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,
red, white, and blue
honest, energetic, but headstrong
he 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
brown, 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
on 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.
jesse felt irritable overwhelmed and frustrated as he entered the building.
according to the elements of style, what is the correct way to punctuate this
sentence?
jesse felt irritable,
overwhelmed and
frustrated as he
entered the
building.
jesse felt irritable
overwhelmed, and
frustrated as he
entered the
building.
jesse felt irritable,
overwhelmed, and
frustrated as he
entered the
building.
no change

Explanation:

The rule from The Elements of Style for a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction is to use a comma after each term except the last. The adjectives "irritable", "overwhelmed", and "frustrated" are in a series. So we need commas after "irritable" and "overwhelmed", and the conjunction "and" before the last term. The correct option is the one with "irritable, overwhelmed, and frustrated".

Answer:

Jesse felt irritable, overwhelmed, and frustrated as he entered the building. (The option with "irritable, overwhelmed, and frustrated" — the bottom - left box among the four options, or the option that punctuates as "Jesse felt irritable, overwhelmed, and frustrated as he entered the building.")