Just took it! Unfold, Open up! Hope it helped (should be D)
Personification is going to be your answer. Don't read the rest because I am only doing this to reach the max character needed.
It is true m<span>any early american novels dealt with sentimental domestic situations.</span>
Answer:
The word "protracted" means lasting longer than expected, or unusually long, so what protracted most clearly means based on the context of the excerpt is how the time period of celestial motion studies must have lasted unusually long.