Question #N1273
In her 1954 memoir, *The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman*, the African American novelist, Ernest Gaines, tells the story of an enslaved woman, who lives to see the end of the Jim Crow era.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. The African American novelist, Ernest Gaines, tells the story of an enslaved woman,
B. The African American novelist Ernest Gaines tells the story of an enslaved woman,
C. The African American novelist, Ernest Gaines, tells the story of an enslaved woman
D. The African American novelist Ernest Gaines tells the story of an enslaved woman,
Correct Answer is: A
Choice A correctly sets off the nonrestrictive appositive phrase "The African American novelist, Ernest Gaines" with commas. The phrase is nonrestrictive because it provides additional information about the noun it modifies, "the African American novelist," but it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. The comma after "Gaines" also prevents a comma splice, which is the error of joining two independent clauses with only a comma.