[General] punctuation---parenthetical dash?

[LaMelange]

Hello teachers,

In the following sentence, should a dash be used before the word all or a comma would suffice?

Returning, then, to the image of ‘Lady Mayaveh’, the sacred and divine are present through Appupen’s depiction of an altar above which she presides. The candles surrounding ‘Lady Mayaveh’, a heavy tome of a book to the right of the page, the edge of a rug on the floor and the symmetrical arrangement of what appears to be altar furniture all come together to suggest a religious or spiritual setting and, given the discussion above, a Christian (Indian) setting.

Also, should the word these follow all in the sentence?

Thank you!

Source: Visuality and Identity in Post-millennial Indian Graphic Narratives, by E. Dawson Varughese (pre-press)

 

[Rover_KE]

It's correct as is, without any punctuation mark after 'all', and without 'these'.

Compare:

'Rupert, Gavin, Hortense and Blodwen all came together in the same Uber'.

Note the correct way to ask your question:

'In the following sentence, should a dash be used before the word all or would a comma suffice?'

 

[teechar]

should a dash be used

That's correct.
--------------------

a comma would suffice?

That's incorrect. Can you fix it?

 

[Rover_KE]

(I was typing my edit to fix it as teechar was writing the above.)

 

[GoesStation]

If Lady Mayaveh is the subject of the image, you should not surround her name with quotation marks. If you're talking about the name of a picture, you should write something like Returning to "Lady Mayaveh" (because you've already discussed the painting) or Returning to the painting, "Lady Mayaveh", ​(if you want to remind the reader that you're discussing a painting).

 

[LaMelange]

Thank you! I realise it only now. It did not strike me while I was working on the chapter.