<p>(Through his novels Thomas Wolfe reveals to us both the pain and) the beauty of his boyhood in the American South.</p>
<p>Wrong answer: Thomas Wolfe, through the medium of his novels, reveals to us both the pain with</p>
<p>Correct answer: Through his novels Thomas Wolfe reveals to us both the pain and</p>
<p>I can see why my answer is wrong because it sounds awful and unidiomatic BUT there is no comma after "Through his novels Thomas Wolfe" -->"Through his novels, Thomas Wolfe...etc."</p>
<p>Why is it acceptable to have no comma?</p>
<p>It's like "When dad came home he sat on the sofa" instead of "When dad came home, he sat on the sofa".</p>
<p>Great question…I had this problem until recently.</p>
<p>Sometimes the appositive and the word it identifies are so closely related that the comma can be omitted.</p>
<p>Example, “Her husband Thomas suddenly decided to open his own business.”</p>
<p>Also, this is where using elimination would have helped you pin the correct answer. The point of caution here is that when the word…“medium” is introduced in the sentence, it becomes unnecessary and more of a repetition. Novel is a medium by itself.</p>
<p>in the right answer, you do not need a comma because it would interrupt the flow of the sentence. it works fine without the comma. also keep in mind, right answer has the “both…and” conjunction. both pain and. instead of both pain with.</p>
<p>The sentence would be correct with or without the comma. With short phrases in short sentences the comma can sometiimes be left out. Many English rules are not absolutes and using a comma in the sentence you have is one of those that is not an absolute. A different issue is that your alternative answer with the word “with” cannot possibly be correct because the word “both” requires an “and” not a “with” between pain and beauty to maintain agreement in the phrase.</p>
<p>The wrong answer and the right answer aren’t different only because of the comma.
It’s the appositive. Using appositives (a description in the middle of a sentence, offset by commas on each side) when the description could easily be tacked onto the sentence is unnecessary. </p>
<p>For example:
The hat, which was gray, fell on the ground.</p>
<p>It’s much easier to just say
The gray hat fell on the ground.</p>
can someone give me tips for SAT? What other pair words should I look out for?</p>