Which of the following would best readers understand the themes and concerns of a work of literature
a. the authors name
b. the characters appearances
c. the setting of the work
d. the historical context

The C. the setting of the work.

Explanation: It is C. because there are various of settings that apply to certain stories or readings. They help analyze themes and concerns of a work of literature by giving us details as to what is happening all around. The main concepts of a work of literature will pop up frequently as the plot progresses and as the plot progresses the setting of a work will change but it helps with understanding the theme.

quite an interesting way to teach topic sentences, because the answer to this question is the best definition of a topic sentence that one can present, it is as if answering the questions taught you how to do it, this is some real teaching, it is terribly well-done.

the topic sentence in this paragraph is:

topic sentences writers stay on track and keep a paragraph from becoming an aimless collection of sentences about an idea.

which incidentally tells you what a topic sentence should be.