Which of the following most precisely explains the importance of understanding the historical context of a piece of literature? a. knowing the time period of a piece of literature allows the reader a greater understanding of the themes and concerns of the work. b. understanding the historical context of literature the reader figure out vocabulary words he or she doesn't know. c. understanding the historical context of literature the reader understand the characters' names. d. the historical context is important only for literature that is written by today's authors.