in the following four assessment items choose the sentence in which the appositive or appositive phrase is essential to the sentence and punctuated correctly?
A) Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln had just won the election.
B) Presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln Had just won the election.
A) Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln had just won the election.
The correct answer is A) Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln had just won the election. In this sentence, the appositive phrase "Abraham Lincoln" is essential to identify which presidential candidate is being referred to and is punctuated correctly without the use of commas.
To determine which sentence contains the essential and correctly punctuated appositive or appositive phrase, we need to understand the purpose of an appositive.
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies or renames another noun or pronoun in a sentence. It is usually set off by commas, but sometimes it can be essential to the sentence, meaning it provides crucial information and should not be separated by commas.
Now, let's analyze the provided sentences:
A) "Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln had just won the election."
In this sentence, the phrase "Presidential candidate" renames or identifies "Abraham Lincoln." The appositive phrase "Presidential candidate" provides necessary information about Abraham Lincoln without commas separating it. Thus, it is correctly punctuated and essential to the sentence.
B) "Presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, had just won the election."
In this sentence, the appositive phrase "Abraham Lincoln" is separated by commas on both sides. This indicates that the appositive is non-essential and could be removed from the sentence. Although it provides additional information about the subject, it is not necessary to understand the meaning. As a result, this sentence is punctuated correctly, but the appositive phrase is not essential.
Therefore, the correct answer is A) "Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln had just won the election."