When writing The Other Black Girl (2021), novelist Zakiya Dalila Harris drew on her own experiences working at a publishing...

Sentence Structure

Sentence 1:

• When writing The Other Black Girl (2021),
• novelist Zakiya Dalila Harris drew on her own experiences working at a publishing office.

Sentence 2:

• The award-winning book is Harris's first novel,
• but her writing [?] honored before.
  • [were / have been / has been / are]

Sentence 3:

• At the age of twelve,
• she entered a contest to have a story published in American Girl magazine—
• and won.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence tells us:

• Zakiya Dalila Harris wrote a book called The Other Black Girl in 2021
  • She drew on her own experiences working in publishing

The second sentence tells us about this book:

• It's an award-winning book
• It's Harris's first novel
• BUT... here's where we hit the blank:
  • "but her writing ______ honored before."

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

• were, have been, has been, are

These differ in two ways:

• Singular vs. plural (has vs. have, was vs. were)
• Time/tense (present "are" vs. past "were" vs. present perfect "has/have been")

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the passage to understand what "before" refers to!

The third sentence gives us key information:

• At age twelve, she entered a writing contest
  • A contest to have a story published in American Girl magazine
• And she won!

So now the complete picture is:

• When she was 12: Her writing was honored (she won a contest)
• Now: She's published her first novel
• The sentence is saying: This is her first novel, BUT her writing received recognition before this

What do we notice about what we need in the blank?

First, let's identify the subject:

• "her writing" is what needs the verb
• "her writing" is SINGULAR
  • Even though "writing" might feel general, as a subject it's treated as one thing - like saying "her work"

Second, let's think about time:

• The word "before" tells us we're talking about past action
• But we're connecting past (age 12) to present (discussing her first novel now)
• This calls for present perfect: "has been"

So we need: has been

• "has" because "her writing" is singular (not plural "have")
• "been" because "before" indicates past action that connects to now

The correct answer is C. has been

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Subject-Verb Agreement with Singular Subjects

When a noun serves as the subject of a sentence, the verb must match whether that noun is singular or plural. With gerunds (verbs functioning as nouns - called gerunds in grammar terms), they are treated as singular:

Pattern:

• Singular subject → singular verb form
  • "Her writing has been honored"
  • "His work has been recognized"
  • "The painting is valuable"

• Plural subject → plural verb form
  • "Her books have been honored"
  • "His works have been recognized"
  • "The paintings are valuable"

Key distinction in this question:

• "her writing" = singular → needs "has been" (not "have been")
• "her writing" = singular → needs "was" (not "were")

Also tested - Present Perfect with "before":

When using "before" to indicate past action that's relevant to the present discussion, use present perfect ("has/have been") rather than simple present ("is/are"):

• Correct: "This is her first novel, but her writing has been honored before"
• Incorrect: "This is her first novel, but her writing is honored before"