The poem Beowulf begins with the word 'hwæt,' which is an Old English ________ as 'hark!' or 'listen!' in some...

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 poem Beowulf
• begins with the word 'hwæt,'
  • which is an Old English exclamation [?] as 'hark!' or 'listen!'
    • in some versions,
• the word
  • was playfully rendered as 'bro!'
    • by Maria Dahvana Headley
      • in her 2020 translation of the poem.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading:

The passage is telling us about the opening of the famous poem Beowulf:

• It begins with a specific Old English word: 'hwæt'
• This word is an exclamation (like shouting something for attention)

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

• A: exclamation, translated
• B: exclamation and translated
• C: exclamation translated
• D: exclamation. Translated

The choices are showing us different ways to connect "exclamation" with "translated" - using a comma, "and," nothing, or a period.

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

After the blank, we get:

• "as 'hark!' or 'listen!' in some versions"
  • This tells us how the word has been translated in some versions

Then the sentence continues:

• "the word was playfully rendered as 'bro!' by Maria Dahvana Headley in her 2020 translation of the poem"
  • This gives us a different, more modern translation
  • In Headley's 2020 version, she translated 'hwæt' as 'bro!'
  • This is described as "playful" - it's a creative, contemporary choice

Now, what do we notice about the structure here?

Let me look at what we'd have with Choice D (the period):

First part:

• "The poem Beowulf begins with the word 'hwæt,' which is an Old English exclamation."
  • This has a subject ("The poem Beowulf") and verb ("begins")
  • It's a complete thought that can stand alone ✓

Second part:

• "Translated as 'hark!' or 'listen!' in some versions, the word was playfully rendered as 'bro!' by Maria Dahvana Headley in her 2020 translation of the poem."
  • "Translated as 'hark!' or 'listen!' in some versions" = descriptive opening phrase
  • "the word" = subject
  • "was playfully rendered" = verb
  • This is ALSO a complete thought that can stand alone ✓

So we have two complete sentences - each one could stand on its own. When you have two complete sentences, they need to be properly separated with strong punctuation.

The correct answer is Choice D - we need a period to separate these two complete sentences.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Separating Complete Sentences

When you have two complete sentences (called independent clauses in grammar terms) - each with its own subject and verb that express a complete thought - they must be properly separated. You can't just run them together.

What works to separate complete sentences:

• Period → Creates two separate sentences
• Example: "The experiment succeeded. The results were groundbreaking."
• Semicolon → Keeps them as one sentence with strong internal separation
• Example: "The experiment succeeded; the results were groundbreaking."
• Comma + coordinating conjunction → (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
• Example: "The experiment succeeded, and the results were groundbreaking."

What doesn't work:

• Comma alone → Creates a comma splice error
• Wrong: "The experiment succeeded, the results were groundbreaking."
• No punctuation → Creates a run-on sentence
• Wrong: "The experiment succeeded the results were groundbreaking."

How this applies to our question:

• Part 1: "The poem Beowulf begins with the word 'hwæt,' which is an Old English exclamation." = Complete sentence
• Part 2: "Translated as 'hark!' or 'listen!' in some versions, the word was playfully rendered as 'bro!' by Maria Dahvana Headley in her 2020 translation of the poem." = Complete sentence
• Since both are complete sentences, we need a period to separate them properly.