American writer Edwidge Danti, who emigrated from Haiti in 1981, has won acclaim for her powerful

Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation use between sentences. In this choice, the period after “essays” is used correctly to mark the boundary between one sentence (“American…essays”) and another (“praising…Morrison”). The participial phrase beginning with “Praising” modifies the subject of the second sentence, “writer Robert Antoni.”

Choice A is incorrect because it results in a comma splice. A comma can’t be used in this way to mark the boundary between sentences. Choice B is incorrect. Without a comma preceding it, the conjunction “and” can’t be used in this way to join sentences. Choice C is incorrect because it results in a run-on sentence. The sentences (“American…essays” and “Praising…Morrison”) are fused without punctuation and/or a conjunction.