Journalists have dubbed Gil Scott-Heron the 'godfather of rap,' a title that has appeared in hundreds of articles about him...

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:

• Journalists have dubbed Gil Scott-Heron the 'godfather of rap,'
  • a title
    • that has appeared in hundreds of articles about him
    • since the 1990s.

Sentence 2:

• Scott-Heron himself resisted the godfather nickname [? however ?]
  • feeling
    • that it didn't encapsulate his devotion to the broader
    • African American blues music tradition
    • as well as 'bluesologist,'
      • the moniker he preferred.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• Journalists have dubbed Gil Scott-Heron the 'godfather of rap'
  • This tells us about a nickname that journalists gave him
• 'a title that has appeared in hundreds of articles about him since the 1990s'
  • So this nickname has been widely used and well-established

Now the second sentence:

• 'Scott-Heron himself resisted the godfather...'
  • Interesting! He didn't like this nickname that others gave him

This is where we have the blank - we need to figure out how to punctuate "however" here.

Let's look at the choices:

• All include "however" but with different punctuation around it
• A: nickname, however (no punctuation after)
• B: nickname, however; (semicolon after)
• C: nickname, however, (comma after)
• D: nickname; however, (semicolon before)

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

The sentence continues:

• 'feeling that it didn't encapsulate his devotion to the broader African American blues music tradition'
  • This tells us WHY he resisted the nickname
  • He felt it didn't capture his connection to the broader blues tradition
• 'as well as 'bluesologist,' the moniker he preferred'
  • This is what he wanted to be called instead
  • 'Bluesologist' better represented how he saw himself

Now, what do we notice about the structure here?

The sentence has:

• A main statement: 'Scott-Heron himself resisted the godfather nickname'
  • This is a complete thought on its own
• Then 'however' appears
  • This adds contrast or nuance to the statement
• Then: 'feeling that it didn't encapsulate...'
  • This is NOT a complete sentence by itself
  • It's a phrase that explains WHY he resisted the nickname
  • This type of phrase (starting with -ing) describes or explains

The word 'however' here is working as an interrupter - it's adding a transitional note in the middle of the sentence. It's not connecting two separate complete thoughts; it's inserted into the flow of one sentence structure.

When 'however' interrupts a sentence this way, it needs to be set off with commas on both sides - like putting it in a little parenthetical bubble.

So we need: nickname, however, feeling

The correct answer is C.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Commas with Transitional Words as Interrupters

When a transitional word like "however" is inserted into the middle of a sentence to add nuance or contrast (called a parenthetical element in grammar terms), it must be set off with commas on both sides:

Pattern: Main clause part 1, however, rest of sentence

Example 1:

• Without interrupter: The team won the championship by training consistently.
• With interrupter: The team won the championship, however, by training consistently.
• "however" is set off by commas because it's interrupting the flow

Example 2:

• Without interrupter: She decided to accept the job offer after considering all options.
• With interrupter: She decided to accept the job offer, nevertheless, after considering all options.
• "nevertheless" acts the same way as "however" - set off by commas

Important distinction: This is different from using "however" to connect two independent clauses:

• Independent clause; however, independent clause.
• Example: "I wanted to go to the concert; however, I had too much work to do."

In our question:

• "Scott-Heron himself resisted the godfather nickname, however, feeling that..."
• "However" is interrupting the sentence
• It's not connecting two independent clauses (since "feeling that..." is not independent)
• Therefore: commas on both sides