The archive contains numerous letters exchanged between the novelist and various publishers during the 1920s. While scholars have thoroughly examined...

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 archive contains numerous letters
• exchanged between the novelist and various publishers
• during the 1920s.

• While scholars have thoroughly examined the novelist[?] [?],
• [?] style evolved considerably throughout this correspondence,
• reflecting the changing literary marketplace.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence sets up the context:

• 'The archive contains numerous letters exchanged between the novelist and various publishers during the 1920s.'
  • There's an archive of letters
  • These letters were between a novelist and publishers
  • This was during the 1920s

Now the second sentence begins:

• 'While scholars have thoroughly examined the...'

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices to see what we're deciding:

• Choices A and B give us: "novelists, regardless of their/they're"
• Choices C and D give us: "novelist's correspondence, they noted that their/there"

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

The sentence continues:

• '...style evolved considerably throughout this correspondence,
  • reflecting the changing literary marketplace.'

Now let's really understand what the complete sentence is trying to say:

• 'While scholars have thoroughly examined the [something]...'
  • This is a dependent clause - it's setting up background information
  • It can't stand alone as a complete sentence

• '...style evolved considerably throughout this correspondence'
  • This describes how style changed
  • 'Throughout this correspondence' refers back to the letters mentioned in the first sentence

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a "While X..." clause that needs a proper main clause to complete the sentence

• If we just had: "While scholars examined X, style evolved..."
  • This would be awkward and unclear
  • Whose style? The phrasing feels incomplete

• But if we have: "While scholars examined X, they noted that style evolved..."
  • Now we have a clear main verb: "noted"
  • "They noted" = the scholars observed/discovered
  • "That their style evolved" = what they discovered
  • This creates a complete, grammatically sound sentence

• We also need the right form:
  • "Novelist's correspondence" = the correspondence belonging to the novelist (possessive)
  • "Their style" = the style belonging to them (possessive pronoun)
  • NOT "they're" (they are) or "there" (location)

So we need Choice C: "novelist's correspondence, they noted that their" to create the complete structure: "While scholars have thoroughly examined the novelist's correspondence, they noted that their style evolved considerably throughout this correspondence."

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Completing Complex Sentences with Dependent Clauses

When you begin a sentence with a dependent clause using words like "While," "Although," "Because," or "If," you must follow it with a complete independent clause that has its own subject and main verb:

The Pattern:

• Dependent clause: While scholars examined the correspondence (cannot stand alone)
• Independent clause needed: they noted that the style evolved (can stand alone, has main verb "noted")
• Complete sentence: While scholars examined the correspondence, they noted that the style evolved

Why this matters for this question:

Without "they noted that," we'd have:

• "While scholars examined the correspondence, style evolved..."
• This technically could work, but it's awkward because "style evolved" as the main clause feels incomplete - we're left wondering "who observed this?" or "who is making this claim?"

With "they noted that," we get:

• "While scholars examined the correspondence, they noted that style evolved..."
• Now "they noted" is the main verb - it tells us the scholars made this observation
• "That style evolved" becomes the content of what they noted
• The sentence is complete and clear

Additional concepts in this question:

Possessive Forms:

• Singular possessive: novelist's (the correspondence belonging to one novelist)
• Possessive pronoun: their (the style belonging to them)

Common Pronoun Confusion:

• Their = possessive (their book, their style)
• They're = contraction of "they are" (they're reading)
• There = location (over there, there is a book)