Graded Lessons in English, Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg [books on motivation .txt] 📗

+Model+.—_Girls can skate. Can girls skate? How can girls skate? What girls can skate?_ You are happy. Parrots can talk. Low houses were built.

Change each of the following into an imperative sentence. Notice that independent words are set off by the comma.

+Model+.—_Carlo eats his dinner. Eat your dinner, Carlo_. George plays the flute. Birdie stands on one leg.

Change each of the following into exclamatory sentences.

+Model+.—_You are happy. How happy you are! What a happy child you are! You are so happy!_

Time flies swiftly. I am glad to see you. A refreshing shower fell. Lapland is a cold country. It is hot between the tropics.

Write a declarative, an interrogative, an imperative, and an exclamatory sentence on each of the following topics.

Weather, lightning, a stage coach.

LESSON 64.

ANALYSIS AND PARSING.

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW.

In the analysis, classify these sentences first with reference to their form, and then with reference to their meaning.

1. Wickedness is often made a substitute for wit. 2. Alfred was a brave, pious, and patriotic prince. 3. The throne of Philip trembles while Demosthenes speaks. 4. That the whole is equal to the sum of its parts is an axiom. 5. The lion belongs to the cat tribe, but he cannot climb a tree. 6. Pride is a flower that grows in the devil’s garden. 7. Of all forms of habitation, the simplest is the burrow. 8. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. 9. When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. 10. Cassius, be not deceived. [Footnote: Cassius is independent, and may be diagramed like an interjection. The subject of be deceived is thou, or you, understood.] 11. How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, how wonderful is man! 12. Which is the largest city in the world?

LESSON 65.

ANALYSIS AND PARSING.

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW—CONTINUED,

1. Politeness is the oil which lubricates the wheels of society. 2. 0 liberty! liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name! 3. The mind is a goodly field, and to sow it with trifles is the worst husbandry in the world. 4. Every day in thy life is a leaf in thy history. 5. Make hay while the sun shines. 6. Columbus did not know that he had discovered a new continent. 7. The subject of inquiry was, Who invented printing? 8. The cat’s tongue is covered with thousands of little sharp cones, pointing towards the throat. 9. The fly sat upon the axle of a chariot-wheel and said, “What a dust do I raise!” 10. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, attempting to recross the Atlantic in his little vessel, the Squirrel, went down in mid-ocean. 11. Charity begins at home, but it should not stay there. 12. The morn, in russet mantle clad, walks o’er the dew of yon high eastern hill.

LESSON 66.

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS IN REVIEW.

I haven’t near so much. I only want one. Draw the string tightly. He writes good. I will prosecute him who sticks bills upon this church or any other nuisance. Noah for his godliness and his family were saved from the flood. We were at Europe this summer. You may rely in that. She lives to home. I can’t do no work. He will never be no better. They seemed to be nearly dressed alike. I won’t never do so no more. A ivory ball. An hundred head of cattle. george washington, gen dix of n y. o sarah i Saw A pretty Bonnet. are You going home? A young man wrote these verses who has long lain in his grave for his own amusement. This house will be kept by the widow of Mr. B. who died recently on an improved plan. In correcting the position of the adjective clauses in the two examples above, observe the caution for the phrase modifiers, Lesson 41. He was an independent small farmer. The mind knows feels and thinks. The urchin was ragged barefooted dirty homeless and friendless. I am some tired. This here road is rough. That there man is homely. pshaw i am so Disgusted. Whoa can’t you stand still. James the gardener gave me a white lily. Irving the genial writer lived on the hudson.

LESSON 67.

SENTENCE-BUILDING.

Build one sentence out of each group of the sentences which follow.

+Model+.—An able man was chosen. A prudent man was chosen. An honorable man was chosen. An able, prudent, and honorable man was chosen.

Pure water is destitute of color. Pure water is destitute of taste. Pure water is destitute of smell.

Cicero was the greatest orator of his age. Demosthenes was the greatest orator of his age.

Daisies peeped up here. Daisies peeped up there. Daisies peeped up everywhere.

Expand each of the following sentences into three.

The English language is spoken in England, Canada, and the United States. The Missouri, Ohio, and Arkansas rivers are branches of the Mississippi.

Out of the four following sentences, build one sentence having three explanatory modifiers.

+Model+.—Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII. Elizabeth was sister of Queen Mary. Elizabeth was the patron of literature. Elizabeth defeated the Armada. Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII., sister of Queen Mary, and the patron of literature, defeated the Armada.

Boston is the capital of Massachusetts. Boston is the Athens of America. Boston is the “Hub of the Universe.” Boston has crooked streets.

Expand the following sentence into four sentences.

Daniel Webster, the great jurist, the expounder of the Constitution, and the chief of the “American Triumvirate,” died with the words, “I still live,” on his lips.

LESSON 68.

SENTENCE-BUILDING.

+To the Teacher+.—For additional exercises in composition, see Notes, pp.

176-180.

Change the following simple sentences into complex sentences by expanding the phrases into adjective clauses.

+Model+.—People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Those living in the Arctic regions need much oily food. A house built upon the rock will stand. The boy of studious habits will always have his lesson. Wellington was a man of iron will.

Change the following complex sentences into simple sentences by contracting the adjective clauses into phrases.

Much of the cotton which is raised in the Gulf States is exported. The house which was built upon the sand fell. A thing which is beautiful is a joy forever. Aaron Burr was a man who had fascinating manners.

Change the following simple sentences into complex sentences by expanding the phrases into adverb clauses.

+Model+.—Birds return in the spring. When spring comes, the birds return.

The dog came at call. In old age our senses fail.

Change the following complex sentences into simple sentences by contracting the adverb clauses into phrases.

The ship started when the tide was at flood. When he reached the middle of his speech, he stopped.

By supplying noun clauses, make complete sentences out of the following expressions.

–- is a well-known fact. The fact was –-. Ben. Franklin said –-.

LESSON 69.

GENERAL REVIEW.

What is a letter? Give the name and the sound of each of the letters in the three following words: letters, name, sound. Into what classes are letters divided? Define each class. Name the vowels. What is a word? What is artificial language? What is English Grammar? What is a sentence? What is the difference between the two expressions, ripe apples and apples are ripe? What two parts must every sentence have? Define each. What is the analysis of a sentence? What is a diagram? What are parts of speech? How many parts of speech are there? Give an example of each. What is a noun? What is a verb? What must every predicate contain? What is a pronoun? What is a modifier? What is an adjective? What adjectives are sometimes called articles? When is a used? When is an used? Illustrate. Give an example of one modifier joined to another. What is an adverb? What is a phrase? What is a preposition? What is a conjunction? What is an interjection? Give four rules for the use of capital letters (Lessons 8, 15, 19, 87). Give two rules for the use of the period, one for the exclamation point, and one for the interrogation point (Lessons 8, 37, 63).

LESSON 70.

GENERAL REVIEW.

What is an object complement? What is an attribute complement? How does a participle differ from a predicate verb? Illustrate. What offices does an infinitive phrase perform? Illustrate. How are sentences classified with respect to form? Give an example of each class. What is a simple sentence? What is a clause? What is a dependent clause? What is an independent clause? What is a complex sentence? What is a compound sentence? How are sentences classified with respect to meaning? Give an example of each class. What is a declarative sentence? What is an interrogative sentence? What is an imperative sentence? What is an exclamatory sentence? What different offices may a noun perform? Ans.—_A noun may be used as a subject, as an object complement, as an attribute complement, as a possessive modifier, as an explanatory modifier, as the principal word in a prepositional phrase, and it may be used independently_. Illustrate each use. What are sometimes substituted for nouns? Ans.—Pronouns, phrases, and clauses. Illustrate. What is the principal office of a verb? What offices may be performed by a phrase? What, by a clause? What, different offices may an adjective perform? What parts of speech may connect clauses? Ans.—Conjunctions, adverbs, and pronouns. (See Lessons 62, 59, and 57.) Give rules for the use of the comma (Lessons 37, 54, 57). Give and illustrate the directions for using adjectives and adverbs, for placing phrases, for using prepositions, and for using negatives (Lessons 40, 41).

+To the Teacher+.—For additional review, see “Scheme,” p. 185.

If the early presentation of an outline of technical grammar is not compelled by a prescribed course of study, we should here introduce a series of lessons in the construction of sentences, paragraphs, letters, and general compositions. The pages following Lesson 100 will furnish matter.

See especially COMPOSITION EXERCISES in the Supplement—Selection from Beecher.

PARTS OF SPEECH SUBDIVIDED.

LESSON 71.

CLASSES OF NOUNS.

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—Hereafter, in the “Hints,” we shall drop the dialogue form, but we expect the teacher to continue it. A poor teacher does all the talking, a good teacher makes the pupils talk.

The teacher may here refer to his talk about the classification of birds, and show that, after birds have been arranged in great classes, such as robins, sparrows, etc., these classes will need to be subdivided, if the pupil is to be made thoroughly acquainted with this department of the animal kingdom. So, after grouping words into the eight great classes, called Parts of Speech, these classes may be divided into other classes. For instance, take the two nouns city and Brooklyn. The word city is the common name of all places of a certain class, but the word Brooklyn is the proper or particular name of an individual of this class. We have here, then, two kinds of nouns which we call +Common+ and +Proper+.

Let the teacher write a number of nouns on the board, and require the pupil to classify them and give the reasons for the classification.

To prepare the pupil thoroughly for this work, the teacher will find it necessary to explain why such words as music, mathematics, knowledge, etc., are common nouns. Music, e. g., is not a proper noun, for it is not a name given to an individual thing to distinguish it from other things of the same class. There are no other things of the same class—it forms a