SAT OwlIn 1959, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun opened on ______ the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway, it ran for 530 performances and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Broadway.
Broadway,
Broadway
Broadway, and
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
"The first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway" is a phrase that describes "it," the subject of the clause that follows. So "The first play ..., it ran for 530 performances..." is a complete sentence of its own, and it must be separated from the previous independent clause with a period. A comma would create a comma splice, and "and" would leave the phrase awkwardly attached to nothing.
Choice B looks like it continues the description of the play, but because "it ran" is a new independent clause, the comma creates a comma splice.
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