Final answer:
The word that best completes the sentence about Jennifer painting is 'absorption', which indicates deep immersion in an activity. Supporting this are various literary examples showing artists and characters absorbed in their work, such as a quote from Paul Klee confirming an artist's intense connection with their craft.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jennifer gets so involved when she is painting that she goes into a state of total absorption. The best word to complete this sentence is 'absorption' as it conveys the idea of being fully engrossed and immersed in an activity to the exclusion of everything else. This concept is reinforced by the excerpts provided, for instance, by Paul Klee's quote, 'Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever...Color and I are one. I am a painter', illustrating the deep connection and intense focus that colors and the act of painting have on an artist.
Similarly, the descriptions of artists and characters in various excerpts being in states of total involvement in their respective tasks underlines the notion of 'absorption', whether it be in the details of painting, writing a letter, fitting a dress, or simply sinking into an armchair, overwhelmed by physical exhaustion.