Seneca sculptor Marie Watt's blanket art comes in a range of shapes and sizes. In 2004, Watt sewed strips of...

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

• Seneca sculptor Marie Watt's blanket art
• comes in a range of shapes and sizes.

• In 2004,
• Watt sewed strips of blankets together
• to craft a 10-by-13-inch sampler [?]
• in 2014,
• she arranged folded blankets into two large stacks
• and then cast them in bronze,
• creating two curving 18-foot-tall blue-bronze pillars.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence tells us:

• "Seneca sculptor Marie Watt's blanket art comes in a range of shapes and sizes"
  • We're learning about an artist named Marie Watt
  • Her blanket art varies - different shapes and sizes

Now the sentence is going to show us examples of this variety.

First example - what she did in 2004:

• "In 2004, Watt sewed strips of blankets together to craft a 10-by-13-inch sampler"
  • She made something small - just 10 by 13 inches
  • A "sampler" - a small piece showing her technique

This is where we have the blank.

Let's look at the choices:

• They vary between a semicolon, a comma alone, and the word "later" with comma(s)
• This tells us we're deciding how to connect what comes before with what comes after

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

Second example - what she did in 2014:

• "in 2014, she arranged folded blankets into two large stacks and then cast them in bronze, creating two curving 18-foot-tall blue-bronze pillars"
  • This is dramatically different from the small sampler
  • These are HUGE - 18 feet tall!
  • She took a completely different approach - casting blankets in bronze

So the complete picture is:

• The sentence is showing the range of her work by giving two contrasting examples
  • 2004: tiny 10-by-13-inch sampler
  • 2014: massive 18-foot bronze pillars

What do we notice about the structure here?

Let's look at each part:

• Part before the blank: "In 2004, Watt sewed strips of blankets together to craft a 10-by-13-inch sampler"
  • Has a subject: Watt
  • Has a main verb: sewed
  • Expresses a complete thought
  • Could stand alone as its own sentence

• Part after the blank: "in 2014, she arranged folded blankets into two large stacks and then cast them in bronze, creating two curving 18-foot-tall blue-bronze pillars"
  • Has a subject: she
  • Has main verbs: arranged, cast
  • Expresses a complete thought
  • Could also stand alone as its own sentence

So we have two complete thoughts that could each be their own sentence. When you want to join two complete thoughts into one sentence, you need strong enough punctuation to connect them properly:

• A semicolon works (joins closely related complete thoughts)
• A period works (but makes them separate sentences)
• A comma + connecting word like "and" or "but" works
• Just a comma alone does NOT work - that creates an error called a comma splice

The correct answer is B: semicolon

The semicolon properly connects these two closely related complete thoughts, showing they're both examples of the range of her work.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Joining Two Complete Thoughts (Independent Clauses)

When you have two complete thoughts that could each stand alone as their own sentence, you must use proper punctuation to join them. Here are your options:

Option 1: Semicolon

• Use when the thoughts are closely related
• Example: "She created a small sampler in 2004; in 2014, she made massive bronze pillars"
  • First part: complete thought (has subject and verb, makes sense alone)
  • Second part: complete thought (has subject and verb, makes sense alone)
  • Semicolon: properly connects them

Option 2: Comma + Coordinating Conjunction

• The connecting words are: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
• Example: "She created a small sampler in 2004, and in 2014, she made massive bronze pillars"
  • Comma + "and" properly connects the two complete thoughts

Option 3: Period

• Makes them separate sentences
• Example: "She created a small sampler in 2004. In 2014, she made massive bronze pillars."

What doesn't work: Comma alone

• Using just a comma to join two complete thoughts creates a "comma splice" (called a run-on sentence in grammar terms)
• This is one of the most common punctuation errors on the SAT

In this question:

• Before blank: "In 2004, Watt sewed strips of blankets together to craft a 10-by-13-inch sampler" → complete thought
• After blank: "in 2014, she arranged folded blankets into two large stacks and then cast them in bronze..." → complete thought
• Solution: Semicolon properly joins these closely related examples