Yo a girl out read the excerpt from “the railroad earth.” so there i am in dawn in my dim cell——2½ hours to go till the time i have to stick my railroad watch in my jean watchpocket and cut out within these lines, where is the most appropriate place for a pause? a. after “dawn” b. after “cell” c. after “railroad” d. after “jean”

B. after “cell.”

The pause in this excerpt should be placed after the word "cell," and it is indicated by an em dash (—). An em dash, or long dash, is a punctuation mark that indicates a pause. It is placed where a comma or semicolon would be traditionally used. Em dashes are common in informal writing, but should be limited in more formal texts.