense on its own)

When you have two complete sentences, you can separate them with:

1. A period (creating two sentences):
   • First sentence: "The scientist made a discovery."
   • Second sentence: "Results from the experiment were groundbreaking."
2. A semicolon (showing they're closely related):
   • "The scientist made a discovery; the results were groundbreaking."
3. A comma + coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet):
   • "The scientist made a discovery, and the results were groundbreaking."

In our question:

• First complete sentence: "Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan is known for his remarkable microsculptures."
  • Subject: Willard Wigan
  • Verb: is known
  • Complete thought: yes
• Second complete sentence: "Creations so small that they are best viewed through a microscope, Wigan's sculptures are made from tiny natural materials, such as spiderweb strands."
  • Subject: Wigan's sculptures
  • Verb: are made
  • Complete thought: yes

Since both are complete sentences, we need a period to properly separate them. Using just a comma or no punctuation would create a run-on sentence, which violates the conventions of Standard English.