SAT Question a1e0c981: Boundaries answer and explanation

Choice A is incorrect. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. Also, “In her book…themes of” is not an independent clause, thanks to the dangling “of” at the end, so it can’t precede a colon.

Choice C is incorrect. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. Also, “In her book…themes of” is not an independent clause, thanks to the dangling “of” at the end, so it can’t precede a single dash.

Choice D is incorrect. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. “Themes of” implicitly carries over to each item on the list (“themes of childhood, [themes of] womanhood, and [themes of] Chinese American identity”), so we don’t want to use a comma to separate it.