Question

which sentence is correct? she says \the coyote vanished across the prairie.\ she says, \the coyote vanished across the prairie.\ she says, the coyote vanished across the prairie.

Explanation:

To determine the correct sentence, we analyze the rules of direct speech punctuation:

1. When introducing a direct quote, a comma should follow the reporting verb ("says") before the opening quotation mark. The first option lacks this comma, so it's incorrect.
2. Direct speech must be enclosed in quotation marks. The third option does not use quotation marks around the quoted sentence, so it's incorrect.
3. The second option correctly uses a comma after "says" and encloses the direct quote in quotation marks.

Answer:

She says, "The coyote vanished across the prairie."