Answer:
The correct sentence punctuated correctly is: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”The punctuation is correct because it has an opening quotation mark at the beginning of the quote and a closing quotation mark at the end of the quote. The comma is placed after "said" and before the opening quotation mark.In the other options:Option B lacks quotation marks to enclose the quote.Option C lacks the quotation marks and also the comma after "said".Option D has single quotes instead of double quotes enclosing the quote. Single quotes are used within double quotes to enclose a quote within a quote. In this case, double quotes should be used because the quote is not within another quote.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." This sentence is punctuated correctly because it includes the quotation marks (" ") around the words that Emerson said. The punctuation marks help to indicate that these words are a direct quote from Emerson. The sentence also begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, which is the standard way to punctuate a complete sentence.
In English, when we are quoting someone's words, we need to use punctuation marks to indicate where the quote begins and ends. In this question, we are asked to choose the sentence that is punctuated correctly.
The correct sentence is: "Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.'"
Here's a breakdown of the correct punctuation:
1. The sentence starts with a capital letter 'R'.
2. The name "Ralph Waldo Emerson" is followed by the phrase "once said," which is separated by a comma.
3. The quote itself, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," is enclosed in single quotation marks (' ').
4. The sentence ends with a period after the closing quotation mark.
All of these punctuation marks are used correctly to indicate the beginning and end of the quote. This helps the reader understand that the words within the quotation marks are the exact words spoken by Ralph Waldo Emerson.