The documentary series examines the remarkable achievements of aviation pioneer Amelia ______ whose mysterious 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Oce...

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 documentary series examines the remarkable achievements
• of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart [?]
• whose mysterious 1937 disappearance
• over the Pacific Ocean
• has captivated historians
• for decades.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

The documentary series examines the remarkable achievements
of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart

So we're learning that a documentary is looking at what Amelia Earhart achieved as an aviation pioneer.

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

• They're asking us whether we need a comma, no punctuation, a semicolon, or a colon after "Earhart."

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

The sentence continues: "whose mysterious 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Ocean has captivated historians for decades."

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

• "whose mysterious 1937 disappearance"
  • The word "whose" connects back to Amelia Earhart – it's HER disappearance
  • This is giving us additional information about her
• "over the Pacific Ocean"
  • Tells us where she disappeared
• "has captivated historians for decades"
  • Her disappearance has fascinated historians for a long time

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a person's name: "Amelia Earhart"
• Followed by a "whose" clause that adds descriptive information about her
• This "whose" clause is providing bonus information:
  • We could remove it and the main sentence would still be complete
  • "The documentary series examines the remarkable achievements of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart" stands on its own
  • The "whose" clause adds interesting extra details

When we have a name followed by a "whose" clause that provides additional, non-essential information like this, we need a comma to signal that we're adding descriptive information.

So we need: Earhart, (with a comma)

The comma creates the natural pause before the descriptive "whose" clause begins.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Commas with Descriptive "Whose" Clauses

When you have a noun (especially a person's name) followed by a clause beginning with "whose," "who," or "which" that provides additional, non-essential information, you use a comma to separate them. This type of clause is called a non-restrictive relative clause in grammar terms.

The pattern:

• Noun + comma + descriptive clause

Example 1:

• My sister, who lives in Boston, is visiting next week.
• "My sister" = the noun
• "who lives in Boston" = additional descriptive information
• The comma signals the start of the bonus information

Example 2:

• The novel, which was published in 1925, became an instant classic.
• "The novel" = the noun
• "which was published in 1925" = additional descriptive information
• Could remove this clause and sentence still works: "The novel became an instant classic"

In our question:

• Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, whose mysterious 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Ocean has captivated historians for decades
• "Amelia Earhart" = the noun (person's name)
• "whose mysterious 1937 disappearance..." = additional descriptive information about her
• The comma properly introduces this descriptive clause

Key insight: The comma signals to the reader: "Here comes some extra information about what I just mentioned." If you removed the clause, the main sentence would still be complete.