Explanation

The sentence states that using unreliable narrators "can scarcely be called ______ ." The semicolon provides the reason: "the Victorian novelists had mastered this technique a full century before the postmodernists claimed it as their own." If Victorians used it long before postmodernists, the technique is not new, not innovative, not without precedent. The blank must mean never done before; innovative; without prior example.

The correct pair must be tight synonyms that both describe something that is new, original, or without precedent.
- A. unprecedented - Never done or known before; without prior example. "Can scarcely be called unprecedented" perfectly captures the idea that the technique has a long history. Correct.
- B. transgressive - Violating moral or social boundaries. Unreliable narration may transgress norms of truth-telling, but the sentence is about the technique's age, not its effect. A transgressive act can be centuries old. Incorrect.
- C. anachronistic - Belonging to a period other than that being portrayed; chronologically misplaced. The technique is not misplaced in time - it was used by Victorians in their era and by postmodernists in theirs. Incorrect.
- D. derivative - Imitative of the work of others; unoriginal. This is the most dangerous distractor. If Victorians did it first, postmodernists are derivative. So the technique can be called derivative. But the sentence says "can scarcely be called ______ " - the blank must be something the technique is not. Since the technique is derivative (unoriginal), it can be called derivative - so "derivative" does not fit the negation. The student must track the direction: the sentence negates the blank, so the blank must be the opposite of what the evidence supports. The evidence supports "unoriginal"; the blank must mean "original." Incorrect.
- E. subversive - Undermining established authority or norms. Like "transgressive," this describes the technique's effect, not its novelty. A subversive technique can be ancient. Incorrect.
- F. groundbreaking - Innovative, pioneering, introducing new ideas. "Can scarcely be called groundbreaking" produces a sentence virtually identical in meaning to the one with "unprecedented." Correct.