CRITICISM OF THE WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 6. Exchange compositions, and read critically in order to help one another as much as possible. Consider the following questions; a. Did the writer follow the rules for the form of manuscript given in the preceding section? b. Did he tell all you would like to know about the subject, did he tell it in good order, and was he right in all he said? c. Do you discover any mistakes in the English? After you have studied one another's compositions in this manner, you are ready for conferences; you are to tell one another what is good in the compositions, and what might be improved. This is to be done in class time, with perfect freedom for talking. Be careful, however, not to waste time, and do not find fault merely for the purpose of finding fault; your purpose should be to help each one in the class to write better next time. THE SENTENCE 7. In the compositions you have just read, there were probably some mistakes in the writing and the punctuating of sentences. For example, young people, and sometimes older ones, do not seem to know when they reach the end of a sentence; and in place of using a period or a question mark or an exclamation point at such a place and beginning the next sentence with a capital letter, they place only a comma there, or no point at all, and begin the next word with a small letter. You have had your attention called to this matter before. In order to help you to avoid this fault, it is necessary to give you a careful study of the sentence--to let you know clearly what a sentence is, what kinds of sentences there are with respect to the kind of thought they express, and what punctuation marks are used at the end of them. This is the first lesson in grammar that you are to get from this book. THE KINDS OF THOUGHT EXPRESSED IN 8. Read the following sentences: I. "This is the house that Jack built." 2. Do you know that this is the house that Jack built? 3. Go find the house that Jack built. 4. What a fine house Jack built! 5. If you owned the house that Jack built, you would be very fortunate. 6. Have you heard that there was malt in the house that Jack built? 7. How strange it was that Jack had malt in his house! 8. After all, this is not the house that Jack built. 9. Yes, it is the house that Jack built. IO. I know it is not! II. I am sure it is! 12. Why do you think so? 13. I am sure of it because there is malt in it. 14. However, I do not see a rat eating the malt. AFFIRMATIVE OR NEGATIVE THOUGHT The first of these sentences affirms a thing to be true, and is called affirmative. If the word not were in it, it would be called negative, because it would then negate, or deny. Go over the sentences one by one, and determine which are affirmative and which are negative. DECLARATIVE OR INTERROGATIVE THought The first of the example sentences is also called declarative, because it declares a thing to be true instead of asking whether or not it is true. If it read, Is this the house that Jack built? the sentence would then be interrogative. Take up the example sentences one by one, and determine which are declarative and which are interrogative. EXCLAMATORY OR NON-EXCLAMATORY THOUGHT You may look at this first example sentence in still another way. Sometimes, when you are talking, you become excited about what you say; you exclaim your words; that is, you speak with a sort of outcry. When you do so, you are said to use an exclamatory sentence; when you do not do so, you are said to use a non-exclamatory sentence.1 Thus, the sentence we are discussing is non-exclamatory, while there are four other sentences in the list that are exclamatory. Take up the example sentences one by one, and determine whether they are exclamatory or nonexclamatory. REVIEW It is now clear that the sentence, "This is the house that Jack built," is an affirmative, declarative, non-exclamatory sentence. Consider again each one of the sentences in the 1 Declarative sentences may be exclamatory. So also may interrogative sentences, as in "Why in the world did you do that!" See Report of the Joint Commillee on Grammatical Nomenclature, National Education Association. list, and tell three things about the kind of thought it expresses. PUNCTUATION 9. There are three different kinds of punctuation marks used at the ends of these sentences. What kind is at the end of the interrogative sentence? of the exclamatory? What kind appears at the end of the others? If you have not formed the habit of using the right punctuation marks at the ends of your sentences when you write, now is the time to begin. You have doubtless noticed that the first example sentence in section 8 is inclosed within quotation marks. Why? Why are not the other sentences inclosed within quotation marks? If they were short speeches by characters in a story, would they be so inclosed? Write some of them on the blackboard with He said, or He asked, or He exclaimed before them, and be careful to use quotation marks properly. THE NATURE OF A SENTENCE 10. After all, what is a sentence? Consider the following groups of words: 1. in the house 2. when Washington was a boy 3. My brother is in the house. 4. if I were you 5. across the river 6. When Washington was a boy, he was very strong and manly. 7. seven cents a pound 8. under the greenwood tree |