Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
A. Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy, and strife.
B. Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy and strife.
c. Boston, Massachusetts was the scene of tragedy and strife.
The correct sentence is:
B. Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy and strife.
To determine which sentence is correctly punctuated, we need to review the rules for punctuation in this context. In general, when we are listing two or more items or actions, we use commas to separate them. However, there are a few specific rules to follow.
In this case, we are listing two descriptions of Boston, Massachusetts - "the scene of tragedy" and "strife." The correct punctuation would be to separate these descriptions with commas.
Now, let's examine each sentence:
A. Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy, and strife.
This sentence uses two commas to separate both the city and the descriptions. However, it includes a comma before the coordinating conjunction "and," which is not needed. When listing two items in a sentence, a comma before the coordinating conjunction is typically not used. So this sentence is incorrectly punctuated.
B. Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy and strife.
This sentence correctly uses commas to separate the city and the descriptions. There is no comma before the coordinating conjunction "and," which follows the general rule. Therefore, this sentence is correctly punctuated.
c. Boston, Massachusetts was the scene of tragedy and strife.
This sentence does not use any commas to separate the city and the descriptions. Since we are listing two items, we should use a comma to separate them. Therefore, this sentence is incorrectly punctuated.
Based on these considerations, the correctly punctuated sentence is option B:
Boston, Massachusetts, was the scene of tragedy and strife.