Question

the elements of style
by william strunk jr.
chapter 2: elementary rules of usage

1. in a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.

thus write,
\t\t\t\t\tred, white, and blue
\t\t\thonest, energetic, but headstrong
\the opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents.
this is also the usage of the government printing office and of the oxford university press.
in the names of business firms the last comma is omitted, as
\t\t\t\t\tbrown, shipley and company
...

1. enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.

the best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel
\t\t\t\t\ton foot.
this rule is difficult to apply; it is frequently hard to decide whether a single word, such as however, or a brief phrase, is or is not parenthetic. if the interruption to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the writer may safely omit the commas. but whether the interruption be slight or considerable, he must never omit one comma and leave the other. such punctuation as
read the sentence.
while she slept the alarm kept ringing in jamies ear.
according to the elements of style, what is the correct way to revise this sentence?
the alarm kept
ringing in jamies
ear, while she
slept.
no change
while she slept,
the alarm kept
ringing in jamies
ear.
the alarm kept
ringing while she
slept in jamies
ear.

Explanation:

To revise the sentence "While she slept the alarm kept ringing in Jamie's ear" according to "The Elements of Style" (rule about parenthetic expressions or comma usage for clarity), we need to add a comma after the introductory clause "While she slept" to separate it from the main clause. The option "While she slept, the alarm kept ringing in Jamie's ear" correctly uses a comma after the introductory adverbial clause for proper punctuation and clarity.

Answer:

The option: "While she slept, the alarm kept ringing in Jamie's ear" (the bottom - left option among the four given options)