Question

Joel Barlow’s Famous Poem Read Sentence 2 from the passage.

(2) Following the American Revolution, Joel Barlow a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury became one of our nation’s first well-known poets.
What is the best way to punctuate the underlined part of the sentence?

Responses

Joel Barlow, a lawyer, and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer, and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder, of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury, became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder, of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury, became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper, called American Mercury, became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper, called American Mercury, became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury, became

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury, became

Answer 1

Joel Barlow, a lawyer and founder of a weekly political and literary newspaper called American Mercury, became

Explanation: The phrase "a lawyer and founder..." is a nonrestrictive appositive describing Joel Barlow and should be set off with commas before and after. No comma is needed inside the appositive between "newspaper" and "called American Mercury."