Question

Select all that apply. Which of the following are correct? "Bakersfield," the old man said, "is my hometown." He never learned to tie his shoes, however he didn't need to, as he only wore sandals. "He isn't here," the somber gentleman mumbled, "I don't know when he will return." From the first line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife," Austen establishes an underlying irony to the tone of the novel.

Answer 1

"Bakersfield," the old man said, "is my hometown." This one is correct. A fragment of the sentence is being separated by a comma, and then continuing after another comma. If the man had paused after Bakersfield and had proceeded to perform an action instead of "said," this one would have been wrong. 

He never learned to tie his shoes, however he didn't need to, as he only wore sandals. This one is wrong. The word 'however' is not being used correctly and is in the wrong format. For this sentence to be correct, it would have looked like this: He never learned to tie his shoes; however, he didn't need to, as he always wore sandals. Remember that however more often times than not, can only be used when followed after a semi-colon. 

"He isn't here," the somber gentleman mumbled, "I don't know when he will return." This one is wrong. "He isn't here" is a complete sentence, not a fragment of one. For this to have been right, it would have to have looked like this: "He isn't here," the somber gentleman mumbled. "I don't know when he will return." See the difference? There should have been a period after mumbled, so that he could continue onto his next sentence. 

From the first line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife," Austen established an underlying irony to the tone of the novel. This one is correct. I at first believed it to be wrong, but I misread it. Here it uses the sentence structure where it gives an object a name. What I mean by this is if you said "My dog, Charles, went for a walk." You would use commas to separate the name you have now given your dog from the rest of the sentence. A pause, if you will. This is the same thing going on here, making the commas correct. The reason there is a comma after "wife" and not after the quotation marks is because you are not allowed to place punctuation after a quotation mark like that. They must ALWAYS be kept inside of your quotation marks. 

Your correct sentences would be the first and last.