InQuizitive Editing the Errors that Matter Practice Test

The main idea being tested is how to choose the correct tense to describe what a work does. The graphic novel Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a single, singular work, so the verb should be in present simple to express a general fact about its content. “Illustrates” fits because it states that the book depicts or portrays key moments in the life of a young girl during the Islamic Revolution, in a timeless, factual way.

Using the other forms would shift the meaning or timing: “illustrated” would talk about the past already completed actions, “had illustrated” adds a past-perfect nuance that doesn’t belong here, and “was illustrating” suggests an ongoing action in the past, which isn’t how we describe a finished work. So the best choice is the present-tense singular form.