five or six of them dance on my hand. And at last the boys and girls would venture to play hide and seek in my hair. I had now made a good progress in understanding and speaking their language. The emperor had a mind one day to entertain me with several of the country shows, wherein they exceed all nations I have known, both for dexterity and magnificence. I was diverted with none so much as that of the rope-dancers, performed upon a slender white thread, extended about two feet, and twelve inches from the ground."

SWIFT, Gulliver's Travels

A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION

178. There follows another composition written by a pupil. Study it as you did the passages in the preceding section, and in addition correct the punctuation. You can do this best by first reading the composition aloud. In three places the writer has forgotten to use end punctuation. In one or two other places he has failed to use a comma between a principal and a subordinate clause when one is plainly required, because the clause is long and you make a decided stop in the reading at that place.

"One day a friend of mine came over to my house. He brought his donkey with him. When he got off I asked him for a ride. He assented so I got on. Away I went. When the donkey and I got about halfway around the woods he came to a sudden stop. As he was on a fast trot he lifted me a few feet high.

'Bang!' I came down on the saddle. When he felt me come down he got frightened and started off on a gallop down the road. We had got very near around the road when he would go no farther. He wanted to turn

around I was just as determent as he and would not let him go back

"He became very angry and started kicking. The harder I held on the harder he kicked. Then he made a quick turn and threw me off of his back He seemed satisfied with this and when I got on again he went the way I wanted him to.”

Have you discovered that the writer did not have a clear idea about the pronunciation and spelling of a certain word?

PUNCTUATION OF CLAUSES AND PHRASES

179. It has already been said that clauses and phrases are sometimes set off from the rest of the sentence by commas. It is often difficult to know when to do this, and it must be admitted that custom differs in regard to it. However, we shall observe the following simple rules:

1. When a sentence begins with a subordinate clause or a long phrase, such clause or phrase should be followed by a comma. The following sentences illustrate:

I.

If there should be much more rain this season, the crops will be ruined.

2. When you reach the place where three roads meet, take the middle one.

3. In the very beginning of the game that afternoon, luck went against us.

4. Being very eager to win the game, the boys defied ill luck.

2. A clause or a phrase that follows what it modifies and is essential to the thought of the sentence

is not usually punctuated, but one that may be left out without destroying the sense is set off with commas. Thus, in This is the house that Jack built, no comma is used because "that Jack built" shows what house is meant, and could not be left out. But in Jack's house, which was small and mean, had a quantity of malt in it, the clause gives an additional fact about the house, and could be left out without destroying the sense; hence it is read with pauses before and after, and should be punctuated. Again, in My mother scolds when I am bad, the subordinate clause could hardly be spared without affecting the sense, and no punctuation is used. On the other hand, in I left the house in a hurry, because I did n't want to be scolded, the subordinate clause should have a comma before it if a pause or jog of the voice occurs there. Study the following sentences in order to see why commas are used or not used to set off phrases and clauses.

1. My father's house, which is now very oldfashioned, was once much admired.

2. A house which is much admired now may be old-fashioned a few years hence.

3. In front of an old house halfway down the street, stands a big tree.

4. This man does not work hard because he is industrious, but because he must.

5. This man works hard, as he has a family to support. 6. A big tree stands in front of an old house halfway down the street.

7. We did not take our umbrellas, since there was no sign of rain.

8. Let us speak, for a little while, of old times.

9. People are usually happiest when they are busy. 10. We will help you if you will help us.

II. Our great river is the Mississippi, which drains a great valley.

12. The river which drains our great valley is the Mississippi.

180. Write on the blackboard several sentences containing phrases and clauses, punctuating them or not according to the needs of the individual case. Remember that it will help you to read the sentences aloud, if you will do so naturally without attempting to use special emphasis; it is the rather rapid utterance whose little jogs or pauses help you to determine where commas should be used.

Write a paragraph about what you see on the way to school each day. Some of the work will be done at the blackboard. Study the phrases and clauses.

STUDY OF PUNCTUATION AND THE FUNCTION OF CONNECTIVES

181. Go back now to the passages quoted in section 177, take each one up sentence by sentence, and consider it in the following particulars:

a. Has the sentence an introductory clause or phrase, and is it set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma? It is well to remember here as elsewhere that usage differs; some people set off even the short introductory phrase, and some do not. You are safe in forming the habit of punctuating introductory phrases only when they are long, or when

the sentences would be misunderstood without

commas.

b. Has the sentence a subordinate clause or phrase

that comes, not at the beginning, but within the sentence or at its end? If so, notice whether or not it is set off by commas, and why.

c. Some sentences have two or more principal clauses; some, two or more subordinate clauses. In such cases determine how many such clauses there are, and whether or not they are separated by commas. Determine also whether the principal clauses are joined by such connective words as and, but, and or; and whether subordinate clauses are so joined. Again, determine whether or not subordinate clauses are joined to principal clauses by such connective words as when, as, if, and wherein. d. Some sentences contain connective words which join words that are rather far apart. You have already studied the function, or use, of such words. Are there any cases in the sentences you are studying, and are they preceded by commas?

GROUP WORK

182. Take again the task of reporting a conversation that you have heard or have taken a part in, and work in groups at the blackboard, trying to write correctly and fully as you go. If any of your sentences begin with long phrases or with clauses, separate them with commas from what follows.

EXERCISE IN CRITICISM

183. Two or three of the conversations will be left on the blackboard until the whole class can listen to