Question

What is the best way to punctuate the bolded portion of the quotation?

“(The year 1866 was marked by a strange event begins) Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.


“The year 1866 was marked by a strange event” begins

“The year 1866 was marked by a strange event,” begins

“The year 1866 was marked by a strange event, begins

“The year 1866 was marked by a strange event begins

Answer 1

“The year 1866 was marked by a strange event,” begins

Answer 2

"The year 1886 was marked by a strange event," begins Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Step-by-step explanation:

The third and fourth options can be discarded right away because the closing quotation mark just before the verb "begins" (which acts much like the verb "said" when narrating dialogue). Then, the first option is discarded because a comma at the end of the quotation (but within the quotation marks) is necessary to grammatically separate this clause from the main sentence, in the same way as when narrating dialogue too.