The 1977 play And the Soul Shall Dance depicts two Japanese American farming families in Depression-era Southern California. Critics have...

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

• The 1977 play And the Soul Shall Dance
  • depicts two Japanese American farming families
    • in Depression-era Southern California.

• Critics
  • have noted the way
    • pioneering playwright (?) Wakako Yamauchi (?)
      • compares the experiences of issei
        • (Japanese nationals who emigrated to America)
        • and nisei
        • (their American-born children).

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• 'The 1977 play And the Soul Shall Dance depicts two Japanese American farming families in Depression-era Southern California.'
  • This gives us context about what the play is about.

Now the second sentence tells us what critics have observed:

• 'Critics have noted the way pioneering _______ compares the experiences of issei and nisei.'

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

• All four choices include "playwright Wakako Yamauchi"
• The only difference is where the commas appear (or don't appear)

To see what works here, let's read the complete phrase and understand what it's saying:

• 'the way pioneering playwright Wakako Yamauchi compares the experiences of issei... and nisei...'

Now let's understand the structure:

• 'pioneering playwright Wakako Yamauchi' is the complete subject
  • It's telling us WHO did the comparing

• 'compares' is the main verb
  • It's telling us WHAT this person did

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a general term: "pioneering playwright"
• Followed by a specific name: "Wakako Yamauchi"

Now here's the key question: Is this name essential to identify which playwright we're talking about, or is it just extra information?

Let's test it:

• If we said "the way pioneering playwright compares..." without the name
  • This wouldn't make sense - we'd be asking "which playwright?"
  • We NEED the name to know who the subject is

• The name "Wakako Yamauchi" is ESSENTIAL identifying information
  • It specifies exactly which playwright critics are discussing
  • Without it, we wouldn't know who the sentence is about

When a name directly identifies which person you're talking about (rather than adding bonus information about someone already identified), you don't use commas around it.

So we need: playwright Wakako Yamauchi (no commas)

The correct answer is Choice D.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Commas with Titles and Names: Identifying vs. Describing

When a name directly follows a title or general noun to identify which specific person you're talking about, you DON'T use commas. The name is essential (called restrictive in grammar terms) because it tells you exactly who the subject is:

Pattern 1 - No commas (name identifies):

• General term + Specific name = No commas
• Example: "playwright Wakako Yamauchi wrote the play"
• "playwright" = general category
• "Wakako Yamauchi" = essential identifier (which playwright?)
• No commas because we need the name to know who we're talking about

Pattern 2 - Commas (name already known, adding description):

• Specific name, descriptive information, = Commas
• Example: "Wakako Yamauchi, a pioneering playwright, wrote the play"
• "Wakako Yamauchi" = already identifies who
• "a pioneering playwright" = extra descriptive detail
• Commas because this information could be removed and we'd still know who the subject is

In this question:

• "pioneering playwright Wakako Yamauchi" follows Pattern 1
• The name is essential to identify which playwright
• Therefore, no commas are needed