Words in Context SAT question

Choice C is the best answer because it logically and precisely completes the text’s discussion of The Mule Bone, a play that Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes wrote together. In this context, “collaboration” means working together with someone to write a literary work. The text indicates that most writers prefer to work alone and that working together destroyed the friendship between Hurston and Hughes. This establishes that The Mule Bone is a relatively rare example of collaboration in literature.

Choice A is incorrect because in this context, “characterization” would mean a literary work’s portrayal of characters’ psychological experiences and motivations, but the text doesn’t discuss characterization in The Mule Bone specifically or in collaborative works more generally. Choice B is incorrect because in this context, “interpretation” would mean the explanation of a literary work’s meaning or significance, but the text doesn’t discuss how readers or critics have interpreted The Mule Bone; instead, the text discusses how the play was written collaboratively and how the writing process affected the two authors. Choice D is incorrect because in this context, “commercialization” would mean writing a literary work in such a way as to ensure its commercial appeal, but the text never discusses commercial appeal as a factor in the writing of The Mule Bone specifically or the writing of collaborative works more generally.