The haiku-like poems of Tomas Tranströmer, which present nature- and dream-influenced images in crisp, spare language, have earned the Swedish poet praise from leading contemporary ________ them Nigerian American essayist and novelist Teju Cole, who has written that Tranströmer’s works “contain a luminous simplicity.”
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Explanation
Context: The sentence reads: "Tranströmer's poems have earned the Swedish poet praise from leading contemporary writers, __ them Nigerian American essayist and novelist Teju Cole." The blank introduces a nonessential phrase ("among them Teju Cole") that adds an example.
Answer: D) writers, among
Why? "Among them Nigerian American essayist and novelist Teju Cole" is a nonessential appositive giving an example of the "leading contemporary writers." A comma before "among" correctly introduces this nonessential elaboration.
Traps:
- A) writers. Among → creates a fragment: "Among them Nigerian American essayist and novelist Teju Cole, who has written..." lacks a main verb
- B) writers among → missing the comma before the nonessential appositive; the appositive runs directly into the main clause
- C) writers; among → a semicolon requires an independent clause after it; "among them...Teju Cole, who has written" is not an independent clause