Question

read the paragraph.

1 thomas jefferson was the primary author of the declaration of independence. 2 jefferson began writing in early june of 1776, and he took three weeks to finish the first draft. 3 the delegates of the second continental congress reviewed the document during the last week of june.

which is the best way to revise sentence 2 to improve sentence variety in the paragraph?

in early june 1776, jefferson began writing, and he took three weeks to finish the first draft.
jefferson, who began writing in early june 1776, took three weeks to finish the first draft.
the first draft, which jefferson began writing in early june 1776, took him three weeks.
jefferson took three weeks to finish the first draft, which he began writing in early june 1776.

Explanation:

Analyze the sentence structures in the paragraph

The original paragraph consists of three sentences:

• Sentence 1: "Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence." (Simple sentence: Subject + Verb + Complement)
• Sentence 2: "Jefferson began writing in early June of 1776, and he took three weeks to finish the first draft." (Compound sentence: Subject + Verb + Conjunction + Subject + Verb)
• Sentence 3: "The delegates of the Second Continental Congress reviewed the document during the last week of June." (Simple sentence: Subject + Verb + Object)

Currently, all three sentences begin directly with their subjects ("Thomas Jefferson", "Jefferson", "The delegates"). This repetitive structure lacks variety.

Evaluate the revision options for sentence variety

To improve sentence variety, we want to vary the sentence openings and structures:

• Option 1: "In early June 1776, Jefferson began writing, and he took three weeks to finish the first draft." This starts with a prepositional phrase, which successfully breaks the repetitive subject-first pattern of the paragraph.
• Option 2: "Jefferson, who began writing in early June 1776, took three weeks to finish the first draft." This still starts directly with the subject "Jefferson".
• Option 3: "The first draft, which Jefferson began writing in early June 1776, took him three weeks." This still starts directly with a noun phrase subject "The first draft".
• Option 4: "Jefferson took three weeks to finish the first draft, which he began writing in early June 1776." This still starts directly with the subject "Jefferson".

Select the best option

Option 1 is the best choice because starting with the introductory prepositional phrase "In early June 1776" varies the sentence openings in the paragraph, preventing three consecutive sentences from starting directly with their grammatical subjects.

Answer:

• (A) In early June 1776, Jefferson began writing, and he took three weeks to finish the first draft. (Correct answer)
• (B) Jefferson, who began writing in early June 1776, took three weeks to finish the first draft.
• (C) The first draft, which Jefferson began writing in early June 1776, took him three weeks.
• (D) Jefferson took three weeks to finish the first draft, which he began writing in early June 1776.