Sociologist Todd Gitlin co-opted the term 'recombinant,' normally used in reference to genetic engineering, to describe serialized television shows 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

• Sociologist Todd Gitlin
  • co-opted the term 'recombinant,'
    • normally used in reference to genetic engineering,
  • to describe serialized television shows of the 1980s.

• Gitlin's use of the term
  • referenced TV studios' practice
    • of repackaging successful narrative formulas
      • as new content [?] in that era [?] even shows that varied only slightly from other shows
        • still attracted sizeable audiences.

Understanding the Meaning

The passage starts by introducing sociologist Todd Gitlin and his creative use of terminology:

• He borrowed the term 'recombinant' from genetic engineering
  • to describe 1980s TV shows

The second sentence explains what Gitlin meant by using this term:

• 'Gitlin's use of the term referenced TV studios' practice of repackaging successful narrative formulas as new content'
  • TV studios were taking formulas that already worked
  • and repackaging them as "new" content

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

• After "content" we could have: comma, semicolon, or nothing
• After "in that era" we could have: comma or nothing

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

• 'in that era, even shows that varied only slightly from other shows still attracted sizeable audiences'

Now let's really understand what this is telling us:

• 'In that era'
  • sets the time frame (the 1980s)

• 'Even shows that varied only slightly from other shows'
  • is talking about shows that were barely different from each other
  • just minor variations on existing shows

• 'Still attracted sizeable audiences'
  • tells us these barely-different shows were still popular
  • people still watched them in large numbers

So the complete picture is:

• The first part explains that TV studios repackaged formulas as "new" content
• The second part provides supporting evidence: even shows with tiny variations attracted big audiences

What do we notice about the structure here?

Let me check if these are two complete thoughts:

• First part: 'Gitlin's use of the term referenced TV studios' practice of repackaging successful narrative formulas as new content'
  • Has a subject: 'Gitlin's use of the term'
  • Has a verb: 'referenced'
  • Expresses a complete thought
  • This could stand alone as its own sentence

• Second part: 'in that era, even shows that varied only slightly from other shows still attracted sizeable audiences'
  • Has a subject: 'shows that varied only slightly from other shows'
  • Has a verb: 'attracted'
  • Expresses a complete thought
  • This could also stand alone as its own sentence

This is the key: we have two complete independent thoughts that need to be properly connected.

When you have two complete thoughts, you cannot just use a comma to join them - that creates an error. You need either:

• A semicolon, OR
• A period (separate sentences), OR
• A comma + a connecting word like "and" or "but"

So we need Choice B: content; in that era,

The semicolon after "content" properly separates the two complete thoughts.
The comma after "in that era" is correct because "in that era" is an introductory phrase for the second complete thought.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Connecting Two Complete Thoughts (Independent Clauses)

When you have two complete thoughts that could each stand alone as their own sentence (called independent clauses in grammar terms), you need proper punctuation to connect them. You have three options:

Option 1: Use a semicolon

• First complete thought; second complete thought.
• Example: The experiment succeeded; the results exceeded all expectations.
• Use this when the thoughts are closely related

Option 2: Use a period

• First complete thought. Second complete thought.
• Example: The experiment succeeded. The results exceeded all expectations.
• This creates two separate sentences

Option 3: Use a comma + coordinating conjunction

• First complete thought, and/but/or/so/yet/for/nor second complete thought.
• Example: The experiment succeeded, and the results exceeded all expectations.

What you CANNOT do: Use just a comma

• First complete thought, second complete thought
• This creates a "comma splice" error
• Example of error: The experiment succeeded, the results exceeded all expectations.

In our question:

• First complete thought: "Gitlin's use of the term referenced TV studios' practice of repackaging successful narrative formulas as new content"
• Second complete thought: "in that era, even shows that varied only slightly from other shows still attracted sizeable audiences"
• Correct connection: Use a semicolon - "content; in that era,"

The semicolon is particularly effective here because the second thought provides supporting evidence for the first - explaining WHY studios could get away with repackaging formulas.