Louise Bennett (1919–2006), also known as 'Miss Lou,' was an influential Jamaican poet and folklorist. Her innovative poems ________ the...

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

• Louise Bennett (1919–2006),
• also known as 'Miss Lou,'
• was an influential Jamaican poet and folklorist.
• Her innovative poems popularized [?] the use of Jamaican Creole
  • (a spoken language)
  in literature.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence introduces us to Louise Bennett:

• A Jamaican poet and folklorist who lived from 1919 to 2006
• Also known by the nickname 'Miss Lou'

Now the second sentence tells us what her poems did:

• 'Her innovative poems popularized...'

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

• All of them have the word "popularized"
• But they differ in what comes after: semicolon, comma, nothing, or colon

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence:

• '...the use of Jamaican Creole (a spoken language) in literature.'

So the complete sentence is saying:

• Her poems made something popular - they popularized something
• What did they popularize? The use of Jamaican Creole in literature

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a straightforward sentence pattern:
  • Subject: "Her innovative poems"
  • Verb: "popularized"
  • Object: "the use of Jamaican Creole in literature"
• The verb "popularized" directly connects to its object
  • "popularized what?" → "the use of Jamaican Creole"
  • This is one continuous thought
• There's no reason to break this flow with punctuation
  • The verb needs its object to complete the meaning
  • They work together as a unit

So we need: Choice C - no punctuation after "popularized"

The sentence flows naturally: Her innovative poems popularized the use of Jamaican Creole in literature.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Keeping Verbs and Their Objects Together

In a basic sentence pattern, the core elements (subject, verb, and object) flow together without punctuation separating them. When a verb takes a direct object - something that receives the action - no punctuation should come between them:

Pattern: Subject + Verb + Object (no punctuation between)

Examples:

• ✓ "The scientist discovered a new species"
  • Verb: "discovered"
  • Object: "a new species"
  • No punctuation between them
• ✗ "The scientist discovered, a new species"
  • The comma incorrectly separates the verb from what it discovered
• ✗ "The scientist discovered: a new species"
  • The colon unnecessarily breaks the natural flow

In our question:

• Verb: "popularized"
• Object: "the use of Jamaican Creole in literature"
• These must connect directly: "popularized the use of Jamaican Creole"

Think of it this way: the verb asks a question ("popularized what?") and the object answers it immediately. No punctuation should interrupt that question-answer relationship.