easy narrative writing teacher’s edition

i

EASY NARRATIVE WRITING

TEACHER’S EDITION

FROM SENTENCE TO NARRATIVE WRITING

Kimberly D. Garcia

ii

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY BROOKDALE HOUSE:

The Writing Through Ancient History books Writing Through Ancient History Level 1 Cursive Models

Writing Through Ancient History Level 1 Manuscript Models Writing Through Ancient History Level 2 Cursive Models

Writing Through Ancient History Level 2 Manuscript Models

The Writing Through Medieval History books Writing Through Medieval History Level 1 Cursive Models

Writing Through Medieval History Level 1 Manuscript Models Writing Through Medieval History Level 2 Cursive Models

Writing Through Medieval History Level 2 Manuscript Models

The Writing Through Early Modern History Books Writing Through Early Modern History Level 1 Cursive Models

Writing Through Early Modern History Level 1 Manuscript Models Writing Through Early Modern History Level 2 Cursive Models

Writing Through Early Modern History Level 2 Manuscript Models

The Writing Through Modern History Books Writing Through Modern History Level 1 Cursive Models

Writing Through Modern History Level 1 Manuscript Models Writing Through Modern History Level 2 Cursive Models

Writing Through Modern History Level 2 Manuscript Models

The Fun Spanish Level 1 (Introductory Spanish workbook for elementary students)

Sheldon’s Primary Language Lessons

(Introductory grammar workbook for elementary students)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism Copybook (Available in the following: traditional, modern, italic, and vertical, both print and cursive)

Bible Memorization Made Easy

(Memorize Galatians, Memorize Philippians, Memorize Psalms for Praying, and Memorize the Sermon on the Mount.)

ISBN: 978-1-64281-045-5 © Copyright 2014 by Brookdale House: A Curriculum Publishing Company. Brookdale House grants permission to photocopy pages for use within a single family. All other rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. For permission to make copies, written or otherwise, except for the use within one immediate family, please contact the author at www.brookdalehouse.com or [email protected] .

iii

Acknowledgements

To my family, my friends, and my students, thank you for helping me create this resource, and a special thank you to Camille R. who wrote many student examples.

iv

To learn more about the educational products available from Brookdale House, please visit us at www.brookdalehouse.com or scan

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................. viii

CHAPTER 1: WRITING SENTENCES ......................................................................................................... 1

Understanding Verbs ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Instructor’s Notes for Assignment 1.1 .................................................................................................................. 3

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 .......................................................................................... 6

Understanding Sentences .................................................................................................................................. 8

Writing Compound Sentences ..................................................................................................................... 9

Understanding Complex Sentences .............................................................................................................. 13

Writing Complex Sentences with Subordinating Conjunctions ........................................................ 14

Punctuating Complex Sentences ............................................................................................................... 15

Writing Complex Sentences with Relative Pronouns.......................................................................... 18

Punctuating Clauses ................................................................................................................................. 19

Instructor’s Notes for Assignment 1.5 ................................................................................................................ 21

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 ........................................................................................ 24

Writing Complex Sentences with Verbals .............................................................................................. 25

Writing with Participial Phrases .............................................................................................................. 26

Instructor’s Notes for Assignment 1.9 ................................................................................................................ 32

Amplifying Sentences ................................................................................................................................... 33

Amplifying Sentences with Strong Verbs ............................................................................................... 34

Instructor’s Notes for Assignment 1.10 .............................................................................................................. 38

Varying Sentence Openers .............................................................................................................................. 40

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 1.11A and 1.11B ...................................................................................... 53

Editing Checklist .......................................................................................................................................... 57

Instructor’s Notes forAassignment 1.12 ............................................................................................................. 63

Paraphrasing: An Exercise in Choosing the Right Word ....................................................................... 64

CHAPTER 2: WRITING FABLES ................................................................................................................. 73

vi

Writing Dialogue .............................................................................................................................................. 74

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 2.1, 2.2., 2.3, and 2.4 ................................................................................ 76

MLA Format ................................................................................................................................................. 78

From Direct to Indirect Dialogue ............................................................................................................ 82

From Indirect to Direct Dialogue ............................................................................................................ 85

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 2.5A, 2.5B, and 2.5C ............................................................................... 88

Expanding a Fable ............................................................................................................................................ 89

Paragraphing ............................................................................................................................................. 101

Chapter 3: UNDERSTANDING POINT OF VIEW................................................................................ 102

First Person Point of View of a Major Character ................................................................................... 102

A Limitation of the First Person Point of View .................................................................................. 103

The First Person Point of View of Some Minor Character .............................................................. 103

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 ...................................................................................... 104

Third Person Point of View ......................................................................................................................... 108

Third Person Omniscient ......................................................................................................................... 108

Third Person Limited ................................................................................................................................ 108

Writing an Original Fable ....................................................................................................................... 118

CHAPTER 4: UNDERSTANDING NARRATIVES ............................................................................... 128

Understanding Plot Structure ..................................................................................................................... 129

Visualizing the Plot .................................................................................................................................... 130

Type of Conflict .......................................................................................................................................... 130

Determining the Elements of Plot Structure ....................................................................................... 131

Finding the Theme ..................................................................................................................................... 132

Vertical Short Story Outline .................................................................................................................... 133

Story Plot Table .......................................................................................................................................... 134

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 4.1 and 4.2 .............................................................................................. 135

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIZING A STORY ................................................................................................ 149

Summarizing Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 149

vii

Summarizing Example ................................................................................................................................... 150

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 5.1 and 5.2 .............................................................................................. 151

CHAPTER 6: WRITING A NARRATIVE ................................................................................................. 163

Rewriting aka Self-Editing ........................................................................................................................... 163

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 6.1 to 6.4 .................................................................................................. 166

Showing versus Telling ................................................................................................................................. 173

Slanting a Narrative ....................................................................................................................................... 181

Instructor’s Notes for Assignments 6.5 and 6.6C ............................................................................................ 183

APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................................... 196

Commonly Used Adverbs ............................................................................................................................. 198

Commonly Used Adjectives .......................................................................................................................... 199

Commonly Used Prepositions ...................................................................................................................... 200

Commonly Used Verbs (Helpful Synonyms) ............................................................................................ 201

Story Plot Table .............................................................................................................................................. 202

Paragraphing Assignment ............................................................................................................................ 203

Paragraphing Assignment ............................................................................................................................ 205

viii

BACKGROUND

Teacher’s Edition

Prior to the beginning of each assignment, instructor information is included in the form of

learning objectives and optional extension assignments.

To assist teaching the text, answers, possible answers, and student examples have been

included for most of the student assignments. Please be aware that the student examples are not

fully edited. This is to give teachers a view of what some students are producing on their own.

Easy Narrative Writing

Easy Narrative Writing is the first book in the Easy Middle School Writing Series, designed to

teach students to write with skill and structure. Students using Easy Narrative Writing develop

foundational writing skills as they transition from sentence to narrative writing.

To help students understand how words work within the sentence, some basic level

grammatical elements, such as dependent clauses, independent clauses, coordinating conjunctions,

subordinating conjunctions, and verbals, are covered.

The Progymnasmata

The progymnasmata are a series of writing exercises which were used during ancient times.

These exercises were designed to prepare students for the formal study of rhetoric. Typically, they

included the following:

Fable Commonplace Thesis Narrative Encomium (Praise) Law Proverb Vituperation (Blame) Anecdote Comparison Refutation Characterization (Speech-in-Character) Confirmation Description

Variations of these 14 exercises are still present in many modern writing programs. They

have remained popular because they begin at a level that is easily accessible to students—writing

about fables—and progress gradually to persuasive arguments—defending or attacking a law.

ix

In designing the Easy Middle School Writing series, the progymnasmata exercises were used

as a vehicle to introduce timeless writing skills to modern students.

The primary focus of Easy Narrative Writing is on composing complex sentences, writing with

varied sentence openers, rewriting fables, writing dialogue, expanding and condensing narratives,

and writing slanted narratives.

Easy Narrative Writing may be used as a one year textbook for younger students or a one

semester textbook for more experienced writers.

Additional Resources Needed:

To adequately use this series, it is suggested that students have access to the following:

MLA Handbook

Word Processing Software

A Thesaurus

Midway through this workbook, students are asked to place their writing assignments in

MLA format. If a student does not know how to type, he or she should begin typing lessons as they

begin this curriculum. Proper MLA format dictates that written papers be typed.

The Easy Narrative Writing Text

To compile the exercises in this text, several composition and rhetoric textbooks from the

19th and 20th centuries were referenced. A list of these resources can be found on page 203 of the

appendix.

1

CHAPTER 1: WRITING SENTENCES A sentence is a group of words that make up a complete thought and is composed of a subject

and a predicate. The subject of the sentence is the name of the person, place, thing, or idea that the

sentence is about, and the predicate of the sentence is the part of the sentence that tells about the

subject.

UNDERSTANDING VERBS Every sentence has at its base a simple subject and a simple verb.

1. Cold winds blew from the north.

2. The young bird dove off the cliff.

If we reduce the two sentences above to the simple subject and the simple verb, we are left

with:

1. Winds blew.

2. Bird dove.

When the subject of the sentence takes action, the verb is said to be in the active voice. In

both examples above, the verb is in the active voice. The wind is doing something—blowing. The

bird is doing something—diving.

When the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action, the verb is said to be in the

passive voice.

The hat was blown by the wind. The hat is being acted upon by the wind.

The wind is still blowing.

When relaying information through the written word, the active voice is generally preferred.

Consider the sentences below:

1. He raised the heavy log. Active

2. The heavy log was raised. Passive

3. Henry broke the window. Active

4. The window was broken. Passive

2

To make your writing more exciting and more dynamic, it is best to write in the active

voice. Writing in the active voice allows your readers to experience the story through the eyes of

the person taking action.

Writing in the passive voice, however, does have its place. As you can see in sentence four, no

person is being blamed for breaking the window. The passive voice is frequently used when people

are avoiding blame for unpopular or dangerous incidents.

While strong verbs, created by the active voice, create strong sentences that make strong

statements, if you are writing about someone suffering as a victim, the focus of the sentence should

be on the victim.

My favorite toy was destroyed. The focus of this sentence is on the toy.

My dog destroyed my favorite toy. The focus of this sentence is on the dog.

3

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENT 1.1

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: ASSIGNMENT 1.1

• To teach students how to identify the active and passive voice.

o A verb in the active voice has the subject doing something. o A verb in the passive voice has something being done to the subject.

More often than not, students should be using verbs in the active voice. Verbs in the passive voice are weaker than verbs in the active voice.

The berries were picked by John all summer.

John picked berries all summer.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT:

To show the effects created by using the active voice and the passive voice, read older students the following paragraphs written by Patrick Henry:

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have supplicated, we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the Ministry and Parliament.

Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.— From "A Call to Arms."

In the first paragraph, Patrick Henry uses the active voice, telling of the actions they have taken, supporting his claim that they have done everything that could be done.

In the second paragraph, he uses the passive voice as he tells of what has been done to them by the throne, supporting his topic sentence which tells how they have been treated. In the second paragraph they are the victims of the injustices which he lays out.

4

ANSWERS

ASSIGNMENT 1.1 Understanding Voice: Read the following sentences. Change those that are written in the active

voice to the passive voice, and those that are written in the passive voice to the active voice.

1. Narrow paths were shoveled through the drifts by the men.

The men shoveled narrow paths through the drifts.

2. The old trapper told us a thrilling story.

A thrilling story was told to us by the old trapper.

3. The hawk caught the fish.

The fish was caught by the hawk.

4. All these experiences added new terms to my vocabulary.

New terms were added to my vocabulary by all these experiences.

5. Our food and clothing had been washed away by a flood.

A flood washed away our food and clothing.

6. Boats were torn from their moorings by the angry waves.

Angry waves tore the boats from their moorings.

7. An old settler guided the soldiers along the trail.

The soldiers were guided along the trail by an old settler.

8. Mowgli drove the buffaloes to the edge of the plain.

The buffaloes were driven to the edge of the plain by Mowgli.

5

9. All our fears were swept away by the cheering news.

The cheering news swept away all our fears.

10. The man was offered a good position by his employer.

His employer offered him a good position.

6

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 1.2, 1.3, AND 1.4

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: ASSIGNMENTS 1.2, 1.3, AND 1.4

• To teach students the difference between a dependent and an independent clause.

Both an independent and a dependent clause have a subject and a verb; however, the independent clause can stand alone which makes it a sentence. The dependent clause is a fragment.

Karen went to the store. Independent Clause (A Sentence)

When Karen went to the store. Dependent Clause (Not a Sentence)

• Assignment 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 teach students how to properly write simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Using only simple sentences makes paragraphs sound juvenile and unsophisticated. Writing with only compound sentences or sentences that are all approximately the same length can make writing sound monotonous.

Clauses = subject + verb (some are sentences and some aren’t) can be independent or dependent

Simple sentence = subject and a verb= independent clause

Compound sentence = subject and a verb + subject and a verb (2 independent clauses)

Complex sentence = subject and a verb + subject and a verb (1 independent + 1 dependent clause)

• To help students understand the effect that is created when choosing one type of sentence over the other. It is important that they develop an ear for how their writing sounds.

• To help students, through the process of completing these assignments, develop the skills necessary for self-editing.

As students complete the assignments, they are required to read the poorly written paragraph with the goal of rewriting the sentences. As students move from assignment 1.1 to 1.4, they are given more tools to modify the paragraph.


Have your student read the narrative aloud. Ask them to tell why the paragraph is poorly written. If they cannot, pick any paragraph of approximately the same size from a novel or literature book and ask them to compare the well written paragraph with the poorly written one. Have them read the two paragraphs out loud. Can they hear the differences now? Have them look at the two paragraphs. Can they see the structural differences within the sentences? They should be able to

7

hear the choppiness of the poorly written narrative given in the assignment. They should be able to see that the well written paragraph has sentences of varying lengths.

OLDER STUDENTS: In Assignments 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4, have students identify the subject and the verbs in the compound sentences and complex sentences they have created.

For assignments 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4, the subjects and verbs have been identified in the textbox of the original passages.

8

UNDERSTANDING SENTENCES

When a sentence has one subject and one predicate, it is called a simple sentence.

1) The cake is baking.

2) The ice cream and punch are frozen.

3) The children are playing and laughing.

The sentences above are all simple sentences. Sentence 1 obviously has only one subject and

one predicate. Sentence 2 has a compound subject: the ice cream and the punch. Sentence 3 has a

compound predicate: playing and laughing. Although it might seem contradictory, all three

sentences above are simple sentences.

Sentence 2 is a simple sentence because the two subjects—ice cream and punch—both share

the same verb.

2) The ice cream and punch are frozen.

The ice cream is frozen.

The punch is frozen.

Sentence 3 is a simple sentence because the two verbs—playing and laughing—both share the

same subject.

3) The children are playing and laughing.

The children are playing.

The children are laughing.

Simple sentences are extremely important because with them we can make other kinds of

sentences. You may also have heard simple sentences referred to as independent clauses.

9

A clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a predicate (verb). All of the example

sentences on the previous page are simple sentences because they have one subject, which may or

may not be a compound subject, and one predicate, which may or may not be a compound predicate.

Writing Compound Sentences

When we combine two simple sentences, the result is a compound sentence. One way to

combine sentences is with a conjunction. Another way to combine simple sentences is with a semi-

colon (;). When we use a coordinating conjunction or a semi-colon to connect simple sentences,

we form compound sentences. Coordinating conjunctions are the simple two and three letter words

that join words, phrases, or clauses that are equal.

The conjunctions we will use are:

for and nor but or yet so

(If we take the first letter of each of these, we get the acronym FANBOYS.)

If we choose not to use a conjunction, we may simply use a semi-colon (;) between the

simple sentences. When using a semi-colon between simple sentences, a conjunction isn’t necessary.

Congress passed the bill, and the President signed it.

Congress passed the bill; the President signed it.

Brag is a good dog, but Prince is better.

Brag is a good dog; Prince is a better one.

10

WRITING WITH CONJUNCTIONS

Everyone uses conjunctions. When you have used them in the past, have you ever paused and

noticed that they’re not interchangeable? Let’s test it out. Consider these two simple sentences:

Rebecca likes cake.

Caleb likes broccoli.

CONJUNCTION SENTENCE

1 for Rebecca likes cake, for Caleb likes broccoli.

2 and Rebecca likes cake, and Caleb likes broccoli.

3 nor Rebecca likes cake, nor Caleb likes broccoli.

4 but Rebecca likes cake, but Caleb likes broccoli.

5 or Rebecca likes cake, or Caleb likes broccoli.

6 yet Rebecca likes cake, yet Caleb likes broccoli.

7 so Rebecca likes cake, so Caleb likes broccoli.

Even though the compound sentences above include the same simple sentences, we change

the meaning of the compound sentence when we use different conjunctions.

Sentence 2 says that Rebecca likes cake and Caleb likes broccoli. We are told that both

statements are true. But sentence 5 says that either Rebecca likes cake or Caleb likes broccoli. In

sentence 7, we read that the reason Caleb likes broccoli is because Rebecca likes cake—which, of

course, does not make sense.

When conjunctions are used, they are generally used as follows:

CAUSE OR EFFECT CONTRAST OR COMPARISON

COMBINING

for, so but, nor, or, yet and

11

ASSIGNMENT 1.2

Making Compound Sentences: Below is a poorly written paragraph primarily composed of simple

sentences. Combine the following simple sentences into compound sentences. As you complete this

exercise, you will probably find it very limiting because there are so many ways that you are

accustomed to combining sentences. For this exercise, however, you are only allowed to make

compound sentences by using the following:

for and nor but

or yet so (;)

When you combine sentences with a conjunction, place a comma before the conjunction, and

make sure you use the right conjunction for the idea you want to communicate.

Ex: A grasshopper was in the field one day, for it was summer.

Ex: A grasshopper was in the field one day; it was summer.

To complete the assignment, turn to the following page and write the paragraph on the

lines provided. Eliminate as many simple sentences as you can. The first five sentences have been

combined for you.

A grasshopper was in the field one day. It was summer. He was singing. An ant passed him.

The ant was tugging along a head of grain. The grasshopper asked the ant to sing with him.

The ant refused. He was busy. He was collecting supplies for the winter. The grasshopper

laughed at the ant. He thought it was foolish to work so hard for the future. They had plenty for

the present. The ant went on with his work. Winter came. The grasshopper had nothing to eat.

He asked the ant for food. The ant had plenty for his own family. He had none for the

grasshopper.

12

for and nor but

or yet so (;)

POSSIBLE ANSWER

A grasshopper was in the field one day, for it was summer. He was singing, and an ant passed

him, and the ant was tugging along a head of grain. The grasshopper asked the ant to sing with

him, but the ant refused. He was busy, for he was collecting supplies for the winter. The

grasshopper laughed at the ant; he thought it was foolish to work so hard for the future. They had

plenty for the present, yet the ant went on with his work. Winter came, and the grasshopper had

nothing to eat. He asked the ant for food, for the ant had plenty for his own family; he had none for

the grasshopper.

Make sure students properly punctuate their sentences.

Commas are placed before the conjunction.

13

UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX SENTENCES

In the earlier lesson, we covered simple sentences which are also known as independent clauses.

When you combine two simple sentences, you make a compound sentence. Well, another type of

sentence is the complex sentence. A complex sentence is a sentence composed of an independent

clause and a dependent clause.

If you remember independent clauses have a subject and a verb (predicate), and they convey a

complete thought. In other words, they stand alone.

Dependent clauses are very similar to independent clauses. Like independent clauses,

dependent clauses also have a subject and a verb; however, they do not stand alone.

Subject Verb

When she returned home from work. she returned

What we had for dinner. we had

Where the fairy people dwell. the fairy people dwell

Because he doesn’t study enough. he does study

If he becomes king. he becomes

Although each of the above clauses contains a subject and a verb, they don’t make sense as

sentences. They can, however, be used to make thoughts more clear and more complete.

When she returned home from work, she cooked dinner immediately.

I loved what we had for dinner.

I know where the fairy people dwell.

His grades are low because he doesn’t study enough.

The world will be more dangerous if he becomes king.

When an independent clause is added to a dependent clause, the result is a complex sentence

which conveys a complete thought and gives additional information. To make complex sentences,

we may combine these different types of clauses by using conjunctions.

14

Writing Complex Sentences with Subordinating Conjunctions

One way to join dependent clauses to independent clauses (simple sentences) is to use a

different kind of conjunction—the subordinating conjunction. Below is a table of subordinating

clauses and examples of how they are used.

COMBINING CLAUSES WITH SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

TO SHOW CAUSE AND EFFECT

RELATIONSHIPS

TO SHOW CONDITIONS OR COMPARISONS

TO SHOW WHEN, WHERE, OR

HOW

because

since

so

for

although

if

since

unless

than

though

as

as

after

before

when

while

where

since

EXAMPLES

Because he was ashamed, he

left the room.

If it rains, we will stay

home.

When hope is lost, all is

lost.

Since life requires work, we

must prepare.

Although it rained, we went

to the park.

Enjoyment stops where

laziness begins.

Caitlyn bought two

cupcakes so I could have one

also.

A man has no more religion

than he acts out in his life.

As the twig is bent, the tree

inclines.

15

Punctuating Complex Sentences

In the table given on the previous page, you may have noticed that some of the example

complex sentences contain commas after the dependent clauses. Others do not.

• When the dependent clause is placed at the beginning of the sentence, you place a comma

after it.

• When the dependent clause is placed at the end of the sentence, generally, you do not need a

comma.

The dependent clauses in the example sentences below are in bold print. Notice when the

comma is used.

Because he was ashamed, he left the room.

He left the room because he was ashamed.

If it rains, we will stay at home.

We will stay at home if it rains.

When hope is lost, all is lost.

All is lost when hope is lost.

Where laziness begins, enjoyment stops.

Enjoyment stops where laziness begins.

16

ASSIGNMENT 1.3

Writing Complex Sentences: Read and rewrite the paragraph in the textbox below. This time use

the subordinating conjunctions given to combine the simple sentences and create complex

sentences. Note: It is okay to have 1 or 2 sentences unchanged. Do, however, make as many

complex sentences as you can.

since for because so if

unless whose while as after

before although where when than

Ex. 1: The grasshopper was in the field one day because it was summer. Correct

Ex. 2: The grasshopper was in the field for summer. Incorrect

Note: The first sentence is correct because it is the subject of the dependent clause and was is the

verb. In the second example, for summer is a prepositional phrase and does not contain a verb. So

although example 2 is a good sentence, it is incorrect for this assignment. (For can be a preposition

or a conjunction. Dependent clauses must have a subject and a verb.)

To complete the assignment, turn to the following page and write the paragraph on the

lines provided. The paragraph has been started for you. (If you need help remembering how to

punctuate a dependent clause, see page 15.)

A grasshopper was in the field one day. It was summer. He was singing. An ant passed him.

The ant was tugging along a head of grain. The grasshopper asked the ant to sing with him.

The ant refused. He was busy. He was collecting supplies for the winter. The grasshopper

laughed at the ant. He thought it was foolish to work so hard for the future. They had plenty for

the present. The ant went on with his work. Winter came. The grasshopper had nothing to eat.

He asked the ant for food. The ant had plenty for his own family. He had none for the

grasshopper.

17

since for because so if

unless whose while as after

before although where when than

POSSIBLE ANSWER

A grasshopper was in the field one day because it was summer. While he was singing, an

ant passed him as the ant was tugging along a head of grain. Although the grasshopper asked the

ant to sing with him, the ant refused. He was busy because he was collecting supplies for the

winter. The grasshopper laughed at the ant for he thought it was foolish to work so hard for the

future when they had plenty for the present The ant went on with his work as winter came. When

the grasshopper had nothing to eat, he asked the ant for food. Although the ant had plenty for his

own family, he had none for the grasshopper.

18

Writing Complex Sentences with Relative Pronouns

Complex sentences may also be created with relative pronouns. Relative pronouns stand for

nouns or pronouns, and they act as nouns in dependent clauses.

When writing with relative pronouns, use the following guidelines:

Use who to represent people—the man.

The man who betrayed his country is a traitor.

The man is a traitor.

The man betrayed his country.

Use whose to show possession for people or objects—his weapon.

The mighty god, whose weapon was the thunder, rode on the wind.

The mighty god rode on the wind

His weapon was the thunder.

Use which to represent objects—Alex’s cookie.

Alex’s cookie, which was disgusting, was made with salt instead of sugar.

Alex’s cookie was made with salt instead of sugar.

Alex’s cookie was disgusting.

Use that to represent people or objects—the dog.

The dog that lives next door barks continuously.

The dog barks continuously.

The dog lives next door.

The person or object a pronoun represents is called the antecedent of the pronoun:

The city which is located on the hill is beautiful.

City is the antecedent of the pronoun which.

19

Punctuating Clauses

Some clauses in complex sentences are set apart by commas; others are not. One way to

remember when to use commas for your subordinate clauses is by following these guidelines.

Use a comma if you can remove the clause and the sentence has the same meaning.

Do not use a comma if you need the clause for the sentence to be correct.

Never use a comma before a clause that begins with that.

Ex. 1: Men who betray their country are traitors.

Ex. 2: Men, who betray their country, are traitors.

These two sentences—examples 1 and 2—do not have the same meaning. The first sentence

says that only men who betray their country are traitors. This sentence makes sense. The second

sentence says that all men are traitors. The second sentence doesn’t make sense because we know

that all men are not traitors.

When you place commas around the clause, you are basically saying that the information

between the commas can be removed.

Alex’s cookie, which was disgusting, was made with salt instead of sugar.

The fact that the cookie was disgusting is not important to the meaning of the sentence.

20

ASSIGNMENT 1.4 Creating Complex Sentences with Relative Pronouns: Read and rewrite the poorly written

paragraph below. Connect the simple sentences by using the commonly used relative pronouns

listed. Note: It is okay to have 1 or 2 sentences unchanged; however, do make as many complex

sentences as you can.

who that which

(Note: There is not the subject in the above sentences.)

To complete the assignment, write the paragraph on the lines provided. The paragraph has

been started for you.

There are many common plants. Many of them are known to be poisonous. One poisonous

plant is henbane. It grows upon rubbish heaps. Another is called ergot. It sometimes appears on

heads of rye. One poisonous plant is the deadly nightshade. It is extremely lethal. It has a

cherry-shaped fruit. And of course, there is the famous hemlock. It is sometimes found in

gardens and resembles parsley. In ancient times, to poison prisoners, the Greeks used hemlock.

The prisoners were sentenced to death. Unfortunately, many common plants are extremely

poisonous, and great caution must be taken when selecting edible plants. For instance, consider

the mushroom. (Subject =understood you.) It is extremely common. Not all mushrooms are

poisonous. The most appealing are generally poisonous!

21

POSSIBLE ANSWER

There are many common plants that are known to be poisonous. One poisonous plant that

grows upon rubbish heaps is called henbane. Another which sometimes appears on heads of rye is

called ergot. One plant that is extremely lethal is the deadly nightshade which has a cherry-shaped

fruit. And of course, there is Hemlock, which is sometimes found in gardens and resembles parsley.

In ancient times, to poison prisoners who were sentenced to death the ancient Greeks used

Hemlock. Unfortunately, many common plants are extremely poisonous, and great caution must be

taken when selecting edible plants. For example, consider the mushroom, which is extremely

common. The mushrooms that are the most appealing are generally poisonous!


LEARNING OBJECTIVE: ASSIGNMENTS 1.5

• Assignment 1.5 provides students with the opportunity to use simple, compound, and complex sentences effectively.

Clauses = subject + verb (some are sentences and some aren’t) can be independent or dependent

Independent clauses stand alone. I went to the theatre.

Dependent clauses don’t make sense alone. When I went to the theatre.

Simple Sentence

• subject and a verb (1 independent clause)

Compound Sentence

• subject and a verb + subject and a verb (2 independent clauses)

uses regular conjunctions: and, or, but

22

Complex Sentence

• subject and a verb + subject and a verb (1 independent. + 1 dependent clause)

uses subordinating conjs. (when, while, as, …)

See page 14 for more info or complex sentences.

Note: Many children have a tendency to write with simple sentences, or they will write with comma splices.

It was a cold day, the ground was covered with ice.

Simple sentence, simple sentence. Incorrect

Although this assignment may seem easy, you may have to help your student(s) to effectively combine the sentences so that the sentences flow naturally. If necessary, point out areas for improvement. Because this assignment is short, you may have him rewrite it a couple of times until the desired effect is reached.

23

ASSIGNMENT 1.5

Writing Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences: Read and rewrite the poorly written

narrative below. Eliminate the words “and” and “then” as much as possible. It is okay to use these

words, but only sparingly. Hint: Remove “and” and “then” from the beginning of the sentences.

In your rewrite, include at least one of each: a simple sentence, a compound sentence, and

a complex sentence with a relative clause. Underline each example.

POSSIBLE ANSWER

It was a cold winter day, and the ground was covered with ice. A poor old woman stood at

the corner. She was afraid to cross the street, so she waited for a long time. The busy people took no

notice of her. The wagons and cars went hurrying by so fast that she was afraid to try to cross.

A group of schoolboys came down the street. They were shouting and dashing along. One of

the boys happened to see the old woman, who was still standing there, waiting and trembling. This

boy stopped and said that he would help her along. She thanked him. He took hold of her arm and

led her safely across the street.

It was a cold winter day, and the ground was covered with ice. A poor old woman stood at

the corner, and she was afraid to cross the street, and so she waited for a long time. The busy

people took no notice of her, and the wagons and cars went hurrying by so fast that she was

afraid to try to cross.

And then there came down the street a group of schoolboys. They were shouting and

dashing along. And then one of the boys happened to see the old woman. She was still standing

there, waiting and trembling. And this boy stopped and said that he would help her along. And

then she thanked him, and he took hold of her arm and led her safely across the street.

24


LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• Assignments 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 teach students how to properly write with verbals—particularly participles. Most students are able to write with gerunds and infinitives quite easily even though they may be unfamiliar with the term, but writing with participles can be a little tricky.

For many students, participles are tricky because it is so easy to detach the participial phrase from the subject it modifies. It’s a common mistake. And there are many ways to correct it. One is to transform the participial phrase into a dependent clause. Many students will do that for these assignments. Warn them against doing so.

Participial Phrase Skipping through the forest, Little Red Riding Hood ran into the Wolf.

Dependent Clause As Little Red Riding Hood was skipping through the forest, she ran into the Wolf.

It is an important skill to learn because mastering participles will gives students a powerful method of amplifying their sentences. Sentence amplification involves adding pertinent details to a sentence so that the reader is able to visualize when, where, why, and how, as well as who and what.

Although using a dependent clause (see the example above) is just as viable an alternative as writing with a participial phrase, the goal of these three assignments is to ensure that students know how to properly write with participial phrases.


IDENTIFYING PARTICIPIAL PHRASES IN LITERATURE: If a student is having difficult identifying and writing participial phrases, spend a little time identifying them in other books. Choose a novel or literature book and have students locate participial phrases. If they have difficulty doing so, review the structure of the present, past, and perfect participles.

NARRATING: Another option is to have students reread and study the information about participial phrases. When they feel comfortable, have them close their book and narrate that information back to you.

25

Writing Complex Sentences with Verbals

Complex sentences can also be created with verbals. Verbals are words formed from verbs.

They act similar to verbs; however, unlike verbs, verbals are used as adjectives, nouns, or adverbs.

The girl is my cousin. A Sentence

The girl wearing the sparkly plaid dress. Not a Sentence (A Fragment)

The girl wearing the sparkly plaid dress is my cousin. A Sentence

The first and last statements above are sentences, but the middle one is not. That is because

the middle group of words does not express a complete thought. The phrase wearing the sparkly plaid

dress is a participial phrase and functions as an adjective, describing the subject girl. The participial

phrase acts as an adjective, not a verb.

There are three types of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. See the table below.

VERBALS EXAMPLE DEFINITION FUNCTION

PARTICIPLE

The garden growing wild

with weeds was an eyesore. present participle

(verb ending in ing ) adjective

Overgrown with weeds, the

garden was an eyesore.

past participle (verb often ending with

d, ed, n, ne)

adjective

Having overgrown with

weeds, the garden was an

eyesore.

perfect participle (having + past

participle)

adjective

GERUND Growing weeds was always

our plan. ing form of the verb noun

INFINITIVE We like to grow weeds in

our garden. to + simple verb

noun

adjective

adverb

26

Writing with Participial Phrases

Although participles, gerunds, and infinitives are more complex than the previous table

shows, writing with participles, gerunds, and infinitives is fairly easy. In fact, writing with gerunds

and infinitives occurs somewhat naturally because we speak with gerunds and infinitives regularly.

Consider the sentences below:

Singing is so much fun. Gerund

I love to sing. Infinitive

Writing with participles is also pretty easy to do, but it does require a little more diligence.

First, you must realize that the participle is an “ing” verb or a past tense verb functioning as an

adjective. You must also realize that the participial phrase is created by the participle and the rest of

the phrase. Read the sentence below.

Growing wild with weeds, the garden was an eyesore. Participial phrase

When writing with participial phrases, the hard part is making sure you avoid dangling

participles. To see why, read the example sentence below.

Ex: Walking across the street, my ice cream fell.

The example sentence above has two meanings: the intended meaning and the actual

meaning. The intended meaning is obvious.

As I was walking across the street, my ice cream fell.

The sentence, however, as first written actually means:

My ice cream fell as it was walking across the street.

A sentence like the example given is incorrect and is described as having a dangling

participle. The participial phrase—walking across the street—is dangling because the noun or

pronoun it modifies is missing.

To avoid creating dangling participles, make sure that the word following the phrase and the

comma is the subject of the phrase itself and the subject of the main clause. To correct the first

27

sentence, and still keep the participial phrase as part of the sentence, the sentence can be rewritten

as follows:

I was walking across the street.

I dropped my ice cream.

Walking across the street, I dropped my ice cream.

To correct the sentence quite a few words had to be changed. In the following assignment,

you will have to do the same.

Answers

ASSIGNMENT 1.6

Creating Complex Sentences with Participles: Using the set of sentences below, create complex

sentences with participial phrases. The first one has been done or you.

1. The tide flowed through the bridge. Sweeping and eddying.

Ex. Sweeping and eddying, the tide flowed through the bridge.

2. We lay waste our powers. Getting and spending.

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.

3. She ran to the door. Hearing a shout.

Hearing a shout, she ran to the door.

4. The spider inspired Bruce to renewed effort. Patiently spinning its web.

Patiently spinning its web, the spider inspired Bruce to renewed effort.

28

5. I saw a house proudly decorated with flags. Going down Main Street.

Going down Main Street, I saw a house gaily decorated with flags.

6. I was afraid of the bulldog. Being a stranger and alone.

Being a stranger and alone, I was afraid of the bulldog.

7. The rain drenched the crowd. Pouring down suddenly without warning.

Pouring down suddenly without warning, the rain drenched the crowd.

8. He came in from his farm work. Covered with perspiration and dust.

Covered with perspiration and dust, he came in from his farm work.

9. The tortoise passed the hare. Toiling slowly but surely on.

Toiling slowly but surely on, the tortoise passed the hare.

10. I saw a man running down the street. Sitting by the window.

Sitting by the window, I saw a man running down the street.

29

ANSWERS ASSIGNMENT 1.7

Correcting Dangling Participles: For each sentence, rewrite the sentence so that the participle is

attached to the subject it modifies. As in the example on the previous page, you will have to rewrite

some of the sentences. (Note: Do not eliminate the participial phrases.)

Ex.: Walking across the street, my ice cream fell.

Walking across the street, I dropped my ice cream.

Note: I was walking across the street, and I dropped my ice cream. I is the subject of both

sentences.

1. Running as fast as possible, the spot was quickly reached.

Running as fast as possible, I (he, she, it, we, they) quickly reached the spot.

2. The ship could hardly reach her port damaged by the explosion.

Damaged by the explosion, the ship, etc. (This is a case of faulty position rather than of "dangling.")

3. Coming to the top of the hill, a beautiful view appeared.

Coming to the top of the hill, ___________ had a beautiful view. (The pronoun to be used as the subject of "had" depends on the author's meaning.)

4. Walking down the street, an automobile came suddenly round the corner.

Walking down the street, _______________ saw an automobile come suddenly round the corner. (It would probably be better, except for the purpose of this exercise, to say, "As ______________was walking down the street, an automobile came," etc.)

30

5. Eating grass by the side of the road, we saw a cow.

Eating grass by the side of the road, the cow ignored us. (It would be better to write, “We saw a cow eating grass by the side of the road.”)

6. Getting up early in the morning, the first thing noticed is the eastern sky.

Getting up early in the morning, one notices first, etc 7. Coming nearer, the house seemed deserted.

Coming nearer, ______________ thought the house was deserted. (It would be more natural to say "As _______________ came nearer, the house seemed deserted.")

8. Jumping onto the horse, my horse fell to the ground.

Jumping onto the horse, _____________ knocked it to the ground.

9. Passing down the hallway, a doorway is reached.

Passing down the hallway, _______________ reached a doorway.

10. Ringing the bell, the gate opened quickly.

Ringing the bell, ______________ was quickly admitted through the gate.

31

ASSIGNMENT 1.8 Writing with Participles: For this assignment, rewrite the poorly written narrative in the

textbox. Include at least 1 participial phrase, and at least one of each: a simple sentence, a compound

sentence, and a complex sentence. Avoid using and and then as much as possible, and write your

verbs in the active voice unless writing about someone as a victim. To review active and passive

voice, see page 1.

POSSIBLE ANSWER

Mr. Pilkins went to Springfield the other day to buy his son, Frank, a bicycle. When he

found out that the bicycle would not be sent to his farm for another two weeks, he angrily wrote a

letter about it. (complex sentence) Once the bicycle finally arrived, Frank fell right into a puddle

of water. Frank had never ridden on a bicycle before, but he got back on. (compound sentence)

Pedaling furiously, he rode right into a fence. (participial phrase) Fortunately, Frank was a plucky

boy and, with the help of the hired man, quickly learned to ride his bike. Now he rides his bicycle

every day and enjoys it. (simple sentence) His mother says that he spends too much time riding his

bicycle to help her around the house, and Mr. Pilkins himself says that he wishes he never bought

it.

FRANK'S BICYCLE

Mr. Pilkins went to Springfield the other day and bought his son a bicycle and told them to

send it out to his farm, and they did not send it for two weeks and Mr. Pilkins was angry and

wrote a letter about it. The boy's name was Frank, and he had never been on a bicycle and of

course did not know how to ride, so when he received his bike and for the first time tried it, he

fell into a puddle of water, and the next time he ran into a fence. But he was a plucky boy and he

kept on trying and the hired man helped him to learn and in a few days Frank could ride pretty

well, and now he rides his bicycle every day and enjoys riding it, and his mother says he spends

too much time with his bicycle and declares that he is no longer of any use to her about the

house, and Mr. Pilkins says he himself is sorry he bought the bicycle.

32


LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To give students the tools to amplify their sentences and include more than simply who and what, but also when, where, why, and how.

When adding when, where, why, and how to a sentence, the final result is, more than likely, a really long sentence. If every sentence sounds that way in a paragraph, the paragraph will sound awful.

As students wrestle with how to put the sentence together, they are learning how to write. Some combinations are going to sound awkward. Others will sound wonderful. If a student leaves this assignment understanding that, he will have learned a great deal! Hopefully, students will learn that sometimes it is best to write two or three sentences rather than one longer sentence.

• To teach students that writing participial phrases requires combining simple sentences. Both must have the same subject. One is converted into a participial phrase and is added at the beginning of the simple sentence. Remind them not to let their participles dangle! (Participial phrases can be placed after the subject or placed in other parts of the sentence as well. Sometimes they are placed at the end of the sentence.)

• To teach students to amplify with strong verbs. This is critical! In everyday speech, we use weak common verbs because we are able to amplify the meaning of what we’re saying with body language and tone. We don’t have that option when we write. So to communicate effectively, we must use verbs that convey the correct shade of meaning (connotation) and verbs that convey the correct tone.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: YOUNGER STUDENTS: Young students may need a little more practice with this assignment. If so, pull any simple sentence from the textbox in Assignment 1.2 on page 11 and have them practice amplifying it. (If a student does this, he will need to make up the additional information.)

YOUNGER AND OLDER STUDENTS: For more practice amplifying verbs, have students rewrite their paragraphs from the exercises in Assignment 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4. This is excellent practice because this will teach them to self-edit their work!

If a student is comfortable creating the final sentence without having to go through the intermediate steps as outlined on page 35, let him skip the steps. The eventual goal is that students will be able to amplify a sentence by simply asking themselves when, where, why, and how.

33

AMPLIFYING SENTENCES

Many years ago, when children were learning to write, they were given illustrations that

taught them to write sentences with who, what, when, where, why, and how.

The left tree above shows the basic structure for writing a sentence that tells: who, what,

when, where, how, and why. The tree on the right fills in that information.

Who the boys What played ball

When on Saturday Where in the field

Why because they had a holiday How enthusiastically

As you add the additional information, the sentence progressively grows:

The boys played ball.

The boys played ball on Saturday.

The boys played ball in the field on Saturday.

The boys played ball in the field on Saturday because they had a holiday.

Enthusiastically, the boys played ball in the field on Saturday because they had a holiday.

34

To answer when, where, why, or how, students may use words, phrases, or clauses.

Amplifying Sentences with Strong Verbs

Besides amplifying a sentence by adding additional information, we can passively amplify a

sentence by using strong verb synonyms that show more than the common verbs we use every day.

A synonym is a word that means the same or almost the same as another word. The words below

are synonyms.

ask beg look gaze walk stroll

By using verbs that have a stronger meaning than the common verbs, you can amplify the

meaning of the verb and help your reader to see more clearly what is happening in the sentence.

The cat drank the milk. The cat sipped the milk.

The dog lay down in the dirt. The dog plopped down in the dirt.

The sunlight came through the window. The sunlight beamed through the window.

To find synonyms for common verbs, you may use the synonym table located in the

appendix on page 201. If the common verb you want to replace isn’t in the table, refer to a

thesaurus.

Detail Words Phrases Clauses

When Saturday Last Saturday After lunch ended

Where Here In the field Where the dogs play

Why Angry Filled with anger Because he was so angry

How Happily Laughing and crying at

the same time As she wiped the tears

from her happy face

35

ASSIGNMENT 1.9

Amplifying Sentences: Following the steps outlined in the example below, amplify the given

simple sentence for numbers two through five. Number one has been done for you.

1. Given Sentence: The cat ate the mouse.

Step 1: Brainstorm words, phrases, and clauses that tell when, where, why, and how.

Ex: What: A synonym for the verb ate: ________devoured ________________________________

Ex: When: ________Yesterday_______________________________________________________

Ex: Where: ___________Behind the barn_______________________________________________

Ex: Why: __________Because he was starving___________________________________________

Ex: How: _________Ferociously______________________________________________________

Step 2: Using at least 2 of your answers, write a new amplified sentence. Ex: Amplify the given sentence: Yesterday, the cat ferociously devoured the mouse because he was

starving.__________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Make up new information to complete the sentence below.

It is okay to use common verbs for this exercise.

Given Noun: The cat ____________________

Ex: The cat was hiding behind the barn.__________________________________________________

Step 4: Combine the sentences, creating an amplified sentence with an introductory

participial phrase. For the example below, hiding behind the barn is the participial phrase.

Ex: Combined sentences: Hiding behind the barn, the cat ferociously devoured the mouse.__________

_________________________________________________________________________________

STUDENT ANSWERS WILL VARY

36

2. Given Sentence: The girl moved the desk.

What: A synonym for the verb moved: _________________________________________________

When: ___________________________________________________________________________

Where: __________________________________________________________________________

Why: ____________________________________________________________________________

How: ____________________________________________________________________________

Amplify the given sentence: __________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Write a second sentence: The girl was _________________________________________________

Combine the sentences, creating an introductory participial phrase:

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

3. Given Sentence: The teacher told the students to be quiet.

What: A synonym for the verb told: ___________________________________________________

When: ___________________________________________________________________________

Where: __________________________________________________________________________

Why: ____________________________________________________________________________

How: ____________________________________________________________________________

Amplify the given sentence:__________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Write a second sentence: The teacher was ______________________________________________

Combine the sentences; include an introductory participial phrase:

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

37

4. Given Sentence: Each man walked with one shoe.

What: A synonym for the verb walked: _________________________________________________

When: ___________________________________________________________________________

Where: __________________________________________________________________________

Why: ____________________________________________________________________________

How: ____________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Write a second sentence: Each man was ________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

5. Given Sentence: I got a new toy.

What: A synonym for the verb got __________________________________________________

When: ___________________________________________________________________________

Where: __________________________________________________________________________

Why: ____________________________________________________________________________

How: ____________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Write a second sentence: I was _______________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

38


LEARNING OBJECTIVE PART 1:

• To teach students how to create sentences with varied sentence openers.

More seasoned writers mentally engage in some process similar to this. Knowing how to create a variety of sentence openers will give students tools to write with skill and style.

To help students create the seven sentences, the poorly written narrative within the textbox contains clues that the students can use as sentence openers.

For instance in assignment 1.10A, the first two sentences from the textbox read:

A rich old man was taking a walk on his land. He suddenly fell in to a flooded pond.

Unexpectedly, the rich old man fell into a flooded pond.

To create a sentence with an adverb, an adverb has been included in the sentence. In writing the example, the student changed the adverb to similar word—unexpectedly.

The second sentence in the textbox reads:

A young man saw that the old man was very afraid.

Afraid, the old man panicked.

To create a sentence with an adjective, an adjective describing the old man is included in the sentence. Although the word panicked isn’t in the original sentence, I imagine that anyone who falls in a pond and is afraid will also panic; therefore, the student’s use of the word panic is appropriate. The same type of information is included in the textbox for the other sentence openers.

Even though there are seven sentences within the textbox, clues for the sentence openers will sometimes come from more than one sentence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE PART 2: The poorly written narratives in assignment 1.10 also function as rough outlines for both older and younger students. If necessary, have the student reread the paragraph before turning the page, and recreating the paragraph from memory. As he recreates the paragraph, he should try to incorporate at least 3 of the sentence openers he created. All three should be different.

An exercise such as this helps students write naturally with the sentence openers they previously brainstormed. WARNING: When having students rewrite from the “outlines,” do not allow them to simply organize the seven sentences into the shape of a paragraph.

39

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: YOUNGER STUDENTS: If your student needs help rewriting the paragraphs from memory, let him use the outlines located in the Teachers Edition.

They are located on the page following each paragraph. OLDER STUDENTS: Before they rewrite the paragraphs, have older students create their own outlines and then recreate the paragraphs.

40

VARYING SENTENCE OPENERS More often than not, young writers begin sentences with the subject and then follow with the

verb. This is normal when we speak, but when writing, we must vary the way we write sentences to

add force and style.

Below is a table that demonstrates seven ways in which a sentence may be varied.

Types of Sentence Openers

Adverb

Silently, the man stood. A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Adjective Sad, the man stood in silence.

A word that modifies a noun or pronoun.

Prepositional Phrase With a heavy heart, the man stood

in silence. A phrase that contains a preposition and its object.

Participial Phrase Waiting for an answer to fall from the heavens, he stood in silence. (Present Participle) Saddened, the man stood in silence. (Past Participle)

A phrase composed of a participle and the rest of the phrase.

Dependent Clause Because he was devastated, the man stood in silence. A clause that contains a subject and a verb, but cannot stand

alone as a sentence.

Infinitive Phrase To avoid crying, the man stood in

silence. A phrase that begins with an infinitive (to + a verb), followed by the remainder of the phrase.

Short Sentence

He stood.

Simple sentence composed of five or fewer words. (More important than the number of words is the number of syllables. Short sentences are more effective with smaller words.)

41

ASSIGNMENT 1.10A

Amplifying Sentences: Part 1: In the textbox below, a group of poorly written sentences tells us

about an old man who falls into a pond. Using the information from the sentences, create seven

sentences that have different sentence openers. To help with this exercise, refer as necessary to the

table of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs located in the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200

and 201. (Blend the information from the original sentences as necessary to create your new

sentences.) Part 2: When you are done creating the sentence openers, proceed to the following page

and rewrite the paragraph, from memory! Try to include at least three different sentence openers in

your paragraph. The first example has been completed for you.

Adverb: 1. Unexpectedly, the rich man tumbled into the flooded pond.

Adjective: 2. Afraid, the old man panicked.

Prepositional Phrase: 3. Without hesitation, the young man jumped into the stream.

Participial Phrase: 4. Relieved, the old man thanked the young man.

Dependent Clause: 5. Because he was so grateful, he cried.

Infinitive: 6, To thank the young man, the old man rewarded him.

Short Sentence: 7. He gifted him a check.

A rich old man was taking a walk on his land. He suddenly fell into a flooded pond. A young man

saw that the old man was very afraid. Quickly, the young man jumped in the stream without a

moment’s hesitation. The young man saved the old man’s life. The old, rich man cried with tears

of relief. The old man rewarded the young man greatly. He rewarded him by writing him a check.

42

EXAMPLE ANSWER

The directions for rewriting these short paragraphs require that students simply rewrite them from memory. This method is a type of written narration, and is beneficial to students at all grade levels.

If, however, you prefer that your student write from an outline, you may use the outlines provided to help him or her rewrite the paragraph.

Outline

I. Rich, old man walking

A. Fell in pond.

B. Young man saw.

C. Young man dove in.

D. YM pulled old man ground.

E. Old man cried.

F. Old man gave reward.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

A rich old man was taking a walk on his land. Unexpectedly, he stumbled and fell into a

flooded pond. A young man who was walking by saw the old man floundering in the water.

Without hesitation, the young man kicked off his shoes and dove into the pond. He pulled the old

man to safety, saving his life. Because he was so grateful, the old man cried tears of joy. To thank

the young man, the old man rewarded him by writing him a check.

43

ASSIGNMENT 1.10B

Amplifying Sentences: Part 1: Using the poorly written paragraph, write seven sentences that

have different sentence openers. If necessary, use the table of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and

verbs located in the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200 and 201. Blend the information from the

original sentences as necessary to create your new sentences. Use strong verbs that amplify! Part 2:

Rewrite the paragraph, from memory, and try to include at least three different sentence openers.

Adverb: 1. ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Adjective: 2. ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Prepositional Phrase: 3. _____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Participial Phrase: 4. ________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dependent Clause: 5. _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Infinitive: 6. _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Short Sentence: 7.__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

A completely unexpected ice storm blew in yesterday. Today the weather is very cold and windy,

and it bites at covered skin. The river isn’t completely frozen yet, but more freezing conditions are

expected tonight. The view is amazingly beautiful. The trees sparkle with frost and shine in the

moonlight. Rolling mounds of snow cover the ground. Once the river is frozen, everyone plans to

spend the day ice skating. Some are planning to have a snow ball fight and are already planning

their snow forts.

44

1.10B Outline

I. Yesterday, Ice storm

A. Weather cold, bites

B. River not frozen

C. More freezing tonight

D. View is beautiful.

E. Trees sparkle

F. Snow on ground

G. Plans= ice skating, snowball fights, building forts

45

ASSIGNMENT 1.10C

Amplifying Sentences: Part 1: In the textbox below, a group of poorly written sentences tells

about a hawk and a lark. Using the information from the given sentences, write seven sentences—

each with a different sentence opener. To help with this exercise, use the table of adverbs,

adjectives, prepositions, and verbs located in the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200 and 201.

Remember to use strong verbs! Part 2: Turn to the following page, and from memory, rewrite the

paragraph. Try to include at least three different sentence openers.

Adverb: 1. ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Adjective: 2. ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Infinitive: 6. _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Short Sentence: 7.__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

A gentleman was walking in the fields one day. He heard the cries of a bird. He looked up. He saw

a hawk. The hawk was trying to catch a poor little lark. The lark darted this way and that. He

managed to keep out of the reach of the hawk. He was plainly becoming tired out. The man felt

sorry for the lark. He wished he could save it from the hawk. Suddenly the lark darted down

toward the man. It flew straight into his hand. There it remained panting and trembling. The

hawk saw what had happened. He flew off as if in disgust.

46

1.10C Outline

I. Man walking fields.

A. Man sees hawk and lark.

B. Lark growing tired.

C. Man felt sorry.

D. Lark flew to hand.

E. Lark panted, trembled.

F. Angry hawk left.

47

ASSIGNMENT 1.10D


about two mice. Using the information from the sentences, write seven sentences that have different

sentence openers. To help with this exercise, use the table of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and

verbs located in the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200 and 201. Remember to use strong verbs. Part

2: From memory, rewrite the paragraph and include at least three of your sentence openers.

Adverb: 1. ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Adjective: 2. ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Infinitive: 6. _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Short Sentence: 7.__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

A town mouse visited a country cousin, and found the food too simple for his cultivated taste. He

persuaded the country cousin to return with him to the city. In the pantry of the city house they

found many dainties. As they began to nibble at them, a dog rushed in, and they were obliged to

scamper for the hole. The country mouse went home at once, preferring to eat his simple fare in

peace.

48

1.10D Outline

I. Town Mouse visits Country Mouse

A. Food was plain.

B. T M invited CM to city.

C. Mice found pantry.

D. Dog found mice.

E. C M left for peace.

49

ASSIGNMENT 1.10E


about a Brownie living in the cellar. Using the information from the sentences, write seven

sentences that have varied sentence openers. Remember to use the table of adverbs, adjectives,

prepositions, and verbs located in the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200 and 201. Use strong verbs.

Part 2: From memory, rewrite the paragraph and include at least three of your sentence openers.

Adverb: 1. ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Adjective: 2. ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Infinitive: 6. _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Short Sentence: 7.__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Once there lived a little Brownie, about 6 inches tall. He lived in a coal-cellar. A servant would

frequently leave a bowl of milk for him. One time the Brownie found nothing. It was ten o’clock at

night. It was his usual hour for rising. He was very hungry. He went smelling about for his milk.

He ran all about the dark cellar. At last he ran upstairs. He stole into the pantry. There he found

heaps of good things.

50

1.10E Outline

I. 6 inch Brownie lived in coal-cellar

A. Servant fed milk.

B. Once, no milk.

C. Brownie was hungry.

D. Brownie hunted for milk.

E. Brownie went upstairs to pantry.

F. Found food!

51

ASSIGNMENT 1.10F


about a greedy dog. Using the information from the sentences, write seven sentences that have

different sentence openers. Use the table of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs located in

the appendix on pages 198, 199, 200 and 201. Remember to use strong verbs! Part 2: From

memory, rewrite the paragraph and include at least three of your sentence openers.

Adverb: 1. ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Adjective: 2. ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

Infinitive: 6. _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Short Sentence: 7.__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

There was once a dog. He was very greedy. One day he was on a bridge. The bridge crossed a

quiet brook. In his mouth he had a piece of meat. He was taking it home. As he looked into the

water he saw another dog. The other dog also had a piece of meat. The greedy dog wanted the

meat in the water, too. He jumped after the meat. He saw it below the water. He lost his own piece

and swam ashore without any meat at all.

52

1.10F Outline

I. Greedy dog with meat.

A. Crossed bridge over brook.

B. Saw dog with meat in water.

C. Greedy dog wanted it.

D. Jumped in water to bite.

E. Lost his meat.

F. Swam ashore with nothing.

53

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 1.11A AND 1.11B

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: 1.11A AND 1.11B

• To give students the opportunity to practice creating and writing with descriptive adjectives.

Students should pick adjectives that appropriately fit the nouns in the context of the story. Discourage them from randomly adding any adjective that pops into their minds. The adjectives must be appropriate for the context.

• To give students the opportunity to practice creating and writing sentences with varied sentence openers--words, phrases, and clauses.

Although students were encouraged to write with strong verb synonyms and in the active voice in the earlier assignments, it isn’t necessary for them to do so when brainstorming varied sentence openers. In fact, using the linking verbs was and were can be very useful in helping students brainstorm appropriate adjectives.

Henry was afraid Henry was very quiet as he climbed the tree.

Henry was oblivious to the dangers around him.

To help your students brainstorm predicates to follow the subjects, you might ask leading questions such as:

What did Henry do? How did he sound? How did he feel?

• To help students demonstrate their ability to write with simple, compound, and complex sentences as well as varied sentence openers and strong verbs.

When your student rewrites this paragraph, you may want to allow him to see the original passage as he writes. As counterintuitive as this may seem, this is the same process he will take when he edits his own writing.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: OLDER AND YOUNGER STUDENTS: For teaching tips to help your student create varied sentence openers, continue onto the following page.

To introduce your student to self-editing, use the self-editing checklist located on the following page. Walk through the process with him. In later Assignments, students will be asked to edit their own papers, following the checklist; however, before he can be expected to use the checklist by himself, it will be extremely beneficial for him to have had an instructor walk with him through the editing process.

54

You may choose to focus only on the word editing and/or the sentence editing. It can be counterproductive to overwhelm them with too much information at one time.

PROMPTS FOR CREATING VARIED SENTENCE OPENERS

ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES

• When beginning a sentence with an adverb or an adjective, linking verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, grew, seemed, appeared, etc.) help students brainstorm adverbs or adjectives that they can use as sentence openers. The main clause of the sentence should typically follow with a strong verb.

• To help students brainstorm adverbs and adjectives, refer them to the lists located in the appendix on page 198 and 199 of the teacher’s edition.

Prompt: Henry was ___________________________?

Henry was very quiet as he climbed the tree. Sentence with linking verb

Quietly, Henry stole out of the house. Sentence Opener and strong verb

Prompt: Henry seemed ________________________?

Henry seemed afraid. Sentence with linking verb

Afraid, Henry did not move a muscle. Sentence Opener

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

• Recalling prepositions at will is the easiest way for students to have flexibility in creating

sentences that begin with prepositional phrases. If they do not currently have this ability,

allow your students to use the list of prepositions located in the appendix on page 200

Henry climbed to the top of the tree. Sentence

At the top of the tree, Henry trembled in fear. Sentence Opener

PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

• Creating participial phrases requires that the subject of the sentence participate in two

actions at the same time. Consider the example below.

Henry ignored his parents. Henry climbed the tree.

55

Ignoring his parents, Henry climbed the tree.

Climbing the tree, Henry ignored his parents.

DEPENDENT CLAUSES

• Creating sentences with dependent clauses is fairly easy because the subordinate clause can

simply be moved from the end to the beginning of the sentence.

• For a list of subordinate conjunctions, see page 14.

Henry climbed the apple tree because he was hungry. Sentence

Because he was hungry, Henry climbed the apple tree. Sentence Opener

Note: There is no comma before the clause at the end of the sentence. There is a comma after the clause at the beginning of the sentence.

INFINITIVES

• To help your student create infinitives, ask him to finish a sentence that contains “because

he wanted to.” Using the answer, convert it into an infinitive.

The bear sniffed the man because he wanted to________________________________.

The bear sniffed the man because he wanted to see if the man would taste good.

To see if the man would taste good, the bear sniffed the man.

The bear sniffed the man because he wanted to scare him.

To scare him, the bear sniffed the man.

The bear sniffed the man’s head because he wanted to see if the man was alive.

To see if the man was alive, the bear sniffed the man’s head.

The following example in the student book also works if worded with “because he wanted to.”

56

Example from student textbook:

Henry wanted to eat the delicious apples. Sentence

To eat the delicious apples, Henry ignored his fears. Sentence Opener

Because Henry wanted to eat the delicious apples, he ignored his fears.

SHORT SENTENCE.

• The best way to produce short sentences is to have your student write a simple sentence

that contains only a subject and a verb.

He cried.

He sang.

She fell.

She won.

They flew.

He died.

He lives.

The more powerful the verb, the more impactful the simple sentence will be.

57

Editing Checklist

Word Editing

Eliminate (All of these

words can be used, but it is best

when they are used intentionally

and sparingly)

There was, There were

Began to, started to

“was + ing verb” (Keep “was + ing verb” if you want the focus of your sentence to be on

the person that had something done to him or her.

“And” “Then” “And then” “But” as sentence openers

These can be used, but only sparingly. Best to eliminate.

Add

Verb Synonyms Descriptive Adjectives Check every word. Did you say what you meant to say?

Sentence Editing

Eliminate Dangling Participles

Add

Variety of Sentence Openers

Simple Sentences Compound Sentences Complex Sentences

Paragraph Editing

Add

Paragraph breaks after changing: who, what, when, where, why, how

A paragraph break after a different character speaks

Overall Paper

Check spelling Check

Punctuation

Change verbs ending with: “s”

and “is + ing” to the past tense

Read your paper out loud.

58

ASSIGNMENT 1.11A

Weaving in Words: Read the paragraph below. Based upon your interpretation of the short

narrative, add descriptive adjectives for the list of nouns taken from the paragraph. Remember an

adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun. See the bolded example below. To help you

find descriptive adjectives, see the Commonly Used Adjectives Table in the appendix on page 199.

Ex. _____naughty________ lad

1. ___________________________ lad

2. ___________________________ farm

3. ___________________________ trees

4. ___________________________ coat

5. ___________________________ ladder

To complete the remainder of this assignment, continue onto the following page where

nouns from the tale above have been placed as the subjects of incomplete sentences. Complete the

sentences by adding information that tells something about the subject. (You may make up new

information.) Once you have written your sentence, rewrite it as an introductory word, phrase, or

clause.

Note: The goal of this exercise is to create sentences with varied openers. As you compose your

sentences, you will find many different options available to you. Proceed to the following page to

see a list of example sentences and sentence openers that can be created about the subject Henry.

Henry was a lad. He was eight years old. He lived on a farm. He was playful. He liked to

climb trees. His mother warned him. Climbing is dangerous. His father warned him. He might

injure himself. He forgot the advice. There was an apple tree. It was in the yard. It was an old

one. He climbed it. He went up high. He found apples. He liked them. They tasted good. He lost

his balance. He had gone out on a branch. He fell. His coat caught. It caught on a branch. He hung there. He could not move. He cried. His father heard the cries. His mother heard them.

They came out. The father got a ladder. He climbed up. He got the boy. Henry was scolded. He is

careful now.

59

Henry was oblivious to the dangers around him. Sentence

Oblivious to the dangers around him, Henry Sentence Opener

Henry was very quiet as he climbed the tree. Sentence

Quietly, Henry stole out of the house. Sentence Opener

Henry was afraid. Sentence

Afraid, Henry did not move a muscle. Sentence Opener

Henry climbed to the top of the tree. Sentence

At the top of the tree, Henry trembled in fear. Sentence Opener

Henry ignored his parents. Sentence

Ignoring his parents, Henry climbed the tree. Sentence Opener

Henry wanted to climb the apple tree because he was hungry. Sentence

Because he was hungry, Henry climbed the apple tree. Sentence Opener

Henry wanted to eat the delicious apples. Sentence

To eat the delicious apples, Henry ignored his fears. Sentence Opener

Although many different sentence openers can be created, you only need to create one

sentence and one sentence opener for each noun below. (Use a different type of sentence opener for

each noun.)

6. The mother ____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. The father _____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

8. Now Henry ____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

60

For the next assignment, use the descriptive words and sentence openers you have generated to help you write your story. NOTE: If your student has difficulty weaving the sentence openers into his assignment, have him create a compound or complex sentence rather than a simple sentence. This method was discussed in the instructors’ notes that began on page 53.

61

ASSIGNMENT 1.11B

Putting It All Together: Reread the following paragraph about Henry. This poorly written

paragraph contains only simple sentences and no descriptions, making this tale more of an outline

than a story. Rewrite the paragraph to make it interesting and enjoyable to read. To do so, you will

have to use simple sentences, compound sentences, and complex sentences. To help your reader

visualize your story, you must weave in the descriptive words and introductory words, phrases, and

clauses you generated in the previous exercise.

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

Henry was a lad. He was eight years old. He lived on a farm. He was playful. He liked to

climb trees. His mother warned him. Climbing is dangerous. His father warned him. He might

lose his life. He forgot the advice. There was an apple tree. It was in the yard. It was an old one.

He climbed it. He went up high. He found apples. He liked them. They tasted good. He lost his

balance. He had gone out on a branch. He fell. His coat caught. It caught on a branch. He hung

there. He could not move. He cried. His father heard the cries. His mother heard them. They

came out. The father got a ladder. He climbed up. He got the boy. Henry was scolded. He is

careful now.

62

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

63


LEARNING OBJECTIVE: CONNOTATION

• To give students practice choosing the right word for the right context.

Students use a dictionary and a thesaurus to help them understand the nuances created by various words.

Answers for this exercise will vary, but the meaning should be very close to the original.

• Through the act of paraphrasing, allow children to experience the difference between connotation and denotation.

Older students may want to skip using the dictionary or thesaurus, preferring to rely upon their own knowledge and understanding of the vocabulary words. Encourage them to do the research anyway.

The dictionary definition of the word is the denotation. In this exercise, students must choose the appropriate synonym which will give the proper connotation as well. In the future, when students are studying literature, they must be able to understand connotation and denotation.

THE ANSWERS GIVEN IN THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS ARE ONLY SUGGESTIONS.

64

PARAPHRASING: AN EXERCISE IN CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD

One way to gain variety and skill in expressing yourself is through paraphrasing. When you

paraphrase a passage, you rewrite it in your own words while maintaining the original meaning.

Your goal is to rewrite the original passage so that it is easier to understand. The size of the

passage should remain about the same. Avoid using any phrases from the original passage. See the

examples below:

Passage: Providence never intended that any state here should be either completely happy, or entirely miserable.

Paraphrase: God never designed that any condition in this life should be either altogether fortunate, or completely wretched.

Paraphrase: It was never the will of God that men should enjoy in this life absolute felicity or misery.

When paraphrasing a passage, it is important to consider the denotation and the connotation

of the words in the original passage and the meaning of the passage as a whole. Denotation is the

dictionary definition of a word, and connotation is the definition plus the idea or emotions

associated with that word.

Read the paragraph below about the use of the word fist.

So we see that the word fist simply means “the hand with the fingers doubled up against

the palm.” In the conversational comparison “as big as your fist,” it is purely descriptive, and has

no particular character, good or bad. The use of the word fist when talking about fighting

however, has given a peculiar connotation to the term. We might say, “He hit his opponent

with his clenched fist.” Similarly, we might also say, “The boy cried dismally, wiping his eyes

with his filthy fist.” In both cases, the use of the word is appropriate because there is a certain

crudeness in one and clumsiness in the other which justifies the use of undignified language. But

we no longer use the word in the following manner: “The lady held a lily in her delicate fist.” In

other words, when we talk about a fist it carries a connotation that suggests aggression,

vulgarity, or humor.

— adapted from Greenough and Kittredge: Words and Their Ways in English Speech.

65

POSSIBLE ANSWERS

ASSIGNMENT 1.12

Paraphrasing Sentences: For each sentence below, rewrite the sentence in your own words while

maintaining the original meaning. You will need to use a dictionary to help you determine some of

the more challenging words and a thesaurus to help you find appropriate synonyms. Write the

dictionary definition and appropriate synonyms for the words in the tables provided. Remember to

choose words that have the appropriate connotation. The first has been done for you.

****Some of the sentences in this assignment are very difficult. If needed, provide your students with the replacement sentences that follow on page 69 of this text.****

1. Passage: He imparted knowledge with much simplicity.

Word Definition Synonym(s)

imparted pass on, communicate spread, give,

teach

knowledge facts, information, understanding understanding,

command

simplicity clarity, plain, simple, easy to understand easy, clean

Ex: Paraphrase: He taught in an easy to understand manner.

2. Indolence is the cause of many evils.


indolence avoidance of activity or exertion; laziness idleness

cause a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition source, root, origin

evils wickedness, immorality, depravity sin, immorality

Idleness is the source of numerous counts of wickedness.

66

3. Wealth which is desired by all is accompanied by many troubles.


wealth an abundance of possessions or money, material prosperity

fortune, affluence, capital

desired want or wish for want, yearn, crave

accompanied escorted, travel with someone escorted,

chaperoned, partnered

troubles difficulty, problems problems, concerns

Fortune yearned for by many is partnered with many concerns.

4. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.


achieved reached, attained, reach, attain,

accomplish

enthusiasm excitement, intense enjoyment zeal, excitement

Outstanding accomplishments are always accomplished with zeal.

5. No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.


produce cause a result to occur manufacture, create, make

thoroughly in a thorough way, completely completely, meticulously

sincere honestly without pretense honest, heartfelt

dealing interaction or relationship with someone or something handle, manage

No person can make great accomplishments if he is not completely honest in managing himself.

67

6. It is much easier to be critical than correct.


critical expressing judgmental comments judgmental,

disparaging

correct free of errors or mistakes perfect, flawless,

accurate

It is abundantly easier to judge others than it is to be perfect.

7. The greatest efforts of the race have always been traceable to the love of praise, as its greatest

catastrophes to the love of pleasure.


efforts determined attempts attempt, try,

endeavor

race competition with another to achieve an objective,

human race

compete

competition

mankind, man

traceable attributable, noticeable identifiable,

verifiable

catastrophes a devastating event causing great damage disaster, calamity

pleasure feeling of enjoyment, desire, delight enjoyment

The highest endeavors of mankind are attributable to the desire for admiration, as its lowest

disasters to the yearning for enjoyment.

Below is an example of an incorrect paraphrase of the sentence above. The student used the first

definition of the word “race.”

68

The substantial attempts of the competition have been accountable to the love of praise and

its substantial calamities to the love of happiness.

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES.

STUDENT ANSWERS WILL VARY.

JUST REMEMBER THAT THE GOAL IS FOR STUDENTS TO PICK

APPROPRIATE WORDS THAT PARAPHRASE YET STILL MAINTAIN THE SAME

MEANING.

69

ASSIGNMENT 1.12 (REPLACEMENT)

Paraphrasing Sentences: For each sentence below, rewrite the sentence in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. You will need to use a dictionary to help you determine some of the more challenging words and a thesaurus to help you find appropriate synonyms. Write the dictionary definition and appropriate synonyms for the words in the tables provided. Remember to choose words that have the appropriate connotation. The first has been done for you.

1. Passage: Oh, what will people think?


what

people

think

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

2. My luck has ended!


luck

ended

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

.

70

3. Only an inventor knows how to borrow.


only

inventor

knows

borrow

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

4. There is no longer room for hope.


longer

room

hope

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

71

5. Shopping is her favorite hobby.


Shopping

favorite

hobby

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

6. Stop quarreling and stand as brothers.


Stop

quarreling

stand

brothers

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

72

7. Childhood shows the man as morning shows the day.


childhood

shows

man

morning

day

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

73

CHAPTER 2: WRITING FABLES

A fable is a short allegorical story that teaches a moral which the author wishes to explain or

prove. So fables are both expository (meaning they explain) and argumentative (meaning they

attempt to prove an opinion). At the same time, fables are narrative (story-like) in structure. The

moral of the fable can be thought of as the topic of the paragraph, and the fable itself can be

considered an example used to explain or prove the moral.

The characters of fables are often personified objects or animals. For example, the characters of

a fable might be foxes used to symbolize crafty men.

The characters are said to be personified because they behave and speak like humans. Such is

the case of the animals in the “The Hare and the Tortoise.”

When characters speak, we are able to determine who is speaking because their words are

placed in quotation marks. When two or more characters speak to each other, they are engaged in

dialogue. In the following section, you will rewrite fables, adding and removing dialogue.

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.

“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.

“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and

prove it.”

The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun

of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and

started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how

ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap

until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place

where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did

wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not

overtake the Tortoise in time.

Slow and steady wins the race.

74

WRITING DIALOGUE

When showing that the words spoken by a person or character are word for word, exactly

what was said, we use direct quotations. A direct quote includes an open quote (“), the spoken

words, punctuation, and an end quote (”). To indicate who spoke, an attributive tag (tag) is added.

The tag may be placed at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the sentence.

Note: When writing dialogue, each time a different person speaks, a new paragraph is begun.

TAGS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SENTENCE:

1. Jim cried, “Yay! It’s snowing!”

2. Father said, “If you don’t clean the garage, you cannot go to the movies.”

3. The exhausted babysitter begged, “Please, go to sleep.”

If the tag comes before the quote, place a comma after the tag.

When using direct quotes, the first word within the quote is usually capitalized.

TAGS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SENTENCE:

4. “Yay!” cried Jim. “It’s snowing!” (Two separate sentences.)

5. “If you don’t clean the garage,” said Father, “you cannot go to the movies.”

6. “Please,” begged the exhausted babysitter, “go to sleep.”

When the tag is in the middle of the sentence, the first word of the second quote is usually not

capitalized. Consider sentence 4. The second quote in sentence 4 begins with a capital letter because

it is a separate sentence from the exclamation “Yay!” You can tell this because a period follows the

word Jim.

Now consider sentence 5 above. In sentence 5, the word “you” in the second quote is not

capitalized. Sentence 6 is the same. The word “go” in the second quote is not capitalized.

75

TAGS AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE:

7. “Yay! It’s snowing!” cried Jim.

8. “If you don’t clean the garage, you cannot go to the movies,” said Father.

9. “Are you going to go to sleep?” asked the exhausted babysitter.

If a sentence ends with a tag, place a comma, exclamation mark, or question mark before the

end quote (”) then follow up with the tag. Do not place a period between the quote and the tag. See

sentences 7, 8, and 9.

NO TAG:

10. “Stop screaming!”

11. “I just love chocolate.”

12. “When can the twins come for a sleepover?”

Often, when dialogue occurs back and forth between characters, no tag is needed. See sentences

10, 11, and 12.

When tags are not used, the author must make sure that the reader knows who is speaking.

Read the following conversation. Even though tags are not used, it is obvious who is speaking.

“Where are you going?”

With dark, sleepy eyes and a crying baby in her arms, Jeanne’s mom looked at her.

“To my room. Why?” “Could you please take your laundry with you? I don’t want you to leave it downstairs.”

Jeanne looked around her and, for the first time, saw their home through her mother’s tired

eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mother. You look exhausted. Why don’t you take the afternoon off? I’ll put

Sammy to bed. Then I’ll cook dinner and clean up, too. It’s the least I can do. You’re the best

mom in the whole entire world.”

76

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 2.1, 2.2., 2.3, AND 2.4

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach students how to punctuate direct quotations.

Assignments 2.1 and 2.2 give students the opportunity to punctuate an anecdote and a fable, without having to worry about writing content. For these two assignments, the wording does not have to be changed.

• To teach students how to write direct and indirect dialogue.

Assignments 2.3 and 2.4 give students the opportunity to focus on creating and punctuating dialogue. Because the stories have been given to them, they don’t have to worry about what to write, simply how to write.

Note: There are various ways to create dialogue and still be grammatically correct. The dialogue in your students’ finished fables may not be punctuated exactly like the finished examples given. As long as their punctuation follows the guidelines on how to write dialogue, their way is just as correct.

Note: These assignments are also designed to be somewhat simpler than their future writing assignments. This has been done intentionally to give students the opportunity to become comfortable with typing and formatting their assignments according to MLA guidelines.

Note for Assignment 2.3: The paragraphing (paragraph breaks) for this assignment is complicated. Many students will write this as one single paragraph. Because we don’t typically write stories with only indirect dialogue, it is actually a fairly difficult assignment. Because of that, it is okay if the students writes the assignment as one single paragraph.

77

ANSWER ASSIGNMENT 2.1

Punctuating Dialogue—Direct Quotations: The anecdote in the textbox below was originally

written with direct quotations, but the punctuation has been omitted. Rewrite the anecdote and add

any punctuation that is needed.

A certain Scotch family cherishes this anecdote of a trip which Dr. Samuel Johnson made to

Scotland. He had stopped at the house of this family for a meal, and was helped to the national dish.

During the meal the hostess asked, "Dr. Johnson, what do you think of our Scotch broth?"

"Madam," was the answer, "in my opinion it is fit only for pigs."

"Then have some more," said the woman.

A certain Scotch family cherishes this anecdote of a trip which Dr. Samuel Johnson made

to Scotland. He had stopped at the house of this family for a meal, and was helped to the national

dish. During the meal the hostess asked Dr. Johnson, what do you think of our Scotch broth

Madam was the answer in my opinion it is fit only for pigs

Then have some more said the woman.

78

MLA Format

In the next assignment you will rewrite another fable, but this time your fable must be typed

and placed in MLA format.

MLA is an acronym that stands for Modern Language Association. Many organizations, for

educational and commercial use, follow the MLA guidelines of documenting a paper.

Below you will find some of the basic guidelines for placing your writing assignments in proper

MLA format.

MLA Format:

1. Type your paper, double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font on regular white

paper.

2. On the upper left-hand side of your paper, type (double-spaced):

Your Name

Your Instructor’s Name

Subject or Class Name

The Date (day, month, year)

3. The date is written: day, month, and year. Example: 12 September 2017

4. The title of your paper should be centered, in the same font—12-point Times New

Roman. Do not bold it, italicize, underline, or place in all caps.

5. In the upper right margin of the paper, type your last name and the page number. Begin

this on page 1.

6. Make sure that your document contains 1” margins.

7. When you indent your paragraphs, indent .5 inches from the left margin.

The guidelines of MLA formatting may seem a little foreign and maybe even intimidating,

but don’t worry. For now, you are to focus on formatting your paper properly.

79

When formatted properly, the heading of your paper should look like the following:

MLA Format Example

Note: Writing a paper in MLA format is more involved than simply organizing the

appearance of your paper, but that is the first step. From now on, all writing assignments in this

workbook will be typed and placed in MLA format.

Later, you will learn more about MLA format—quoting from other sources, giving proper

attribution for quotes, and creating a Works Cited pages.

For a more complete guide to MLA format, you will need to purchase a handbook such as

this one: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition). There are pocket guides

available as well.

ASSIGNMENT 2.2

Punctuating Dialogue—Direct Quotations: On the following page, the sentences in the fable,

“The Cat, the Monkey, and the Chestnuts,” contain direct quotes, but the punctuation has been

omitted. Type the fable in MLA format, create a new title, and add quotation marks,

commas, or any additional punctuation that is needed.

Your Last Name 1

Your First Name and Last Name

Your Instructor’s Name

Subject or Class Name

5 January 2025

Title of Essay Centered

The margins of your paper should be 1 inch on all sides. The first line of

every paragraph should be indented ½ inch. Remember to include your name,

your teacher’s name, the class or subject name, and the date in the header of the

first page.

80

To place your fable in MLA format, follow the guidelines given on page 78. Make sure you

have the proper page numbering and the proper heading on the front page. When you are finished,

compare your typed fable to the snippet view on page 79. They should look very similar.

Also, to create a title for your fable, you want to choose words that hint at the content. Since

the fable is originally titled “The Cat, the Monkey, and the Chestnuts,” you may want to reference

the lesson taught or a phrase from the story. Your title might look like one of the following:

Tricking the Cat When to Say No

Falling for Flattery A Pair of Burnt Paws

The Greedy Monkey and the Gullible Cat Don’t Be Gullible

Some of the titles above are about the animals. Others are about the moral. All, however, hint

at what the story is about.

Try to create your own title, or for now, use one of the titles above. Make sure it is properly

centered.

THE CAT, THE MONKEY, AND THE CHESTNUTS

A cat was purring softly before an open fire where some chestnuts were roasting. A monkey

who was hungrily eyeing the chestnuts said to the cat. Do you think you could pull a chestnut

out of the fire? Your paws seem to be made for that.

The cat was flattered, and cleverly drew out one that had just burst.

How do you manage to do it said the monkey it seems wonderful to me. Can you reach that

big one?

Yes here it is but I have singed my paw a little.

Oh, but what is that when you are making yourself so useful replied the monkey

One after the other the cat pulled the chestnuts out of the fire, and then found that the sly

monkey had eaten them all. The poor cat had no reward except a pair of burnt paws.

81

EXAMPLE STUDENT ASSIGNMENT

THE CAT, THE MONKEY, AND THE CHESTNUTS

A cat was purring softly before an open fire where some chestnuts were roasting. A monkey

who was hungrily eyeing the chestnuts said to the cat, “Do you think you could pull a chestnut out

of the fire? Your paws seem to be made for that."

The cat was flattered, and cleverly drew out one that had just burst.

"How do you manage to do it?" said the monkey; "it seems wonderful to me. Can you reach

that big one?"

"Yes, here it is, but I have singed my paw a little."

"Oh, but what is that when you are making yourself so useful?" replied the monkey.

One after the other the cat pulled the chestnuts out of the fire, and then found that the sly

monkey had eaten them all. The poor cat had no reward except a pair of burnt paws.

The student’s paper should be in MLA format, and it should look like the snippet view

on page 79.

82

From Direct to Indirect Dialogue

So far you have practiced writing direct dialogue, but as you are aware, sometimes we don’t

want to repeat the exact words that someone says. Instead, our goal may be to communicate the

meaning of the words without using the exact words the person spoke. For those situations, we use

indirect dialogue.

Direct Dialogue: The child said, “I am always playing.”

Indirect Dialogue: The child said that he was always playing.

In the example above, the direct dialogue is changed to indirect dialogue by:

1) changing the first person (I) to the third person (he).

2) changing the present tense of the verb (am playing) to the past tense (was playing).

Read the following examples:

Direct Dialogue: “Paint me as I am,” said Cromwell, “with all my scars,

wrinkles, and warts, or I will not pay you a shilling.”

Indirect Dialogue: Cromwell said that the painter should paint him as he was,

with all his scars, warts, and wrinkles, or he would not pay him

even a shilling for his picture.

Direct Dialogue: “Have you heard the wonderful news?” cried the Fox

in a very joyful and excited manner.

Indirect Dialogue: In a very joyful and excited manner, the Fox asked the Rooster

if he had heard the wonderful news.

The last example is taken from Assignment 2.3. For that assignment, you will convert the

direct dialogue to indirect dialogue.

83

ASSIGNMENT 2.3

From Direct to Indirect Dialogue: Read “The Rooster and the Fox” below. When you are

finished, rewrite the fable replacing the direct dialogue with indirect dialogue. For an example, see

page 82.

THE ROOSTER AND THE FOX

One bright evening as the sun was sinking on a glorious world, a wise old Rooster flew

into a tree to roost. Before he composed himself to rest, he flapped his wings three times and

crowed loudly. But just as he was about to put his head under his wing, his beady eyes caught a

flash of red and a glimpse of a long pointed nose, and there just below him stood Master Fox.

“Have you heard the wonderful news?” cried the Fox in a very joyful and excited manner.

“What news?” asked the Rooster very calmly. But he had a queer, fluttery feeling inside

him, for, you know, he was very much afraid of the Fox.

“Your family and mine and all other animals have agreed to forget their differences and

live in peace and friendship from now on forever. Just think of it! I simply cannot wait to

embrace you! Do come down, dear friend, and let us celebrate the joyful event.”

“How grand!” said the Rooster. “I certainly am delighted at the news.” But he spoke in an

absent way, and stretching up on tiptoes, seemed to be looking at something afar off. “What is it you see?” asked the Fox a little anxiously.

“Why, it looks to me like a couple of Dogs coming this way. They must have heard the

good news and—”

But the Fox did not wait to hear more. Off he started on a run.

“Wait,” cried the Rooster. “Why do you run? The Dogs are friends of yours now!”

“Yes,” answered the Fox. “But they might not have heard the news. Besides, I have a very

important errand that I had almost forgotten about.”

The Rooster smiled proudly, for he had succeeded in outwitting a very crafty enemy.

The trickster is easily tricked.

84

Example Student Assignment

THE ROOSTER AND THE FOX

One bright evening as the sun was sinking on a glorious world a wise old Rooster flew into

a tree to roost. Before he composed himself to rest, he flapped his wings three times and crowed

loudly. But just as he was about to put his head under his wing, his beady eyes caught a flash of red

and a glimpse of a long pointed nose, and there just below him stood Master Fox.

Master Fox asked the wise old Rooster if he had heard the news. The Rooster said he had

not, but had a queer, fluttery feeling inside him, for, you know, he was very much afraid of the Fox.

The Fox told him that all the animals had agreed to forget their differences and live in peace

and friendship from then on. The Rooster told the Fox that he was delighted at the news, but said

so in an absent way and stretched up on his tiptoes, and seemed to be looking at something afar off.

The Fox asked the Rooster was he saw, and the Rooster said that it looked like a couple of Dogs

coming and that they must have heard the good news. The Fox immediately started off in a run.

The Rooster called to the Fox and asked him why he ran from the Dogs if they were all

friends. But the Fox yelled back that they might not have heard the news and that he had an

important errand that he had almost forgotten about.

The Rooster smiled proudly, for he had succeeded in out witting a very crafty

enemy.

The trickster is easily tricked.

The student’s paper should be in MLA format.

85

From Indirect to Direct Dialogue

Sometimes, when writing narratives or biographies, we want to move from indirect to direct

dialogue.

Indirect dialogue tells, but direct dialogue shows what is happening. When writing, we

typically try to show rather than tell, thereby making our writing come alive for our readers.

Example:

Indirect Dialogue: The child said that he was always playing.

Direct Dialogue: The child said, “I am playing.”

Indirect Dialogue: The Fox invited the Stork to dine with him.

Direct Dialogue: The Fox smiled warmly, saying, “Mr. Stork, would you so

kindly dine with me for dinner?”

The last example is taken from Assignment 2.4. For that assignment, you will convert the

indirect dialogue to direct dialogue.

86

ASSIGNMENT 2.4 From Indirect to Direct Dialogue: Read “The Fox and the Stork” below. When you are finished,

rewrite the fable replacing the indirect dialogue with direct dialogue. See the last example on page

85. Type up your fable and place it in MLA format.

THE FOX AND THE STORK

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose

odd appearance he was always laughing.

So the Fox invited the Stork to dine with him. As he did, he laughed to himself at the trick

he was going to play. The Stork gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and

with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork

could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped

it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered

fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage. Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to

dine with him in turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork

served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very

narrow neck. The Stork could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do

was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his

temper, the Stork said calmly:

Do not play tricks on your neighbors

unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.

87


THE FOX AND THE STORK

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose

odd appearance he was always laughing.

So the Fox asked the Stork, “Would you care to come dine with me today?” laughing to

himself as he did at the trick he was going to play.

“Gladly,” replied the Stork, and arrived in good time with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork

could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up

easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but was a calm, even-tempered fellow

and saw no good in flying into a rage.

Not long afterward, the Stork asked the Fox, “Would you like to come dine with me later in

the day?”

“Absolutely,” answered the Fox.

The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork served a fish dinner

that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork

could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick the outside of the

jar, and sniff at the delicious odor.

And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly, “Do not play tricks on your

neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.”

Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.

THE STUDENT’S PAPER SHOULD BE IN MLA FORMAT.

88

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 2.5A, 2.5B, AND 2.5C

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To give students practice in writing narratives that show rather than tell.

Showing versus telling is sometimes difficult for students to grasp. To better understand the difference, students need to practice writing narratives that show rather than tell. By expanding a narrative and adding more detail, students are doing just that.

• To give students greater understanding of the writing process.

Not every student is a creative writer; nor should they be. All students, however, need to be familiar with the writing process. For adults and students who find writing easy, they may not realize that much of determining what to write involves asking oneself questions about what to include or exclude in a story. Writing is answering unasked questions.

In these exercises, the questions have been asked for the students. As students become more mature writers, they need to be able to ask the right questions on their own.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: OLDER STUDENTS: Older students may benefit from an exercise that requires them to ask questions that will expand the story. To do this, use any of the stories from Assignments 1.10, beginning on page 41. Have the student write a list of questions that can be asked about the details of the story. (This exercise is beneficial because any written work requires that the author discuss with himself what he will or will not include in the paper. Often times, this process is instinctive to many, so much so that they aren’t even aware that they’re having this internal dialogue.)

OLDER AND YOUNGER STUDENTS: Extra Paragraphing Examples: For most people, placing paragraph breaks seems to come intuitively, but for many it is confusing and seems like a random process. If your student should need help determining where to place paragraph breaks, use the additional paragraphing assignments located on page 203 and page 205 of the appendix located in the Teacher’s Edition.

89

EXPANDING A FABLE

Read “The Hare and the Tortoise” below. When you are done, turn to the following page and read

“The True Story of the Hare and the Tortoise.” You will see that the second is an expanded version

of the first. It contains more details, descriptions, explanations, and dialogue. It also contains a

creative ending.

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.

“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.

“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and

prove it.”

The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun

of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and

started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how

ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap

until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place

where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did

wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not

overtake the Tortoise in time.

Slow and steady wins the race.

90

THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

For a long time there was doubt with acrimony among the beasts as to whether the Hare or

the Tortoise could run the swifter. Some said the Hare was the swifter of the two because he had

such long ears, and others said the Tortoise was the swifter because anyone whose shell was so

hard as that should be able to run hard too. And lo, the forces of estrangement and disorder

perpetually postponed a decisive contest.

But when there was nearly war among the beasts, at last an arrangement was come to, and

it was decided that the Hare and the Tortoise should run a race of five hundred yards so that all

should see who was right. “Ridiculous nonsense!” said the Hare, and it was all his backers could do to get him to run.

“The contest is most welcome to me,” said the Tortoise, “I shall not shirk it.”

O, how his backers cheered. Feeling ran high on the day of the race; the goose rushed at the

fox and nearly pecked him. Both sides spoke loudly of the approaching victory up to the very

moment of the race.

“I am absolutely confident of success,” said the Tortoise.

But the Hare said nothing, he looked bored and cross. Some of his supporters deserted him

then and went to the other side, who were loudly cheering the Tortoise’s inspiriting words. But

many remained with the Hare.

“We shall not be disappointed in him,” they said.

“A beast with such long ears is bound to win.”

“Run hard,” said the supporters of the Tortoise.

And “run hard” became a kind of catch-phrase which everybody repeated to one another.

“Hard shell and hard living. That’s what the country wants. Run hard,” they said. And these

words were never uttered but multitudes cheered from their hearts.

Then they were off, and suddenly there was a hush.

The Hare dashed off for about a hundred yards; then he looked round to see where his rival

was.

“It is rather absurd,” he said, “to race with a Tortoise.” And he sat down and scratched

himself.

“Run hard! Run hard!” shouted some.

“Let him rest,” shouted others. And “let him rest” became a catch-phrase too. And after a while his rival drew near to him.

“There comes that blasted Tortoise,” said the Hare, and he got up and ran as hard as could

be so that he should not let the Tortoise beat him.

“Those ears will win,” said his friends. “Those ears will win; and establish upon an

91

NOTE: If your student asks about the use of conjunctions at the beginning of the sentences in this expanded fable above, inform him that this was written at a time when conjunctions at the

beginning of a sentence were more commonly accepted.

ASSIGNMENT 2.5A

Expanding a Fable: Proceed to the next page. Read the fable and answer the brainstorming

questions that follow.

incontestable footing the truth of what we have said.”

And some of them turned to the backers of the Tortoise and said: “What about your beast

now?”

“Run hard,” they replied. “Run hard.” The Hare ran on for nearly three hundred yards, nearly in fact as far as the winning-post,

when it suddenly struck him what a fool he looked running races with a Tortoise who was

nowhere in sight, and he sat down again and scratched.

“Run hard. Run hard,” said the crowd, and “Let him rest.”

“Whatever is the use of it?” said the Hare, and this time he stopped for good. Some say he

slept.

There was desperate excitement for an hour or two, and then the Tortoise won.

“Run hard. Run hard,” shouted his backers.

“Hard shell and hard living: that’s what has done it.” And then they asked the Tortoise what

his achievement signified, and he went and asked the Turtle.

And the Turtle said, “It is a glorious victory for the forces of swiftness.”

And then the Tortoise repeated it to his friends. And all the beasts said nothing else for

years. And even to this day, “a glorious victory for the forces of swiftness” is a catch-phrase in

the house of the snail.

And the reason that this version of the race is not widely known is that very few of those

that witnessed it survived the great forest-fire that happened shortly after. It came up over the

weald by night with a great wind. The Hare and the Tortoise and a very few of the beasts saw it

far off from a high bare hill that was at the edge of the trees, and they hurriedly called a meeting

to decide what messenger they should send to warn the beasts in the forest.

They sent the Tortoise.

92

THE CAT, THE ROOSTER, AND THE YOUNG MOUSE

A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the

very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures.

“I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I

saw two strange creatures. One of them had a very kind and gracious look, but the other was the

most fearful monster you can imagine. You should have seen him.

“On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat. He walked about

restlessly, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms savagely against his sides.

The moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then

he let out a piercing roar that frightened me almost to death.”

Can you guess who it was that our young Mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It

was nobody but the Barnyard Rooster and the first one the little Mouse had ever seen.

“If it had not been for that terrible monster,” the Mouse went on, “I should have made the

acquaintance of the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a

meek face, and a look that was very modest, though his eyes were bright and shining. As he

looked at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled. “I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out

a screaming yell, and I ran for my life.”

“My son,” said the Mother Mouse, “that gentle creature you saw was none other than the

Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was

nothing but a bird who wouldn’t harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful,

my child, that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their

looks.”

Do not trust alone to outward appearances.

93

Answer the following questions to brainstorm ideas for your expanded fable.

TO SEE A STUDENT EXAMPLE OF THIS PROCESS, TURN TO PAGE 120. 1. What does the next yard look like? What is in it? ________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

2. If you choose to make the two creatures speak to the young Mouse, what do you think the Cat

says?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you think the Barnyard Rooster says?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

4. In your version, will the Bird succeed in scaring away the mouse? If so, what does the Cat do? Is

he content to leave the young Mouse and Mother Mouse alone?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

94

________________________________________________________________________________

5. If the Cat does hunt the Mouse family, how does he hunt them? Does he speak?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

6. What happens to the young Mouse and the Mother Mouse?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

7. What happens to the Barnyard Rooster and the Cat?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

ASSIGNMENT 2.5B Weaving in Words: Based upon your interpretation of the short story, generate descriptive

adjectives for the list of nouns taken from the fable.

Ex. _____hyperactive________ lad

95

1. ___________________________ Mouse

2. ___________________________ Mother Mouse

3. ___________________________ Cat

4. ___________________________ yard

5. ___________________________ bird

For the nouns below, add a predicate to finish the sentence. Once you have written your

sentence, rewrite it as an introductory word, phrase, or clause. Create four different sentence

openers. (Review openers on page 40.)

Ex. The Mouse wanted to explore the barnyard without his mother.

To explore the barnyard without his mother,

6. The Mouse ____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. The Barnyard Rooster ____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

8. The Cat _______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

As you expand the fable, remember to weave in the descriptive words and introductory

words, phrases, and clauses you generated. Remember to use strong verbs that amplify.

Note: When you add a dependent clause to a sentence, place a comma after the clause.

96

ASSIGNMENT 2.5C Writing Your Expanded Fable: Using the answers to the brainstorming questions, rewrite the

fable with more details, description, and dialogue. Place your expanded fable in MLA Format.

To review MLA format, follow the guidelines given on page 78. Make sure you have the

proper page numbering and the proper heading on the front page. If you haven’t already done so,

create a new title for your fable.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with where to place paragraph breaks in your fable, read the

following page on paragraphing before you write your expanded fable.

97


The Cat, the Rooster, and the Young Mouse

A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the very

first time he ventured out. And this is the thrilling tale he told his mother about his adventures.

“Well after the awkward encounter with Aunt June at the Cheese Factory, I decided to go out

for a stroll. I was ambling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next

block, I saw strange creatures. One of them had very large green eyes and an orange and white

striped tale. A little tinkling bell hung around its neck. He looked kind and smiled a friendly, sort of

knowing smile at me. But the other was the most terrifying monster you can imagine. You should

have seen him.

“On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat the size of the barn door.

He strutted and tramped about restlessly, destroying the ground with his claws, and beating his

arms (which bent at odd angles) savagely against his sides. The moment his black, beady, evil eyes

caught sight of me, he opened his pointed mouth as if to gulp me down whole, and then he let out a

blood-curdling roar that

nearly gave me an arrhythmia!”

Can you guess who it was that our young mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It was

nobody but the Barnyard Rooster and the first one the mouse had ever seen.

“If it had not been for that horrid monster,” the Mouse went on, “I wouldn’t have gotten to meet

the pretty creature, who looked so sweet and good. She had short, thick, velvety fur, calm face, and

a look that was very humble. Even though she continued to smile and wave her tail at me, there was

something about those dark green, hypnotic eyes that gave me the feeling that she was keeping

some big

secret.”

98

“I am quite positive she was just about to tell me the secret when the monster I have told you

about let out that same migraine inducing yodel, and I took off running for the wheat fields. As I

ran away I heard noises that sounded like howling, but I was too afraid to turn around and see what

was happening.”

“My curious, naïve son,” said Linda, the Mother Mouse, “that gentle creature you thought so

kind and charming was none other than the dreaded Cat. She may look sweet and gentle, but in her

heart she is dark and evil. The other was nothing but a bird who wouldn’t harm you in the least. As

for that awful Cat, she eats us. So be extremely grateful, my dear one, that you escaped with your

life, and, as long as you live never forget to never judge people by their looks.”

99


The Cat, the Rooster, and the Young Mouse

A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the

very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures.

“I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I

saw two strange creatures. One of them had a very kind and gracious look, but the other was the

most fearful monster you can imagine. You should have seen him.

“On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat. He walked about

restlessly, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms savagely against his sides. The

moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then he let out

a piercing roar that frightened me almost to death.”

Can you guess who it was that our young Mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It

was nobody but the Barnyard Rooster and it was the first one the little Mouse had ever seen.

“If it had not been for that terrible monster,” the Mouse went on, “I should have made the

acquaintance of the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a

meek face, and a look that was very modest, though his eyes were bright and shining. As he looked

at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled.

“I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out a

screaming yell, and I ran for my life.”

“My son,” said the Mother Mouse, “that gentle creature you saw was none other than the

Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was nothing

but a bird who wouldn’t harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful, my child,

that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their looks.”

100

The next day, the young Mouse went back to where he saw the Rooster and Cat. As he was

walking he saw a menacing creature with big, floppy ears, a long nose, and a tail that swayed back

and forth.

“Hello!” said the Mouse, taking his mother’s advice about outward appearances.

The creature started to growl, then looked in the Mouse’s direction, and killed him.

101

Paragraphing

When writing fiction, paragraph breaks help the reader to follow the story more easily.

When there is a paragraph break, the reader knows that a change of topic is occurring.

When you are writing fiction a good paragraphing rule is the following:

Each time the who, what, when, where, why, or how of the story changes, begin a new

paragraph.

Consider the following story:

Paragraph 1: King and his men march until they camp focus on the king

(There is a change in the who.)

Paragraph 2: Monkey steals peas from the horses focus on how monkey steals peas

(There is a change in the what.)

Paragraph 3: Monkey loses all of the peas . focus on monkey losing peas

(There is a change in the who.)

Paragraph 4: King learned from watching monkey focus on king watching monkey

(There is a change in the what.)

Paragraph 5: King returns home focus on king marches home

The Penny-Wise Monkey Retold by Ellen C. Babbitt

Once upon a time the king of a large and rich country gathered together his army to take a faraway little country. The king and his soldiers marched all morning long and then went into camp in the forest.

When they fed the horses, they gave them some peas to eat. One of the Monkeys living in the forest saw the peas and jumped down to get some of them. He filled his mouth and hands with them, and up into the tree he went again, and sat down to eat the peas.

As he sat there eating the peas, one pea fell from his hand to the ground. At once, the greedy Monkey dropped all the peas he had in his hands and ran down to hunt for the lost pea. But he could not find that one pea. He climbed up into his tree again and sat still looking very glum. “To get more, I threw away what I had,” he said to himself.

The king had watched the Monkey, and he said to himself, “I will not be like this foolish Monkey, who lost much to gain a little. I will go back to my own country and enjoy what I now have.”

So he and his men marched back home.

102

CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING POINT OF VIEW

Stories may be told from two points of view, the internal and the external. If the story is

narrated (told) from an internal point of view, it’s told by one of the characters. If it is narrated

from an external point of view, it is told by someone that is not a part of the story.

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW OF A MAJOR CHARACTER First of all, a story may be told from an internal point of view by the main character. This

point of view is especially important in stories in which the action is the main focus. When someone

does something amazing or unbelievable, we want to learn about it from the person who did it. This

point of view is also useful in communicating emotions. Consider the following paragraph from

“Kidnapped” (Chapter X):

Now, consider the following version, rewritten so that the pronoun “he” replaces the

pronoun “I.”

Notice how much is lost in the second version. The character seems more distant, and the

reader must observe the story from a distance.

“I do not know if I was what you call afraid; but my heart beat like a bird’s, both quick and

little; and there was a dimness came before my eyes which I continually rubbed away, and which

continually returned. As for hope, I had none; but only a darkness of despair and a sort of anger

against all the world that made me long to sell my life as dear as I was able. I tried to pray, I remember, but that same hurry of my mind, like a man running, would not suffer me to think

upon the words; and my chief wish was to have the thing begin and be done with it.”

“He was hardly what is called afraid; but his heart beat like a bird's, both quick and little;

and there was a dimness came before his eyes which he continually rubbed away, and which

continually returned. As for hope, he had none; but only a darkness of despair and a sort of anger

against all the world that made him long to sell his life as dear as he was able. He tried to pray,

he remembers, but that same hurry of his mind, like a man running, would not suffer him to

think upon the words; and his chief wish was to have the thing begin and be done with it.”

103

A Limitation of the First Person Point of View

Although the first person point of view can increase the intensity of the story, the first person

point of view prevents the main character from examining the emotions and thoughts of the other

characters. The hero can only tell us what the other characters said and did, how they looked when

moving or speaking, and what they seemed, from his opinion, to think and feel.

But the first person narrator cannot enter the minds of the other characters. Nor can the first

person narrator examine their motives. Furthermore, the first person narrator cannot describe

himself nor see himself the way other characters see him.

The reader has to grow to know the main character from the things he does, and says, and from

the way he speaks and acts.

One advantage of telling the story in first person through the hero is that his presence as the

central figure in every scene gives the story unity, but one main disadvantage is that it is often

difficult to place the hero in every scene.

The hero cannot see events happening at the same time in different places, and it is hard to

explain how he knows about events he did not experience or witness.

The First Person Point of View of Some Minor Character

Many of the disadvantages of the first person point of view may be overcome by telling the

story from the point of view of a minor character rather than the hero. In this case, the minor

character can describe the hero directly, through description and exposition. (Exposition explains

and gives important background information to the reader.)

When the hero of a story is an extraordinary person with extraordinary abilities, he cannot

comment about his special abilities without sounding arrogant. Because of that, it is often

advantageous to tell the story from the point of view of an admiring friend. For example, Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle invented Dr. Watson to tell the tales of Sherlock Holmes and his extraordinary

powers of observation and deduction.

104


LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach students to recognize 1st person and 3rd person narratives.

• To teach students to write in 1st person and 3rd person narratives

• To familiarize students with the effects of narratives written in the 1st and 3rd person.

Narratives are typically told from an external or internal perspective. If the character is telling his view of events, the story is told from the 1st person. When stories are told in the first person, the intensity of the story is increased because the reader is learning of the details and experiencing them through the character that is experiencing them. The limitation is that, typically, 1st person narrators are only able to relay information that the character knows.

Narratives told in the 3rd person distance the reader from the details of the story; however, these types of stories tend to also give the reader more information because the narrator isn’t limited to relaying information that only one character knows.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: YOUNGER SUDENTS: If your student needs more help distinguishing between first person and third person stories, practice identifying which point of view his literature stories are told in. (Most children’s books are told in the first person as the main characters tell their own stories.)

OLDER STUDENTS: For older students, have the student take a paragraph or two from one of his literature books and rewrite it from another point of view. If the story is told in first person, have him rewrite it in the third person limited. If the story is told in the third person, have the student rewrite the story in the first person.

For both optional assignments, these extension assignments may be more enjoyable to the student if he is allowed to pick which story or paragraph to rewrite.

105

ASSIGNMENT 3.1

Writing from a Different Point of View: Using the first person point of view, rewrite the fable

“The Farmer and His Sons.” To tell the story, you must write from the perspective of one of the

sons. Examine your story carefully to determine whether or not you have introduced any incidents

that do not belong. Place your rewrite in MLA format, and give it a new title. Review page 78 if

needed.

Note: If you were to rewrite the story from the father’s point of view, the story would end after the second paragraph.

Original 3rd person: A rich old farmer, who felt that he had not many more days to live,

called his sons to his bedside.

Rewritten in First Person My rich old father, who felt that he had not many more days to

live, called me and my brother to his bedside.

THE FARMER AND HIS SONS

A rich old farmer, who felt that he had not many more days to live, called his sons to his

bedside.

“My sons,” he said, “heed what I have to say to you. Do not on any account part with the

estate that has belonged to our family for so many generations. Somewhere on it is hidden a rich

treasure. I do not know the exact spot, but it is there, and you will surely find it. Spare no

energy and leave no spot unturned in your search.”

The father died, and no sooner was he in his grave than the sons set to work digging with

all their might, turning up every foot of ground with their spades, and going over the whole

farm two or three times.

No hidden gold did they find. At harvest time, however, when they had settled their

accounts and had pocketed a rich profit far greater than that of any of their neighbors, they

understood that the treasure their father had told them about was the wealth of a bountiful crop

and that in their industry had they found the treasure.

Industry is itself a treasure.

106


The Farmer and His Sons

My Pa was always one to pull pranks, especially if it would help me and my brothers learn. He

was a rich man, but I believe that working the land kept him humble and kind, which are traits that

I have strived to have in my own life. My Pa lived a very long life, but after eighty-five years of

living he began to feel that his days were being numbered, so he called me and my two older

brothers, Jim and Mack, to his bedside.

“Boys,” he said with a slight cough, “after I’m gone do not sell this land. As you know this estate

has belonged to our family for five generations, and I would like it to stay for at least another five

generations.

“Because,” he gestured for us to lean in conspiratorially, and with a lowered voice said

“somewhere hidden on this farm is treasure. I don’t know the exact spot, but it is here, and I have

faith that the tree of you will find it. Spare no energy and leave no spot unturned in your search.”

Two weeks later my Pa died. My brothers, my uncle and I were the pall bearers which my

mother said was an honor. A few days after the funeral my eldest brother, Jim, told me and Mack to

go and get our spades.

“What for?” asked Mack lazily. He never was one for heavy work.

“We’re gonna find that treasure that Pa was telling us about.”

Well at hearing that we both jumped up, grabbed our shovels, and headed out to the fields. We

dug and dug, leaving no spot unturned just like Pa told us. We started digging in early spring and

didn’t stop till Christmas, going over the whole farm four times. We never found the gold, but at

harvest time once we had figured out our accounts, we found that we had tripled the value of the

farm!

107

I understood that the treasure Pa had told us about was the wealth of a bountiful crop and that

in our hard work and determination, we found the treasure.

Industry is itself a treasure.

108

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

To avoid some of the limitations associated with writing in the first person, some authors

write in the third person. Stories written in the third person refer to all of the characters via third

person pronouns—he, she, they. There is more than one way to write in the third person; we will

look at two of them.

Third Person Omniscient In the third person omniscient point of view, the narrator is separate from all the characters

and knows everything that happens in the world of the story. The story, in this case, is told by a

narrator who knows the past, the present, and the future. The third person narrator also sees into

the minds and hearts of all the characters at the same time, and the narrator understands the

characters better than the characters understand themselves.

The main advantage of writing in the third person is that the narrator never has to explain

his knowledge of details. He can observe events which happen at the same time but in different

places. The narrator can even see in the dark and in locked, closed rooms. He can even be with a

character when that character is totally alone.

Third Person Limited

To successfully write in the third person, it is usually wiser to limit the narrator’s

knowledge. So while keeping the option to enter the mind of any character, the writer limits his

point of view to only one character.

Imagine for a moment two rooms with a locked door between them. Pretend there is a

character in each room, and the characters, although they cannot see each other, are thinking about

each other. Now an author writing in the third person omniscient point of view could tell us what

both of them are thinking at the same time; however, an author telling the story from the third

person limited point of view will only tell us what one of them is thinking.

One of the greatest benefits to using the third person limited point of view is that it imitates

real life. In our daily life, we see the world from one limited point of view—our own.

The example on the following page, taken from The Old Man and the Sea, is written in

third person limited point of view. The bolded section shows how the narrator tells about the

character’s deepest thoughts.

109

In the third person limited point of view above, we are able to hear the old man’s thoughts

even though the other characters cannot.

“…though he was quite sure no local people would steal from him, the old man thought that

a gaff and a harpoon were needless temptations to leave in a boat.”

The boy walking with the old man sees that he is removing his gaff and harpoon, but the

boy doesn’t know why the old man is removing them. The boy doesn’t know that the old man

doesn’t want to tempt anyone by leaving those items in the boat.

Because this novel is in third person limited, we as readers are told about the old man’s

thoughts and motives.

Also because this is written in the third person, the author uses third person pronouns such

as he, him, his, she, her, hers; however, when a character is speaking within direct quotes, he may

use first person pronouns such as: I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours.

“I am a strange old man.”

“But are you strong enough now for a truly big fish?”

“I think so. And there are many tricks.”

“Let us take the stuff home,” the boy said. “So I can get the cast net and go after the

sardines.”

They picked up the gear from the boat. The old man carried the mast on his shoulder and

the boy carried the wooden boat with the coiled, hard-braided brown lines, the gaff and the

harpoon with its shaft. The box with the baits was under the stern of the skiff along with the

club that was used to subdue the big fish when they were brought alongside. No one would steal

from the old man but it was better to take the sail and the heavy lines home as the dew was bad

for them and, though he was quite sure no local people would steal from him, the old man

thought that a gaff and a harpoon were needless temptations to leave in a boat.

from The Old Man and the Sea

110

ASSIGNMENT 3.2A

Writing in the Third Person Limited: The fable below is written in the third person limited point

of view. In this assignment you are to expand the fable while maintaining the point of view of the

man on the ground.

Read the fable and answer the brainstorming questions that follow.

1. What do the two men look like? Describe them.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

TWO TRAVELERS AND A BEAR

Two men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at once, a huge bear

crashed out of the brush near them.

One of the men climbed a tree.

The other, unable to fight the savage beast alone, threw himself on the ground and lay

still, as if he were dead. He had heard that a bear would not touch a dead body.

It must have been true, for the bear sniffed at the man's head awhile, and then, seeming to be

satisfied that he was dead, walked away.

With the bear gone, the man in the tree climbed down and joined his companion.

“It looked as if that bear whispered in your ear,” he said. “What did he tell you?”

“He said,” answered the other, “that it was not at all wise to keep company with a fellow

who would desert his friend in a moment of danger.”

Misfortune is the test of true friendship.

111

2. What does the bear look like? Describe it.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

3. What does the ground smell like to the man on the ground? Can he feel the dirt on his skin? Or

is he lying in itchy grass?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

4. As the bear sniffs the man, does he make noises? Does he touch the man on the ground with his

nose? If so, where does his nose touch the man?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

112

5. For the man that lies on the ground, what are his thoughts and feelings as the bear hovers above

him? Is his heart racing? Does his heart pound in his ears? Does he hold his breath?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

6. For the man on the ground, are his eyes closed? What sounds can he hear? What smells?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. In your version, does the bear simply walk away? If not, what does he do? Where does he go?

Since you are writing from the limited point of view of the man on the ground, he may not be able

to see the bear walking away.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

113

11. What do the two men do after the bear leaves? How does the man on the ground feel toward his

friend? How do they behave? Does one man angrily point his finger at the other? Do any of the

men dust off their clothes?

Remember not to include the thoughts and feelings of the bear nor of the man in the tree.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

114

ASSIGNMENT 3.2B

Weaving in Words: Based upon your interpretation of the short story, generate descriptive

adjectives for the list of nouns taken from the paragraph.

Ex. _____scraggly old________ bear

1. _____________________________ bear

2. _____________________________ man (tree)

3. _____________________________ man (ground)

4. _____________________________ ground

5. _____________________________ forest

Below is a list of sentences (and possible sentence openers) about the bear.

The bear lumbered about slowly. Sentence

Slowly, the bear Adverb Sentence Opener

The bear was hungry. Sentence

Hungry, the bear Adjective Sentence Opener

The bear came from the bushes. Sentence

From the bushes, the bear Prepositional Phrase Sentence Opener

The bear sniffed the man’s hair. Sentence

Sniffing the man’s hair, the bear Participial Phrase Sentence Opener

The bear sniffed as mucous dripped from his nostrils. Sentence

As mucous dripped from his nostrils, the bear Dependent Clause Sentence Opener

The bear wanted to see if the man was alive. Sentence

To see if the man was alive, the bear Infinitive Phrase Sentence Opener

115

Directions: Following the example from the previous page, create one sentence opener for each

noun below. Use a different type of sentence opener for each of the three nouns.

6. The bear ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. The man in the tree _____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

8. The man on the ground __________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

ASSIGNMENT 3.2C

Writing Your Expanded Fable: As you write your expanded fable, weave in the words, phrases,

and clauses you have generated. Remember to write in the third person limited and use strong

verbs. To review third person limited, see the excerpt from The Old Man and the Sea on page 110.

Place your assignment in MLA format.

Note: Although you have answered all of the brainstorming questions, you do not have to

use all of this information in your fable. Only include the details that are necessary for you to tell

the story from the third person limited point of view.

Write your expanded fable. As you write, weave in the words, phrases, and clauses you have

generated. Remember to write in the third person limited and use strong verbs. To review third

person limited, see the excerpt from The Old Man and the Sea on page 110. Place your assignment in

MLA format.




NOTE: If your student has difficulty weaving the sentence openers into his assignment, have him create a compound or complex sentence rather than a simple sentence. For instance— To create an adverb sentence opener The bear lumbered about slowly, while he was looking for food.

116

Slowly, the bear lumbered about as he was looking for food. To create an adjective sentence opener The bear was hungry, and he sniffed the man. Hungry, the bear sniffed the man. To create a prepositional phrase sentence opener The bear came from the bushes and startled the men. (has a compound verb) From the bushes, the bear emerged, startling the men. (emerged is better than came.)

117


(COULD BE IMPROVED WITH STRONGER VERBS, ETC.)

Two Travelers and a Bear

Two men were traveling in company through a forest, when all at once a huge bear crashed out

of the brush near them. One of the men ran to the nearest tree, shimmied up the trunk, perched in

the highest branch, and looked down at his companion.

“What is he doing?!” thought the man on the ground. “How could he leave me alone like this? I

just paid for his lunch!”

As the savage bear slowly started coming towards him, the man’s knees began to knock

together because he was shaking so badly.

“This is it,” thought the man. “This is the end for me. Wait a minute! I just read the other week

that if a bear is about to attack you, you should play dead. It sounded like a pretty ridiculous idea at

the time, but I suppose I have no choice!”

Dramatically, the frightened man flopped face down on the ground. The bear lugged his

humongous flesh over to the man’s body. Breathing heavily, the bear whispered sage advice into

the man’s ear. Then seeming to be satisfied that his message had gotten through, walked away.

The man in the tree climbed down. (short sentence)

“It looked as if that bear whispered in your ear.” the tree climber said with a nervous chuckle.

“But I must have been so afraid, that I hallucinated.” (amplifying verb)

“Oh no, you didn’t hallucinate,” said the almost bear lunch very seriously. “He did tell me

something: That it is not wise to keep company with a fellow who would desert his friend in a

moment of danger.”

Misfortune is the test of true friendship.

118

WRITING AN ORIGINAL FABLE

Read the fable below.

In the fable, “The Donkey and the Race Horse,” there are only two paragraphs.

The first paragraph tells that a donkey, trying to outrun a race horse, brags that he is faster

and then loses the race, causing the other animals to laugh at him.

The second paragraph tells us that the donkey tries to excuse his failure by saying something

foolish and false.

ASSIGNMENT 3.3A

Writing an Original Fable: Imitating the fable in the textbox above, write a two-paragraph fable,

also in the third person, about a falcon and a sparrow. In the first paragraph, tell how the sparrow

boasted and lost. In the second paragraph, tell how the sparrow tried to cover his defeat with a lie

or a foolish comment such as:

“I fell out of the nest when I was a baby bird and hurt my wing.”

“I lost some feathers from my right wing and could not fly straight.”

“The sun was shining in my eyes, and I could not see the goal.”

Place your fable in MLA format, and give it a title. Review MLA format on page 78 if

needed.

THE DONKEY AND THE RACE HORSE

A Donkey boasted that he could outrun a horse. The horse consented to run a race with

the foolish beast. Of course the donkey was defeated and loudly laughed at by the other animals.

“I now see what was the matter with me,” he said. “I ran a thorn into my foot some months

ago and it still pains me.”

119


Non-Expanded Fable: The Falcon and the Sparrow

A Sparrow was taunting a Falcon, saying how he was a better hunter than she, and to prove it

he proposed that they have a competition to see who could catch a worm first. The Falcon tried to

dissuade the Sparrow from competing, but the Sparrow was adamant, and eventually, the Falcon

gave in.

All the animals in the forest came by to watch. The birds stood at the starting point and when

the buzzer sounded, the birds took off. A very short while later Falcon returned with a worm in her

mouth, while the Sparrow took a solid hour. The Sparrow tried to explain his loss by saying, “I

sprained my wing a couple of weeks ago, so that’s why I took so long getting back.”

AFTER COMPLETING THIS ASSIGNMENT, STUDENTS MUST REWRITE THEIR ORIGINAL FABLE, EXPANDING IT IN THE SAME MANNER IN WHICH THEY

EXPANDED THE PREVIOUS FABLE.

120

ASSIGNMENT 3.3B

Expanding Your Original Fable: Using the worksheet below, create content to expand your

original fable.

A Student Example For 3.3B

Expanding Your Original Fable: Using the worksheet below, create content to expand your

original fable.

1. What did the Falcon look like? Describe it. Dark caramel brown feathers on its wings, its breast was crème colored with speckled caramel

drops, eyes like black diamonds set into the sun, gold beak tinged with gray.

________________________________________________________________________________

2. What did the Sparrow look like? Describe it.

Tan, brown, black, and speckled feathers that bled together, short, sharp black talons, eyes like

black, bottomless pits.

________________________________________________________________________________

3. Do you know the thoughts and feelings of either animal?

The Sparrow was arrogant and cocky and honestly believed that he would win; in beginning the

Falcon was mildly amused by the Sparrow’s conceitedness, but then became irked by it.

________________________________________________________________________________

4. Describe the environment in which the birds fly.

In a light forest, where the sun beams brightly through the boughs of the trees.

________________________________________________________________________________

121

5. What does the Sparrow feel as he loses? Is he struggling or in pain? What does he see and think?

The Sparrow is astounded and ashamed, but tries to hide it.

________________________________________________________________________________

6. How does the Falcon feel as he wins? Does he pity or laugh at the Sparrow? What does he think?

The Falcon is sympathetic about the situation, but has a look of someone who knows better, since

he knew he would win.

________________________________________________________________________________

7. How do the animals land? Where do they land?

The Falcon glides to the ground gracefully, wings outspread, at the finish line. The Sparrow

tumbles out of the sky at the finish line, flapping his wings and trying to catch his breath.

________________________________________________________________________________

8. What does the Falcon say after his big win?

She doesn’t say anything, just gives the Sparrow a knowing look.

________________________________________________________________________________

9. What does the Sparrow say after his big defeat?

“I sprained my wing a couple of weeks ago, so that’s why I took so long getting back.

________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 3.3C

Weaving in Words: Generate descriptive adjectives for the list of nouns taken from your fable.


1. overconfident sparrow

2. levelheaded Falcon

122

3. feathery wing

4. landslide competition

5. bright sky

For the nouns below, compose a sentence that tells about the noun. Once you have written your

sentence, rewrite it as an introductory phrase.

Ex. Henry was oblivious to the dangers around him

Oblivious to the dangers around him,

6. The Sparrow

The overconfident Sparrow truly believed that he could beat the Falcon who was three times his

size.

Truly believing that he could beat the Falcon,

7. The Falcon

The levelheaded Falcon was amused at the Sparrow’s delusion.

Amused at the Sparrow’s delusion,

8. The feathery wing

The feather wing of the Sparrow drooped because the little bird was exhausted.

Because the little bird was exhausted,

ASSIGNMENT 3.3D

Writing Your Expanded Fable: As you expand your original fable, weave in the words and

phrases you have generated and use amplifying strong verbs. Remember to give your fable a new

title and place your paper in MLA format.

123




124

Student Example Expanded Fable

ORIGINAL

The Race

Once upon a time in a forest, there lived a small Sparrow that had brown and black speckled

feathers and short black talons, with deep black eyes to match. He was an overconfident bird,

constantly boasting about how fast he was and how he could outfly any other animal. One day, the

Sparrow happened to bragging about his abilities to a small group of woodland animals. He said

that he could fly faster than any other bird, especially Falcon. At this moment, Falcon, who had

dark caramel brown feathers on her wings and a crème colored breast with caramel flecks, was

flying overhead. She swooped down in front of the small gathering of creatures and listened,

amused at the Sparrow’s cockiness. Seeing that the Falcon was listening to his words, the Sparrow

decided to challenge her to a race to see who could capture a worm first.

At first the levelheaded Falcon rejected the Sparrow’s ridiculous dare, knowing full well that

she would win by a landslide, but the Sparrow adamantly coerced her until she became agitated and

agreed to the race. The beasts picked a starting point where the light came in best and decided that

the two competing birds would fly to Worm-Hole which was where all the worms congregated.

They goal was to fly as fast as they could to Worm-Hole, grab a worm, and then fly back to the

starting line as fast as they could. They stood at the starting line and the Buzzer, another bird who

was older, let out a call to signify the beginning of the race. The Falcon and the Sparrow took off.

The other creatures watched the two birds melt into the sky until they were nothing but two black

dots.

After five minutes or so, the animals saw Falcon coming back. She glided to the ground

gracefully, with strong outstretched wings and a worm wriggling in her beak. The small animals

chirped and cheered at Falcon’s win, then watched the sky to look for Sparrow. About an hour later

125

the crowd saw Sparrow swerving in the sky and practically nosedive for the earth. He tumbled to

the ground, out of breath, heaving, and wormless. Falcon looked at Sparrow with a knowing smile

as Sparrow tried to stutter out an explanation to his loss.

“Well I sprained my wing a few weeks ago so that’s why I took so long getting back. Also, I

just so happened to give Falcon a bit of a head start so there’s also that…”

In this original version, the student has sentences with varied openers, but this was only her first past. An edited version, with strong verbs underlined, and varied openers marked, follows.

126

Student Example Expanded Fable

CORRECTED

The Race

Once upon a time in a forest, there lived a small brown and black speckled Sparrow that had

short black talons and deep black eyes to match. He was an overconfident bird, constantly boasting

about how fast he was and how he could outfly any other animal. One day, the Sparrow happened

to be bragging about his abilities to a small group of woodland animals. He said that he could fly

faster than any other bird, especially Falcon. At this moment, Falcon, who had dark caramel

brown feathers on her wings and a crème colored breast with caramel flecks, was flying overhead.

She swooped down in front of the small gathering of creatures and listened, amused at the

Sparrow’s cockiness. Seeing that the Falcon was listening to his words, the Sparrow decided to

challenge her to a race to see who could capture a worm first.

Amused at the Sparrow’s claim, the levelheaded Falcon rejected the Sparrow’s ridiculous

dare, knowing full well that she would win by a landslide. Truly believing that he could beat

Falcon, Sparrow adamantly coerced her until she became agitated and agreed to the race. The

beasts picked a starting point where the light came in best and decided that the two competing

birds would fly to Worm-Hole which was where all the worms congregated. They goal was to fly

as fast as they could to Worm-Hole, grab a worm, and then fly back to the starting line as fast as

they could. The two birds lined up as Buzzer, another, older bird, let out a call to signify the

beginning of the race. The Falcon and the Sparrow flew off. The other creatures watched the two

birds melt into the sky until they were nothing but two black dots.

After five minutes or so, the animals saw Falcon returning. She glided to the ground

gracefully, with strong outstretched wings and a worm wriggling in her beak. The small animals

chirped and cheered at Falcon’s win. They watched for Sparrow. About an hour later, the crowd

127

saw Sparrow swerving in the sky. Because the little bird was exhausted, he practically nose-

dived straight toward the earth. Out of breath, heaving, and wormless, he tumbled to the ground.

Falcon looked at Sparrow with a knowing smile as Sparrow tried to stutter out an explanation for

his loss.

“Well, I sprained my wing a few weeks ago so that’s why I took so long getting back. Also, I

just so happened to give Falcon a bit of a head start so there’s also that…”

128

CHAPTER 4: UNDERSTANDING NARRATIVES

The purpose of narration is to tell a story, real or fictional. The details of the story are relayed

one after another, and the plot is the main focus.

Every narrative has three elements: characters, action (conflict), and setting. Corresponding to

these three elements are six questions which we can ask.

Characters Who?

Conflict What happened?

How?

Why?

Setting When?

Where?

Read the following narrative, “Nothing is Useful Which Is Not Honest.” Notice how each

event in the simple narrative appears in the order in which it happened, and how the narrative tells

who, what, when, where, why, and how.

NOTHING IS USEFUL WHICH IS NOT HONEST

There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the mill-pond, on the edge of which, at high

water, we used to stand to fish for minnows. By much trampling we had made it a mere

quagmire. My proposal was to build a wharf there, fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my

comrades a large heap of stones, which were intended for a new house near the marsh, and which

would very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone, I

assembled a number of my playfellows, and working with them diligently like so many emmets,

sometimes two or three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharf. The next

morning the workmen were surprised at missing the stones, which were found in our wharf.

Inquiry was made after the removers. We were discovered and complained of. Several of us were

corrected by our fathers; and, though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine convinced me

that nothing was useful which was not honest.

— FRANKLIN, Autobiography

129

UNDERSTANDING PLOT STRUCTURE

Plot is defined as the sequence of events in a story that move it from beginning to end. Most

stories begin with an explanation of the characters, their relationships, and the setting. This is

called the exposition.

When the exposition is given, the foundation for the conflict is laid. The conflict actually

begins with the inciting incident. This incident is the event which brings the protagonist (the

person who wants something) into conflict with another person, himself, or an external force such

as society, fate, or nature. All events, including the inciting incident, from the exposition to the

climax of the conflict is called the rising action. The climax, or turning point of the conflict which

brings about the resolution of the conflict, is usually the point at which the circumstances for the

protagonist change, either for the better or the worse, and is the height of the conflict.

The setting includes where and when the story occurs, and the characters are the people

within the story. The two most important characters are typically the protagonist and the

antagonist. The protagonist is usually the hero, but more accurately he or she is the character that

moves the action forward. In other words, the protagonist is the character that makes things

happen because he or she wants something. The antagonist, on the other hand, is typically the bad

guy; but more accurately, he or she is the character in conflict with the protagonist, our hero.

The antagonist can be non-human. In some cases, such as in survival stories, the setting is the

antagonist. Making stories more complicated and thereby more interesting, there can also be more

than one conflict in a story and more than one protagonist or antagonist.

After the climax occurs, the falling action begins. After the falling action, we encounter the

denouement. The denouement is the ending of the story and typically wraps up the loose ends.

A final important element of the story is the theme. The theme is the statement that sums up

the universal message or idea the story addresses. The theme is the statement that the author relays

through the story. Common themes address ideas about honesty, ambition, wisdom, trust, good vs.

evil, importance of family, definition of God, and love.

130

Falling Action

Visualizing the Plot

For most authors, having an outline makes writing a story much easier. This is especially

true for students. For most stories, an outline is composed of the elements that make up the plot

structure.

A graph of the plot structure looks like the following:

Type of Conflict

The conflicts of most stories fall in to five general categories:

Man vs. Self When a character (male or female) is in conflict with himself--where he is

both the protagonist and the antagonist—the conflict is said to be internal.

Man vs. Man When a character is in conflict with another character, the conflict is said to

be man versus man.

Man vs. Society When a character is in conflict with the expectations of the world in which he

lives, the conflict is said to be man versus society.

Man vs. Fate When a character is in conflict with destiny, the protagonist battles forces

that are outside the control of man yet determine the character’s future.

Inciting Incident

Setting

Exposition

Rising Action

Characters

Climax

Denouement Conflict

Theme

131

Man vs. Nature When a character is in conflict with nature, the protagonist is in conflict with

the physical world such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

Determining the Elements of Plot Structure

To determine the various elements of the story, you ask yourself the following questions:

Finding the Protagonist:

Question: Who is the character that makes things happen? Be careful; this can be tricky. The

protagonist is the character that changes the most or is most affected by the events of the story.

Finding the Antagonist:

Question: Who is in conflict with the protagonist?

Determining the Conflict:

Question: What is the struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist?

Determining the Inciting Incident:

Question: What is the first incident that begins the conflict and leads toward the climax?

Determining the Rising Action:

Question: What are the major events in the story that lead from the inciting incident to the

climax?

Determining the Climax:

Question: At what point do the protagonist and antagonist have their ultimate clash, resolving

the conflict? This event should have some impact on the protagonist, either good or bad.

Determining the Falling Action:

What happens after the climax?

Determining the Denouement:

Now that the story is finished, what happens to the characters? (Sometimes they live happily

ever after.)

132

Finding the Theme

As stated before, the theme of a story is the universal message or general idea that the story

addresses. Common themes include honesty, ambition, wisdom, trust, good vs. evil, importance of

family, definition of God, and love.

Determining the theme of a story can be challenging. Knowing where themes hide makes

identifying them easier. A fable typically expresses the theme as a moral or lesson. The theme of a

longer literary work is the idea upon which the story is built. The author may state the theme

directly through the actions or dialogue of one of the characters. Sometimes, the author leaves it up

to the reader to figure out the theme.

Ask the following questions to find a story’s theme:

• Who is the main character (protagonist)?

• What does the protagonist want?

• What is the major conflict in the story?

• What does the protagonist learn from experiencing the conflict?

• If the protagonist learns something that can be applied to real life, this is the universal

message.

Compiling the same information in a vertical outline format is sometimes easier to

understand. An example of such an outline is on the following page.

133

Vertical Short Story Outline A vertical outline of the short story plot graph looks like the following:

I. The Exposition (Background Information)

A. Characters

1. Protagonists

2. Antagonists

II. Setting

III. The Rising Action

A. Inciting Incident

B. Series of Events (Include 3 to 4 details)

1. Event 1

2. Event 2

3. Event 3

4. Event 4

IV. The Climax

V. The Conclusion

A Falling Action

A. Denouement

The same information displayed in the outline can also be organized with a table.

For the remaining exercises in this text, you will use the Story Plot Table.

134

Story Plot Table

BA

CK

GR

OU

ND

IN

FO

RM

AT

ION

Title

Author

Genre

Where It Was Written

When It Was Written

PL

OT

ST

RU

CT

UR

E

SE

TT

ING

(W

HE

N

WH

ER

E) Place

Time

CH

AR

AC

TE

RS

(W

HO

)

Protagonist (Main character/wants

something) Antagonist

(Works against Protagonist)

ST

OR

Y

CO

NF

LIC

T

WH

AT

, W

HY

, H

OW

Type of Conflict (Man vs. ____________)

Exposition

Inciting Incident

Rising Action (Events that lead to the climax)

Climax

Falling Action

Denouement

Theme

135

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 4.1 AND 4.2

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach students the fundamental structure of a story.

• To give students the basic vocabulary that they will need to write literary analysis essays.

When determining the plot of a story, students sometimes have difficulty understanding the terms protagonist and antagonist. Often, they assume that the main character is the protagonist. This isn’t necessarily the case. The protagonist is the character that wants something, or in other words, drives the plot through his actions.

What is sometimes confusing is that there often is more than one protagonist in a story, meaning that different readers may see different characters as the primary protagonist. For classical or well-written literature, this is often the case.

The antagonist is typically the person, or force, in conflict with the protagonist. And in the case of the protagonist, there can also be more than one. Sometimes the protagonist is in conflict with nature, a character, destiny, society, or even self.

The process of identifying the story’s plot is the same whether the narrative is a short story or a novel.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: OLDER STUDENTS: For older students, copy the Story Plot Table located in the appendix on page 202. Have them complete the table for one or more of their literature novels. To double check their completed table, you can use one of the following websites:

http://www.shmoop.com/literature/

http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/index2.asp

Assignment 4.1 Note: Suggested answers to the questions regarding the plot structure of the

Benjamin Franklin summary are on page 140. Students first answer the questions in assignment 4.1

A; then, in 4.1B, they transfer those answers onto the table.

136

ASSIGNMENT 4.1A Identifying the Story’s Plot Structure: Read the selection from Benjamin Franklin’s

autobiography. When you are done, answer the questions that follow.


1. Who is the protagonist—the character that makes the story happen? _______________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


2. Who is in conflict with the protagonist identified in the above? (Often, the antagonist is the bad

guy.) ____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identifying the Conflict:

3. Which type of conflict exists between the protagonist and the antagonist? __________________



water, we used to stand to fish for minnows. By much trampling we had made it a mere

quagmire. My proposal was to build a wharf there, fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my

comrades a large heap of stones, which were intended for a new house near the marsh, and which

would very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone, I

assembled a number of my playfellows, and working with them diligently like so many emmets,

sometimes two or three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharf. The next

morning the workmen were surprised at missing the stones, which were found in our wharf.

Inquiry was made after the removers. We were discovered and complained of. Several of us were

corrected by our fathers; and, though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine convinced me

that nothing was useful which was not honest.

— FRANKLIN, Autobiography

137

man vs. self

man vs. man

man vs. society

man vs. nature

man vs. fate

Identifying the Inciting Incident:

4. What is the first incident that leads the life of the protagonist toward the climax? ____________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identifying Rising Action:

5. List the major events in the story that lead from the inciting incident to the climax?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identifying the Climax:

6. At what point do the protagonist and antagonist have their ultimate clash? This event should

have some impact on the protagonist, either good or bad. __________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

138

Identifying the Falling Action:

7. List the major events that occur after the climax.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


8. Now that the story is finished, what happens to the characters? (Sometimes they live happily ever

after.)

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

139

ASSIGNMENT 4.1B

Finding the Theme: Answer the following questions to find the story’s theme. When you are done,

proceed to the next page and complete the Story Plot Table.

9. What does the protagonist want?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

10. What does the protagonist learn from experiencing the conflict?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

11. What does the protagonist learn that can be applied to real life? This is the universal message

or theme.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

140

ANSWERS Story Plot Table

BA

CK

GR

OU

ND

IN

FO

RM

AT

ION

Title Nothing Is Useful

Which Is Not Honest Author Benjamin Franklin

Genre Autobiography

Where It Was Written England, France, America

When It Was Written Began in 1771

PL

OT

ST

RU

CT

UR

E

SE

TT

ING

(W

HE

N

WH

ER

E)

Place edge of salt-marsh

Time at high water

CH

AR

AC

TE

RS

(W

HO

)


something)

Benjamin Franklin (he’s the main character, good guy)

Antagonist (Works against Protagonist)

Benjamin Franklin (he’s the bad guy, working against

himself)

ST

OR

Y

CO

NF

LIC

T

WH

AT

, W

HY

, H

OW


man vs. self (internal conflict)

Exposition Fish for minnows

Inciting Incident by much trampling turn ground into

a mere quagmire (swamp)


Find stones Assemble friends

Carry away stones Next day, workers find stones

Workers search for thieves

Climax Boys are discovered

Falling Action Fathers punish them

Denouement learned nothing useful which was not

honest

Theme same as denouement

141

ASSIGNMENT 4.2A Identifying the Story’s Plot Structure: Read the fairy tale below. When you are done, answer the

questions that follow.

THE FOUR FRIENDSAdapted from the Brothers Grimm

Once upon a time a man had a donkey. His donkey had worked for him many years. At last the donkey grew so old that he was no longer of any use for work, and his master wished to get rid of him. The donkey, fearing he might be killed, ran away.

He took the road to Bremen, where he had often heard the street band playing. He liked

music, so he thought he might join the band. He had not gone far when he came upon an old dog. The dog was panting, as if he had been running a long way.

“Why are you panting, my friend?” asked the donkey. “Ah,” said the dog, “I am too old for the hunt. My master wished to have me killed. So I ran

away. But how I am to find bread and meat, I do not know.”

“Well,” said the donkey, “come with me. I am going to play in the band at Bremen. I think you and I can easily earn a living by music. I can play the lute, and you can play the kettledrum.”

The dog was quite willing, and so they be walked on. They had not gone far when they saw a

cat sitting in a yard. He looked as sad as three days of rainy weather.

“What's the matter with you, old Tom?” asked the donkey. “You would be sad, too,” said the cat, “if you were in my place; for now that I am getting old

and cannot catch mice, they wish to drown me. I have run away, but how I am going to live, I do

not know.”

“Come with us to Bremen,” said the donkey. “We are going to play in the band. I know you love music, as you sing so well at night. You too can join the band.”

“That is just what I should like to do,” said the cat.

So the donkey, the dog, and the cat all walked on together. After a time the three came to a

farmyard. There on the gate sat a rooster, crying, “Cock-a-doodle-doo” with all his might. “Why are you making so much noise?” asked the donkey. “Ah,” said the rooster, “I find I must have my head cut off so that I may serve as a dinner for

Monday. I'm crowing as hard as I can while my head is still on.”

“Come with us, old Red Comb,” said the donkey. “We are going to Bremen to join the band. You have a fine voice. You can join, too.”

“Ah,” said the rooster, “that is just what I should like to do.”

142

And they all went on their way to Bremen. At evening the four friends came to a wood, where they stopped for the night. The donkey

and the dog lay down under a large tree. The cat climbed up on one of the branches. And the rooster flew to the very top of the tree, where he felt quite safe. From his perch on the top of the tree the rooster saw a light.

Calling to his friends, he said, “We are not far from a house. I can see a light.” “Let us go on,” said the donkey, “for it may be just the house for us.” As they drew near, the light grew larger and brighter. At last they could see that it came

from the window of a robber's house. The donkey, who was the tallest, went up and looked in. “What do you see, old Long Ears?” asked the rooster. “What do I see?” answered the donkey. “Why, a table spread with plenty to eat and drink,

and the robbers having their supper.” “We should be there, too, if we had our rights,” said the rooster. “Ah, yes,” said the donkey; “if we could only get inside.” Then the four friends talked over what they had better do in order to drive the robbers out

of the house. At last they hit upon a plan. The donkey stood upon his hind legs and placed his front feet on the window sill. The dog

then stood on the donkey's back. The cat climbed upon the dog, while the rooster perched upon the cat's head. The donkey gave a signal, and they began all at the same time, to make their loudest music.

The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the rooster crowed, all with such force that the windowpane shook and was almost broken.

The robbers had never heard such a noise. They thought it must come from witches, or giants, or goblins, and they all ran as fast as they could to the wood behind the house.

Then our four friends rushed in and ate what the robbers had left upon the table. It did not take long, for they acted as if they had been hungry for a month.

When the four had eaten, they put out the light, and each went to sleep in the spot which he liked the best. The donkey lay down in the yard. The dog lay behind the door. The cat curled himself in front of the fire, while the rooster flew up on a high beam.

They soon fell fast asleep. When all was still and the light was out, the robber chief sent one of his bravest men back to

the house. The man found the house quiet, so he went into the kitchen to strike a light. Seeing the great fiery eyes of the cat, he thought they were live coals and held a match to them.

Cat was so angry that he flew up and scratched the man's face. This gave the robber a great fright, and he ran for the door. As he went by, the dog sprang up and bit him in the leg. In the yard the robber ran into the donkey, who gave him a great kick. The rooster on the beam was waked by the noise, and cried, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

The man ran as fast as his legs could carry him back to the robber chief.

143



_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



guy.) ____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



man vs. self

man vs. man

man vs. society

man vs. nature

man vs. fate

“Ah!” he cried. “In that house is a wicked witch, who flew at me and scratched my face with her long nails. By the door stood a man, with a knife, who cut me in the leg. Out in the yard lay a great black giant, who struck me a blow with his wooden club. Upon the roof sat the judge, who cried, 'What did he do? What did he do?' When I heard this I ran off as fast as I could.”

The robbers never went near the house again. The four friends liked the place so well that they would not leave it, and so far as I know, they

are there to this day.

144

Identifying the Inciting Incident:


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


6. At what point do the protagonist and antagonist have their ultimate clash, resolving the conflict? This event should have some impact on the protagonist, either good or bad. ___________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

145


7. List the major events that occur after the climax.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



after.)

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

146

ASSIGNMENT 4.2B

Finding the Theme: Answer the following questions to find the story’s theme. When you are done,

proceed to the next page and complete the Story Plot Table.


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


or theme.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

147

ANSWERS Story Plot Table

BA

CK

GR

OU

ND

IN

FO

RM

AT

ION

Title The Four Friends

Author The Brothers Grimm Genre Fairy Tale

Where It Was Written Germany

When It Was Written 1812

PL

OT

ST

RU

CT

UR

E

SE

TT

ING

(W

HE

N

WH

ER

E) Place

Road to Bremen, Bremen

Time Once upon a time

CH

AR

AC

TE

RS

(W

HO

)


something)

Donkey


The man represents society and its views of the older animals. (Useless)

ST

OR

Y

CO

NF

LIC

T

WH

AT

, W

HY

, H

OW


Man vs. SocietyHe wants to live.

Exposition The donkey is old. Man thinks he is

useless.

Inciting Incident Donkey becomes afraid he might be

killed.


Donkey runs away.Dog joins the donkey for same

reason. The old cat joins them. Old Red Comb joins them. They find

house with food and robbers.

Climax With much music, animals drive out

the robbers and move in.

Falling Action Robber returns to the home. Animals

attack. Robber flees.

Denouement Robbers never return. Four friends

never leave.

Theme The elderly are useful and

productive.

148

NOTE: SOME STUDENTS MAY SAY THAT THE ROBBER IS THE

ANTAGONIST. This is also true because the robbers are physically in an altercation

with the animals; however, the animals are on a journey before they meet the robbers.

Because the animals face hardships and struggles before the robbers appear in the story, the

animals are engaged in a conflict with some other antagonist. Therefore, the robber is not

the best choice for the antagonist.

In addition to the elements of the story’s plot, the Story Plot Table provides space for the

story’s background information and theme. When writing a summary of your own, you will need

both of these. pieces of information The background information is typically available on-line or in

reference books. The theme, however, you will have to determine on your own.

149

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIZING A STORY

In the last assignment you began with the condensed version of a story (a summary) and

expanded it into a short story. Sometimes, however, you will need to do the opposite. You will start

with a story and condense it into a summary.

SUMMARIZING GUIDELINES

To summarize a story, you will:

1. Carefully read your selection until you have a clear “mental picture” of people, places, and events.

2. Take notes from the story that identify the following:

• characters

• setting

• inciting incidents

• rising action

• climax

• conclusion

3. Write your grammatically correct summary in the present tense.

4. Limit your number of sentences to ten.

(Because your summary should be as brief as possible, limit the number of sentences

in your summary to ten. Use the first sentence to introduce your background

information and the remainder to summarize the story. To limit your number of

sentences, you will have to combine the details of your summary into compound and

complex sentences and use clauses to begin your sentences. See Understanding

Complex Sentences on page 13.)

150

SUMMARIZING EXAMPLE Now that you can identify the plot structure of a story, you need to know how to properly

summarize the information.

Reread the following summary by Benjamin Franklin. This paragraph is an excellent example

of a story summary with the exception of three details. First, because this is an autobiography (a

biography written by the author about himself), it is written in first person. Second, because

Benjamin Franklin wrote it, it is written in the past tense. And third, this paragraph does not

contain background information about the author or the story.

In the textbox that follows, Benjamin Franklin’s summary has been re-written in the present

tense, in third person, and with background information regarding the story’s origin.


In Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, which he began in 1771, Franklin relays the story

of one of the greatest lessons he learned from his father. Franklin tells of a salt-marsh that

bounded part of the mill-pond (Place), where he would, at high water (Time), often fish for

minnows (Exposition). One day, he and his friends trample the area into a quagmire

(Inciting Incident). Upon speculation, Franklin (Main Character) proposes that he and his

friends build a wharf in this area upon which they can stand. He shows his comrades a large

heap of stones, intended for a new house near the marsh, but which will suit their purpose

nicely. That evening, when the workmen are gone, Franklin assembles a number of his

friends to carry the stones away and build their little wharf. The next morning the workmen

learn about the missing stones, which are later found in the boys’ wharf (List of Rising

Action Events). Eventually, Franklin and his friends are identified, and their parents are

informed (Climax), and several of the boys are disciplined by their fathers (Falling Action).

Though young Franklin pleads the usefulness of their work, his father convinces him that

nothing is useful which is not honest (Denouement which includes the theme).

151

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 5.1 AND 5.2

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach students to summarize a story.

• To teach students to write concise sentences.

Regardless of the story length, all summaries have the same basic elements of the story (the plot of the narrative.)

Even professional writers must be able to master the story summary or synopsis.

Some students may become confused about the difference between the summary (summarized narrative) and the typical short story. A summary is a type of narrative. It is a condensed narrative, and it contains only the most important elements of the story. One other element that makes summaries different from short stories is that summaries tell rather than show. Short stories typically show rather than tell.

The summaries that the students will write in this exercise will tell. In the chapter that follows, students will write stories that show.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: FOR OLDER AND YOUNGER STUDENTS: Both older and younger students may need help in condensing their stories down to ten or fewer sentences. In reality, there is no magic number; however, ten sentences should be enough to tell the story’s plot. (Ten sentences is enough to summarize a novel.)

For all age groups, writing summaries gives students opportunity to practice writing sentences that are succinct and clear.

ASSIGNMENT 5.1A

Summarizing a Story: Read “Little Red Riding Hood,” on the next page. When you are done,

answer the questions that follow and complete the Story Plot Table for “Little Red Riding Hood.”

152

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Author Unknown

Once upon a time there was a little village girl, the prettiest that had ever been seen. Her

mother doted on her. Her grandmother was even fonder, and made her a little red hood, which became her so well that everywhere she went by the name of Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother, who had just made and baked some cakes, said to her, “Go and see how your grandmother is, for I have been told that she is ill. Take her a cake and this little pot of

butter.” Little Red Riding Hood set off at once for the house of her grandmother, who lived in

another village. On her way through a wood, she met old Father Wolf. He would have very much liked to eat

her, but dared not do so on account of some woodcutters who were in the forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, not knowing that it was dangerous to stop and listen to a wolf, said, “I am going to see my grandmother, and am taking her a cake and a pot of butter which my mother has sent to her.”

“Does she live far away?” asked the Wolf.

“Oh yes,” replied Little Red Riding Hood; “it is yonder by the mill which you can see right below there, and it is the first house in the village.”

“Well now,” said the Wolf, “I think I shall go and see her too. I will go by this path, and you

by that path, and we will see who gets there first.”

The Wolf set off running with all his might by the shorter road, and the little girl continued on her way by the longer road. As she went, she amused herself by gathering nuts, running after the butterflies, and making nosegays of the wild flowers which she found.

The Wolf was not long in reaching the grandmother’s house.

He knocked. Toc Toc. “Who is there?” “It is your little daughter, Red Riding Hood,” said the Wolf, disguising his voice, “and I bring

you a cake and a little pot of butter as a present from my mother.” The worthy grandmother was in bed, not being very well, and cried out to him, “Pull out the

peg and the latch will fall.” The Wolf drew out the peg, and the door flew open. Then he sprang upon the poor old lady

and ate her up in less than no time, for he had been more than three days without food. After that, he shut the door, lay down in the grandmother’s bed, and waited for Little

Red Riding Hood. Presently she came and knocked. Toc Toc.

“Who is there?”

153



_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



guy.) ____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now Little Red Riding Hood, on hearing the Wolf’s gruff voice, was at first frightened, but thinking that her grandmother had a bad cold, she replied, “It is your little daughter, Red Riding Hood, and I bring you a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother.”

Softening his voice, the Wolf called out to her, “Pull out the peg and the latch will fall.”

Little Red Riding Hood drew out the peg, and the door flew open. When he saw her enter, the Wolf hid himself in the bed beneath the counterpane. “Put the cake and the little pot of butter on the bin,” he said, “and come up on the bed with

me.”

Little Red Riding Hood took off her little red hood, but when she climbed up on the bed, she was astonished to see how her grandmother looked in her nightgown.

“Grandmother dear!” she exclaimed, “what big arms you have!” “The better to embrace you, my child!”

“Grandmother dear, what big ears you have!” “The better to hear with, my child!” “Grandmother dear, what big eyes you have!” “The better to see with, my child!”

“Grandmother dear, what big teeth you have!”

“The better to eat you with!” With these words, the wicked Wolf leapt upon Little Red Riding Hood and gobbled her up. Just then a hunter came by and heard the screams of Little Red Riding Hood. Without a

moment of hesitation, the hunter ran into the house and killed the Wolf with his axe.

When he cut the wolf open, out jumped Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma. After that, Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother, and the huntsman sat down and shared

the delicious cake that Little Red Riding Hood had brought.

154



man vs. self man vs. man

man vs. society man vs. nature

man vs. fate Identifying the Inciting Incident:


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


6. At what point do the protagonist and antagonist have their ultimate clash? This event should have some impact on the protagonist, either good or bad. This event should begin to resolve the conflict.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

155


7. List the major events that happen after the climax.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________



after.)

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Answer the following questions to find the story’s theme:


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

156


_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


or theme.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Using your answers from the questions above, complete the Story Plot Table on the

following page. (The background information has been supplied for you.)

157

ANSWERS: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

ASSIGNMENT 5.1B Summarizing a Story: Using the information from the table, write a one paragraph summary of no

more than ten sentences. Be sure that your paragraph is written in the present tense.

Sto

ry

Bac

kgro

un

d

Info

rmat

ion

Title Little Red Riding Hood

Author Unknown Genre Fairy Tale

Where It Was Written originally in France by Charles Perrault

When It Was Written 1600s

Plo

t S

tru

ctu

re S

etti

ng

(W

hen

W

her

e) Place Little Village

Time Once upon a time

Ch

arac

ters

(W

ho

)


something) Little Red Riding Hood


The Wolf

Sto

ry

Co

nfl

ict

Wh

at,

Wh

y, H

ow

Type of Conflict (Man vs.

____________)

Girl vs. Wolf Man vs. Man

Exposition Everyone loves LRRH

Inciting Incident Take food to sick grandmother.

Rising Action (Only those events that

lead to the climax)

LRRH meets the Wolf. Wolf goes to grandmother’s house.

Wolf eats grandmother. Wolf climbs into bed and wait on

LRRH.

Climax Wolf eats LRRH

Falling Action Huntsman kills Wolf. Saves LRRH and

grandmother.

Denouement LRRH, Grandmother, and Huntsman

eat the delicious food.

Theme Not everyone is good. Can’t trust

everyone.

158

ASSIGNMENT 5.2A

Summarizing a Story: 1) Read the story below. 2) Complete the Story Plot Table that follows.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES

Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so exceedingly fond of fine new clothes that

he spent all his money on rich garments. He did not care for his soldiers, nor for the theatre, nor for driving about, except for the purpose of showing his new clothes.

He had a dress for every hour of the day, and just as they say of a king, “He is in Council,” they always said of him, “The Emperor is in his Wardrobe.”

Well, the great town in which he lived was very busy. Every day a number of strangers arrived. One day two rogues came along, saying they were weavers, and that they knew how to weave

the finest stuff one could imagine. Not only, said they, were the colors and designs exceedingly beautiful, but the clothes that were made of their material had the wonderful quality of being invisible

to everybody who was either unfit for his position, or was extraordinarily stupid.

“They must be splendid clothes,” thought the Emperor; “by wearing them I could easily discover what persons in my kingdom are unfit for their posts. I could distinguish the wise from the stupid. I must have that stuff woven for me at once!” So he gave the two rogues a large sum of

money, in order that they might begin their work without delay.

The rogues put up two looms, and pretended to be working, but they had nothing at all in the frames. Again and again they demanded the finest silks and the most magnificent gold thread, but they put it all in their own pockets, and worked at their empty looms late into the night.

“Now, I should like to know how far they have got on with that stuff,” thought the Emperor;

but he felt quite uncomfortable when he remembered that those who were stupid or unfit for their positions could not see it. He did not think for a moment that he had anything to fear for himself; but, nevertheless, he would rather send somebody else first to see how the stuff was getting on.

Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the stuff possessed, and each was anxious to see how bad or stupid his neighbors were.

“I will send my honest old minister to the weavers,” thought the Emperor; “he can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is intelligent, and no one is better fit for his office than he.”

So the clever old minister went out into the hall, where the two rogues were sitting at work at their empty looms.

“Goodness me!” he thought, and opened his eyes wide; “I cannot see anything,” but he did not say so. Both of the rogues begged him to be so kind as to step nearer, and asked him if it was not a

pretty design, and were not the colors beautiful, and they pointed to the empty looms.

159

But the poor old minister kept on opening his eyes wider and wider: he could not see anything for there was nothing there.

“Goodness me!” he thought; “am I really stupid? I never thought so, and nobody must know it. Am I really unfit for my office? No; I must certainly not tell anybody that I cannot see the stuff.”

“Well, what do you think of it?” asked the one who was weaving. “Oh, it is beautiful! Most magnificent!” replied the old minister, and looked through his

spectacles. “What a pattern! And what colors! Yes, I must tell the Emperor that I like it very much indeed.”

“Ah! We are very glad of that,” said both weavers, and then they described the colors, and explained the strange patterns.

The old minister listened attentively, so as to be able to repeat it all when he returned to the Emperor, and this he did.

The rogues now asked for more money, and for more silk and gold thread, which they required for weaving. They put everything into their pockets, and not a thread went on the frames, but

nevertheless they continued to work at the empty looms.

Soon afterward the Emperor sent another clever statesman to see how the weaving was getting on, and whether the stuff was nearly ready. The same thing happened to him as to the minister; he looked and looked, but as there was nothing on the empty frames, he could not see anything.

“Now, is not that a beautiful piece of stuff?” said both rogues, and described the beauty of the

pattern, which did not exist at all. “I am not stupid,” thought the statesman, “so it must be that I am unfit for the high position I

hold; that is very strange, but I must not let anybody notice it.” So he praised the piece of stuff which

he could not see, and said how pleased he was with the beautiful colors and the pretty pattern.

“Oh! It is really magnificent!” he said to the Emperor. All the people in the town were talking about the beautiful stuff, and the Emperor himself

wished to see it while it was still on the loom. With a whole suite of chosen courtiers, among whom

were the two honest old statesmen who had been there before, the Emperor went to the two cunning

rogues, who were now weaving as fast as they could, but without thread or shuttle. “Well! Is it not magnificent?” cried the two clever statesmen; “does your majesty recognize how

beautiful is the pattern, how charming the colors?” and they pointed to the empty looms, for they

thought that the others could see the stuff. “What?” thought the Emperor; “I cannot see anything; this is terrible! Am I stupid; or am I not

fit to be Emperor? This would be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me!” “Yes, it is very beautiful,” he said at last; “we give our highest approbation!” and he nodded as if

he were quite satisfied, and gazed at the empty looms. He would not say that he saw nothing, and the whole of his suite looked and looked; but, like

the others, they were unable to see anything. So they said, just like the Emperor, “Yes, it is very pretty,” and they advised him to have some clothes made from this magnificent stuff, and to wear

160

them for the first time at the great procession that was about to take place. “It is magnificent! beautiful! excellent!” they said one to another, and they were all so exceedingly pleased with it that the

Emperor gave the two rogues a decoration to be worn in the buttonhole, and the title “Imperial Weavers.”

The rogues worked throughout the whole of the night preceding the day of the procession, and had over sixteen candles alight, so that people should see how busy they were in preparing the

Emperor's new clothes. They pretended to take the stuff off the looms, cut it in the air with great scissors, and sewed

with needles without thread, and at last they said: “See! Now the clothes are ready!”

The Emperor, followed by his most distinguished courtiers, came in person, and the rogues lifted their arms up in the air, just as if they held something, and said, “See! Here are the trousers, here is the coat, here is the cloak,” and so forth. “It is as light as a cobweb; one might imagine one had nothing on, but that is just the beauty of it!”

“Yes,” said all the courtiers; but they could not see anything, because there was nothing.

“Will your imperial highness condescend to undress?” said the rogues. “We will then attire your majesty in the new clothes, here in front of the mirror.”

“Oh! How well they look! How beautifully they fit!” said everyone. “What a pattern! What

colors! It is indeed a magnificent dress.”

“They are standing outside with the canopy which is to be carried over your majesty in the procession,” announced the Master of Ceremonies.

“Well, I am ready,” said the Emperor. “Does it not fit me well!” and he turned again to the

mirror, for he wanted it to appear that he was admiring his rich costume.

The chamberlains who were to carry the train fumbled with their hands on the floor just as if they were holding the train up; they raised their hands in the air, but dared not let anybody notice that they saw nothing; and so the Emperor went in procession beneath the magnificent canopy, and all

the people in the street and at the windows said: “Oh! How beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are;

what a splendid train, and how well everything fits!” No one would admit that he could see nothing, for that would have shown that he was either

unfit for his post or very stupid. None of the Emperor's costumes had ever been so much admired.

“But he has no robe on at all!” said a little child. “Just hear the voice of the innocent,” said his father, and one whispered to the other what the

child had said. “He has no robe on,” cried the whole of the people at last; and the Emperor shivered, for it

seemed to him that they were right. But he thought to himself, “I must go through with the procession,” and he walked with even

greater dignity than before; and the chamberlains followed, carrying the train which did not exist at all.

161

ANSWERS: THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES

STORY PLOT TABLE

Sto

ry

Bac

kgro

un

d

Info

rmat

ion

Title The Emperor’s New Clothes

Author Hans Christian Andersen Genre Fairy Tale

Where It Was Written Denmark

When It Was Written 1837

Plo

t S

tru

ctu

re Set

tin

g

(Wh

en

Wh

ere)

Place Emperor’s kingdom.

Time Many years ago

Ch

arac

ters

(W

ho

)


something) The Emperor


Rogue or the Emperor himself

Sto

ry

Co

nfl

ict

Wh

at, W

hy,

Ho

w


man vs. man or man vs. self

Exposition Emperor cared only about his

appearance.

Inciting Incident Rogue offers to make magical clothing


lead to the climax)

Emperor believes the rogues. Pays them money. King goes to see how

project is going. Sends minster. Sends statesman. Emperor returns to see clothes. Rogues pretend to work

through the night. All pretended to see. Emperor dresses in special robe.

Climax Child says emperor has on no robe.

Falling Action Truth spreads that the emperor has no

robe. Emperor knows also.

Denouement Emperor walks with dignity without

robe.

Theme It is foolish to be concerned with only

appearance.

162

ASSIGNMENT 5.2B

Summarizing a Story: Using the information from your completed table, write a summary of “The

Emperor’s New Clothes.” Be sure it is no longer than ten sentences.

163

CHAPTER 6: WRITING A NARRATIVE

REWRITING AKA SELF-EDITING

The most important step in writing is putting words on the paper. The second most

important step is rewriting or editing those words.

For any type of writing, you must edit your work. This statement is true for all types of

writing, but it is especially necessary for school or work related writing.

Everyone makes mistakes, regardless of how old or young they are, and regardless of the

tasks they are completing. Because mistakes are unavoidable, we must, when trying to communicate

through the written word, edit our work to ensure that when someone reads what we have written,

they understand exactly what we intended to say.

To help you accomplish that, you are going to rewrite your remaining assignments. These

self-edits have been added as separate assignments to ensure that you edit your work. In future

assignments, whether you are asked to edit your work or not, you should always edit your

assignments.

The guidelines you will follow are appropriate for narrative type of writing.

EDITING GUIDELINES:

ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY WORDS

1. There is, There was, started to, began to

When we write a sentence that begins with “There,” we are not making our sentences as

strong and meaningful as we can. It is beneficial to begin sentences with the subject unless you

purposefully want to avoid mentioning the subject.

When we speak, we frequently add in unnecessary words such as started or began. She

“started to stand” or “began to cry.” In stories, these extra words are unnecessary because when

someone reads the story, they will understand that when the person stood, she transitioned from

sitting to standing.

164

2. Passive Voice

Eliminate the passive voice when possible as long as it doesn’t change the story. (Review

Understanding Verbs on page 1.)

You can identify the passive voice because it looks like the following:

“was + ing verb” was+flying = was flying was + flipping = was flipping

3. Conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence

When possible, eliminate conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence. Although this isn’t

a hard and fast rule, eliminating the conjunctions will give your writing more impact. Placing a

conjunction at the beginning of a sentence will make your sentences read as if they are compound

sentences. This may create an effect that you do not want. (All writing should be intentional.)

She went to the store, and she bought a ton of candy.

She went to the store. And she bought a ton of candy.

She went to the store. She bought a ton of candy.

The first two sentences read the same. The third sentence reads differently.

4. Dangling participles

To review dangling participles, turn to page 26. When participial phrases are not followed

by the subject they modify, your readers will get confused. Remember:

Walking across the street, my ice cream melted.

(The ice cream did not walk.)

165

ADD WORDS THAT AMPLIFY

(AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY)

1. Add Verb Synonyms

Weak verbs like the ones listed in the appendix on page 201 don’t help tell a story. Replace

everyday verbs with synonyms that paint a picture in your reader’s mind and help you tell your

story.

2. Add Descriptive Adjectives

Because adjectives modify nouns, adding adjectives can help us to communicate much more

information about the nouns in our stories. Adding adjectives amplify meaning. Amplify, amplify,

amplify.

3. Add a Variety of Sentence Openers

To review Sentence Openers and their effect, see page 40.

4. Add a Variety of Sentence Types.

To review simple sentences, compound sentences, and complex sentences, see page 8.

To become proficient at editing, you must practice editing your work. For the following

assignment, on page 166, you will write a story which you will later edit.

166

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 6.1 TO 6.4

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach student to critically review their own writing.

One of the most important parts of writing is rewriting. For students to become successful at writing, they must learn to review their own work and be able to spot errors.

• To teach students how to self-edit.

When submitting writing assignments, many students will throw something together and expect their teachers to make the corrections. When this happens, it prevents the teacher from giving relevant feedback to the student. If the teacher is correcting shoddy work that the student can correct for himself, teachers will have a difficult time distinguishing between errors caused by a student’s carelessness and errors caused by a student’s confusion.

• To teach students the difference between showing versus telling.

Again, showing means details.

• To give students practice in expanding narratives.

As in the expanded fable exercises, students are asked to brainstorm answers to the questions that follow the summaries.

• To teach students that every story attempts to persuade.

• To teach children the rhetorical techniques used to persuade.

This exercise lays the foundation for persuasive writing in later years.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: For additional practice in expanding a narrative, students can expand upon fables from their history or science textbooks.

Have your student rewrite any of the previous tales from a different point of view. You may also have them write about an incident from history from a different point of view. For instance, your students may write a short story from the point of view of Benedict Arnold, explaining why he felt compelled and justified to act as a spy for the enemy.

When students rewrite a story from the point of view of the antagonist, they will automatically add these rhetorical elements that slant a narrative—a preview of the final exercise in this text. We will cover these techniques later in this chapter.

167

ASSIGNMENT 6.1

Changing Point of View: Rewrite “The Emperor’s New Clothes” from the point of view of one of

the rogues. Write the story in 1st person, telling the story as it unfolds from the rogue’s

perspective, including only his thoughts, not the emperor’s.

When you write your story, use the Story Plot Table you completed on page 161 as your

outline. Your story will begin with the exposition with which you introduce the setting (place and

time) and the characters. You will then add the inciting incident followed by the rising action,

climax, falling action, and denouement. All events will be told from the rogue’s point of view,

meaning the beginning of your story will focus on the rogue, and he will tell about the emperor.

You may use the story prompt below to help you.

New Clothes for the Emperor

It was my proudest moment. Sometimes when I look back on it, I can’t believe that I actually

pulled it off. It was a difficult task, and dangerous to carry out, but someone had to do it. Some people

think what I did was a crime, but what I did was an act of public service, for the good of the kingdom.

Several years ago, the Emperor at the time, the father of our current ruler, was only concerned

with how he looked. The most important man in the kingdom spent all of his time, energy, and funds on

finding the best robes and the most magnificent outfits that would ensure that he would be remembered

as the grandest emperor of all times.

Did he, like other rulers, provide for the welfare of the royal army? Did he, like other great rulers,

exercise his mind with historical theatre? Did he, like his ruling forefathers travel his kingdom, taking the

time to meet and understand the people of his kingdom?

No he did not! Except to be seen in his royal garment, the great emperor had no reason to travel!

So to teach this great man a lesson, I devised a plan.

168

STUDENT EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT

OLDER STUDENT

The Emperor's New Birthday Suit

Oh that when I think back to that time in my youth so long ago it fills me with such pride and

excitement that I can practically feel it coursing through my veins. I was a con artist by trade, but

not a bad one. No, I like to think of myself as a kind of Robin Hood, minus the giving to the poor

part. One of my greatest cons was pulled off with such skill and dexterity that thinking about it

gives me chills. I, with the help of my colleague Brussels, we tricked one of the powerful men in

the world.

Years ago, the Emperor at the time was a prideful and superficial man, who was only concerned

with clothes and how he looked. This man who ran half of the world, spent more money on shirts,

coats, and shoes than on the army and military combined. The children were dumb as dogs because

there was no money for the education system, and crime ran rampant because there wasn’t enough

money in the treasury to have public servants and personal stylists. It was clear that if something

didn’t change soon, someone else would be more than happy to take the Emperor’s place.

Around this time Brussels and I ambled into town looking to make some quick easy money off of

some rich ignorant merchant or lord. What we found was a thousand times better. A herald from

Emperor’s palace was calling out to the people on the street declaring that the Emperor needed new

tailors as the other ones had to be disposed of. At this, I looked over at the nearby pillory and stocks

where there hung two young men, who I assumed, were the old tailors. They looked absolutely

miserable and there was a sign over their heads that read their punishment. Apparently they

designed an outfit for the Emperor, but it was a replica of one they had made two years before, and

if there's anything the Emperor couldn’t stand it was being unoriginal.

169

Well after looking at all of this, I nudged Brussels and told him to follow me; I had just found

our con. I donned and fake foreign accent, went up to the herald, and began explaining how in our

country my Brussels and I had been master tailors, and we would be honored to serve the Emperor.

The herald quickly wrote some words on a piece of paper and sent us to the palace. Once we made it

there, we were hurriedly admitted and brought to the Emperor. We retold our story to him and to

make sure that we had talent, he sent us to the sewing room and bid us make him an outfit for his

upcoming birthday ball. If we could make him a suit that would astound, we would become his new

tailors. Brussels and I sat in the sewing room and discussed our plan for tricking the Emperor. We

came up with a plan that would not only teach the Emperor a lesson but (if it went as planned)

would also be good for a laugh.

We pretended to be hard at work for several hours, when we heard a two sharp knocks at

the door. One of the Emperor’s advisors entered and asked to see the suit.

“Oh, yes the Emperor’s suit is coming along wonderfully,” I said. “Come closer and tell us

what you think of the colors. But I should warn you, only those truly worthy of their jobs can see

the clothes.

The advisors face went as pale as her pearl ring. Brussels and I could clearly see that she had

couldn’t see the cloth. She fixed her face to one of great admiration to cover it up.

“Those colors are absolutely magnificent! How the dark and light greens contrast in a…a…”

here she struggled with words, “…a symphony of color!”

“Well thank you very kindly!” replied Brussels with a proud smile.

The advisor briskly nodded a goodbye, turned and swiftly left the room. Brussels and I looked at

each other and smiled slyly and went back to fake-sewing. Over the next few weeks, many more of

the Emperor’s advisors and trusted servants came by to look at how wonderfully the suit was

coming along. Everyone who saw it had the same confused expression and then after we explained

to them how only those who were best suited for their jobs could see the cloth and suit, their faces

170

changed confusion to panic, as they all began to believe that they were ill-fitted for their jobs. In the

end they would all go to the Emperor and rave about how beautiful the colors were, how neat the

stitching, and how well he would look in it.

After weeks of keeping the whole empire in suspense, for news had gotten around that the

Emperor was getting a suit like no other, we finally finished the birthday outfit that would put the

rest of the Emperor’s wardrobe to shame (according to rumors anyways). We went to the

Emperor’s private bedroom to help him put on his new suit. At this point the Emperor had heard

everything his servants and advisors had been telling him along with the rumors that had spread

among the people and he was supremely confident in his ability to be able to see the new suit. When

we entered his bedroom, he was wrapped in his robe, strutting around like a peacock

and boasting to his advisors about how he would be able to see his new birthday outfit.

“Since I am the Emperor and the one best suited for his job, I will be able to see my new suit

better than anyone else. To me the colors will appear brighter and more vibrant and the stitches

straighter and neater.”

When Brussels and I entered the room with the suit covered up, the Emperor sent everyone but

us out of the room. He wanted our help in getting the suit on. As we uncovered the suit, we saw a

look of pure shock and horror come across his face. For the longest time all he was able to do was

stare at the nothingness floating in front of him. After a few moments of this, the two of us grinned

at him and asked if he would like to put it on. He nodded quickly, his face as red as a strawberry.

“How do you like it, Sir?” I asked, with just a hint of mirth in my voice. “We worked tirelessly to

give you what you deserve.”

“I think it’s the most astounding thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” he sputtered out through

his shock. “Thank you very much for making my new outfit so wonderful.”

“Oh well you’re very welcome, Your Majesty, but it’s really you who gives the birthday suit that

special something.”

171

After helping we helped him put the suit on, he began to get some of his old pride back. As the

three of us walked down the hall to the courtyard where all the people would be gathered to see the

Emperor's new birthday suit (though it really wasn’t very new seeing has the Emperor was

turning fifty-two), we heard him muttering things to himself like “I do believe I can see those

contrasting light and dark greens!” and “I think I can make out some very, very fine and neat

stitching after all.”

When we made it to the large closed oak doors that lead into the courtyard, the Emperor stood

in front, while Brussels and I stood behind, halfway between the light and the shadows. Then we

heard the herald blow his horn and proclaim to everyone to stand for the Emperor. The wide

double doors swung open, and out strutted the Emperor in front of his entire empire. The

courtyard that had not five seconds before been filled with shouts and cries, immediately dropped to

a deadly quiet. Brussels and I rapidly slammed the doors shut, locked them, and ran out the scullery

door in the kitchen. We had told one of the servant girls to take our bags to that back

door. We wanted to get out as fast as we could without giving anyone a chance to catch us. As we

ran down the large hill that the palace sat on and down to the river that was at the bottom,

we could hear the resounding echoes of the empire laughing.

We jumped in a boat that was pushed up against the riverbank and began to paddle. Once we

were several miles from the palace, we took stopped rowing to catch our breath. Even as far away as

we were, Brussels and I could still catch the sounds of the people howling with laughter. And on

windy nights, I do believe I can still hear them.

172

ASSIGNMENT 6.2

Editing Your Narrative: Return to your expanded narrative. Edit your paper using the following

checklist. As you follow the checklist, highlight or cross off the tasks you have completed.

Word Editing

Eliminate







Add Verb Synonyms Descriptive Adjectives Check every word. Did you say what you meant to say?

Sentence Editing


Add



Paragraph Editing

Add



Overall Paper


Punctuation

Change verbs ending with:“s”



173

SHOWING VERSUS TELLING

In the summary “Nothing Is Useful Which Is Not Honest,” Benjamin Franklin has

summarized an event from his childhood, telling us what happened rather than showing us each

moment, step-by-step, as it occurred. In writing about the event, he has organized it into a short

summary. See the paragraph below.

The difference between this type of writing (summaries) and short stories such as your recent

rewrite of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is that summaries tell us about the major events of a story

rather than show us the events as they occur. Basically, stories that show are much longer than

stories that tell because they give details, description, and dialogue that take us from one moment

or event in the story to the next. To see the difference between telling and showing, see the two

versions of the “Hare and the Tortoise” on page 87. The shorter version tells, and the second version

shows.

Note: There are varying degrees of showing versus telling. The more details that are

included in a story, the more the story shows.


There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the mill-pond (Place), on the edge of which, at

high water (Time), we used to stand to fish for minnows. (Exposition) By much trampling we

had made it a mere quagmire (swamp). (Inciting Incident) My (Main Character) proposal was

to build a wharf there, fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my comrades a large heap of stones,

which were intended for a new house near the marsh, and which would very well suit our

purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone, I assembled a number of

my playfellows, and working with them diligently like so many emmets (ants), sometimes two or

three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharf. The next morning the

workmen were surprised at missing the stones, which were found in our wharf. Inquiry was

made after the removers. (List of Rising Action Events)We were discovered and complained

of. (Climax) Several of us were corrected by our fathers (Falling Action); and, though I pleaded

the usefulness of the work, mine convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest.

(Denouement which includes the theme)

174

Ex: Telling:


water, we used to stand to fish for minnows.

Ex: Showing:

Tall blades of bright green grass sprouted up between the naturally occurring salt-marsh and

the man-made mill-pond which was used to supply water to power the mill. Right in between the

two, where the ground was the driest, my buddies and I, with our homemade fishing nets and week

old bread, frequently gathered to fish for minnows.

ASSIGNMENT 6.3A


Brainstorming to Expand a Narrative: Turn to page 173 and reread the condensed narrative from

Franklin’s Autobiography—”Nothing is Useful Which Is Not Honest.” Answer the questions below

to help you brainstorm additional details to expand Franklin’s summary into a short story.

1. How many boys are there? What are the boys’ names?

Five boys: John, Luke, Richard, Michael, and Phillip

________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do any of them disagree with young Benjamin Franklin? Which one? What does he say to him?

Michael did. He said that he didn’t want to get in trouble again.

________________________________________________________________________________

3. If any of the boys disagree, how does Young Ben convince them to go along with him?

By promising to let him be the first to use his new fishing rod.

________________________________________________________________________________

175

4. Are the boys excited or nervous during their project? If they are nervous, how do they act?

They were excited and nervous. One of them was the lookout. They were very quiet.

________________________________________________________________________________

5. How do the boys feel when the project is completed? What do they say or do?

They were proud of themselves. They decided to come back early the next morning to use the new

wharf.

________________________________________________________________________________

6. Who confronts the boys about their stealing?

Ben’s little sister told the workmen.

________________________________________________________________________________

7. What happens to the boys? What punishments do they receive?

They had to take down the wharf. They were not allowed to fish for 3 weeks and instead had to

help their mothers with the house work.

________________________________________________________________________________

8. What exact words does Young Ben’s father tell him? Does he punish him also?

He told him that no matter how good your intentions are if you do not work honestly, your work is

useless.

_______________________________________________________________________________

176

ASSIGNMENT 6.3B


adjectives for the list of nouns taken from the original summary.


1. ____sticky _ salt marsh

2. ____strong________ workmen

3. ______mischievous_____ playfellows

4. ____heavy ___ stones

5. ____hard______ work

For the nouns below, write a sentence that tells more about the noun. Once you have

written your sentence, rewrite it as an introductory word, phrase, or clause.



6. Benjamin Franklin _was resourceful.____________________

Resourcefully, Benjamin Franklin…________________________________________

7. The workmen were furious.______________________________

_Furious, the workmen…_______________________________________________

8. The playfellows ____were working hard.________________________________

_The playfellows, working hard, …___________________________________________________

.

177

ASSIGNMENT 6.3C

Expanding a Narrative: Write your expanded narrative that shows rather than tells. Your typed

narrative should be longer than the condensed summary and should include descriptive details and

dialogue.

Remember to do the following:

1) Weave in your descriptive words, phrases, and clauses.

2) Use amplifying strong verbs.

3) Give your short story a creative title and place it in MLA format.

ASSIGNMENT 6.3B

As you expand the fable, weave in the descriptive words and sentence openers you have generated.

STUDENT EXAMPLE

Benjamin Franklin and his friends, John, Luke, Michael, Phillip and Richard stood, fishing

poles in hand, at the edge of the salt marsh that bounded part of the mill-pond. It was their favorite

place to fish for minnows, but by trampling it so often, they had made it into a swamp. Benjamin

Franklin realized that if they wanted to continue fishing there, they would have to build a wharf.

“Let’s build a wharf!” He said, “We’ll be like real fishermen!”

“Yes! Great idea!” said his friends.

“But what will we make it out of?” asked Luke.

Benjamin thought for a bit and then remembered a large heap of stones he had seen on his

way over the marsh.

178

“We’ll just use stones from that large pile I saw coming over here,” he said.

“Aren’t those being used to build that new house?” asked Michael. “After what we did last

week, I don’t think I could survive getting in trouble again.”

“If I let you be the first to use my new fishing pole, will you help us build the wharf?” asked

Benjamin.

Michael thought Benjamin’s new fishing pole was very cool and agreed to help.

That evening, after the workmen had left, Benjamin, Michael, Luke, Richard, Phillip, and

John snuck into the worksite. Phillip stayed by the entrance as a lookout and would whistle if

anyone came near. Quickly and quietly, the boys scurried like ants back and forth between the home

and the wharf. After they had enough rocks they built the wharf.

“All right,” said John, “We’ll meet back here at 8’ o clock tomorrow morning. Agreed?”

Everyone nodded. Then they all packed up their fishing gear and went home.

The next morning the workmen arrived back at the worksite at 7’ o clock. When they

discovered the rocks were missing they were furious. They asked everyone in town. At seven forty-

five, Benjamin’s little sister, Jane, told her dad that Benjamin and his friends were going to their

new wharf. Benjamin’s dad told the workmen and the other boys’ dads and they all ran down to the

wharf. When Benjamin and his friends arrived at the wharf they saw their father’s and the workmen

waiting for them.

“Oh-uh,” said Luke.

“All of you are going to take down the wharf and carry the stones back to the worksite!” said

Benjamin’s dad. By the time the boys were finished their parents had thought up a suitable

punishment for them.

“For the next three weeks, none of you are allowed to go fishing!” said Phillip’s dad.

“Aww…” said the boys.

179

“And what’s more,” said Richard’s dad, “You are also going to help your mothers with the

housework until you’re allowed to fish again.”

“But…!” cried the boys.

“No buts!” said John’s dad, “Now get to it!”

Grumbling, the boys trudged on home. After everyone had gone, Benjamin’s dad told him, “I

have a different punishment for you.”

“But dad,” said Benjamin, “The wharf was useful! I thought you wanted me do useful work.”

“Nothing is useful which is not honest, Benjamin.” said his father. “No matter how good

your intentions are all work which is not honest work, is useless.”

“Yes sir,” said Benjamin.

“As for your punishment,” his dad said, “You can still go fishing.”

“Really?” said Benjamin, hopefully.

“Yes. But for the next month, you have to take your sister with you.”

“Yes sir.” Benjamin sighed.

180

ASSIGNMENT 6.4

Editing Your Expanded Narrative: Return to your expanded narrative. Edit your paper using the

following checklist.

Word Editing

Eliminate








Sentence Editing


Add



Paragraph Editing

Add



Overall Paper


Punctuation

Change verbs ending with:“s”



181

SLANTING A NARRATIVE

Often, when narrating a story or tale, the narrator has a particular opinion about the events

he is relaying. Those opinions are evident through the slant the narrator puts on the narrative.

When a narrator slants a tale, he makes the characters or the events appear as he would like others

to interpret them. The slanting of a narrative can be accomplished via rhetorical techniques such as

the ones below.

1. Euphemism—a statement concerning a negative or disagreeable fact communicated in terms

that make it appear less negative.

Ex. He passed away in his sleep. died

2. Dysphemism—a statement concerning a positive or pleasant fact communicated in terms that

reduce the positive aspects and make the fact appear more negative.

Ex. He is a terrorist. (soldier, freedom fighter)

3. Weasel Words—words or phrases that qualify a statement or allow the speaker a way to weasel

out of the comment. (up to, almost, %, maybe, might, could, almost, possible, perhaps)

Ex. He might be the best student in this school.

4. Stereotypes—generalizations made about a group of people.

Ex. Girls aren’t good at math.

5. Sarcasm—a cutting remark that is meant to insult.

Ex. Was there a lack of graves in Egypt, that you took us away to die in the

wilderness? Exodus 14:11

6. Hyperbole—exaggeration.

Ex. He was a man of unlimited knowledge.

On the following page, you will find two accounts told by fighting brothers. In each, one of

the boys tells his father what happened. As you can see, in both cases, each brother exaggerates the

details that make him look innocent, and de-emphasizes, or even completely omits, the details that

make him look guilty.

182

Below are two different versions of the same event. Two brothers, sharing a bedroom, have an

argument, and Michael, the younger brother, becomes injured.

In situations such as these, slanted narratives are completely natural and effortless. As the

narratives demonstrate, children slant events frequently to get out of trouble. In fact, so do adults.

Michael’s Version or Point of View

David’s Version or Point of View:

MICHAEL’S SLANTED VERSION

A ten year-old boy named Michael told his father that his fourteen-year-old brother, David, had pushed him out of the bedroom they shared. Michael admitted to his father that he might (weasel word) have had his background music (euphemism) on a little louder than normal. He pleaded, however, that the volume of his music wasn’t an excuse for his brother to act like a dictator

(dysphemism). And when Michael had tried to reason with his selfish teenage brother (stereotype),

David had completely lost his mind (hyperbole) and gone berserk. Michael told his father that he had no other choice but to leave his own room, and as he was on his way out, David shoved Michael so hard that he tripped, fell, and slit his lip. To make matter’s worse, when David saw Michael bleeding all over the floor, David only laughed, and said, “Nice balance.” (sarcasm)

DAVID’S SLANTED VERSION

Fourteen year old David told his father that his bratty little brother, Michael, had purposely turned the radio in their bedroom up as loud as possible. At the time, David had been trying to study for an exam that was so important it could (weasel) mean the difference between passing or failing

the class for the year. Considering that failing this test could ruin his life forever (hyperbole), David said he had tried to plead with Michael to turn off the obnoxious noise (dysphemism) blaring

through the radio, but Michael had only laughed and said, “Who died and made you king?” (sarcasm) Then the little brat started prancing and dancing around the bedroom. In fact, Michael

had acted so wildly that he forgot all about the mess of toys he had left strewn across the floor and fell, scratching (euphemism) his lip. When David had tried to grab his arm and help him up, Michael had run out of the room, crying and screaming for his mommy (stereotype).

183

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS 6.5 AND 6.6C

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

• To teach students that every story attempts to persuade.

• To teach children the rhetorical techniques used to persuade.

This exercise lays the foundation for persuasive writing in later years.

OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT: OLDER STUDENTS AND YOUNGER STUDENTS: Have your student rewrite any of the previous tales from a different point of view. For older students, have them review their rewritten narrative and try to identify incidents in which they used the rhetorical techniques covered in the text.

184

SUGGESTED ANSWERS

ASSIGNMENT 6.5 Slanting with Rhetoric. For an earlier assignment, you had to read and summarize “Little Red

Riding Hood.” That version of the story is obviously told from Little Red’s point of view; however,

the Wolf must have had a different, although similar, version of the story. Reread the story and

write twelve sentences incorporating the rhetorical techniques on slanting a narrative. Refer to the

lesson on slanting a narrative on page 181 if you need help. Write your slanted narrative in 3rd

person.

Write sentences that make the Wolf seem less guilty.

1. Euphemism- For this euphemism, you will acknowledge that the Wolf did something wrong, but

make it sound harmless.

Hint: What weaker, less dangerous sounding synonym can you use to replace the word bite?

Use that word in a sentence to describe how the Wolf attacked the grandmother.

I nibbled on her arm. (Makes the bite sound less bad.)

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Euphemism- For this euphemism, you will use a synonym for the Wolf that will make him sound

less dangerous.

Hint: What adjective can you use to describe the wolf that would make him sound helpless,

harmless, or at the mercy of the world? Write a sentence about the wolf and use that

adjective to describe him.

The pathetic creature strolled among the nuts and berries. (Makes one feel sorry for the wolf.)

______________________________________________________________________________

185

3. Dysphemism- For this dysphemism, make the Wolf appear to be less guilty. To accomplish that,

we will try to make the huntsman appear bad, taking the focus off of the Wolf’s behavior.

Hint: What word or phrase can you use as a synonym for the huntsman? Choose one that sounds mean, dangerous, or evil.

(The killer hunted me. (huntsman) (Intended to make the huntsman sound wicked.)

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Dysphemism- For this dysphemism, we will make the Wolf sound good by making Little Red

sound bad.

Hint: Choose an adjective to describe Little Red Riding Hood. Make sure it makes her sound selfish and corrupt.

Everyone in the village spoiled her. (Use spoiled her rather than doted on her.) This description is

intended to paint a picture that makes LRRH sound selfish.

______________________________________________________________________________

5. Weasel Words- Say something nice about the wolf, and preface it with a word such as: up to,

almost, %, maybe, might, could, almost, possible, perhaps.

Hint: Write a sentence that says something positive about wolves, in general; something

that is true only sometimes. Instead of saying that it is true sometimes, write it so that it

sounds as if it is true all of the time.

Wolves almost always run from people. (Almost is a weasel word.)

______________________________________________________________________________

186

6. Weasel Words- Say something bad about Little Red, and preface it with a word such as: up to,

almost, %, maybe, might, could, almost, possible, perhaps.

Hint: Do you think Little Red was trying to trick the wolf? Maybe she was mean to him.

Even if she didn’t, write a statement about something bad she could have done. Add a weasel

word to the statement—like perhaps.

Perhaps she deliberately misled Father Wolf. (Perhaps is a weasel word.)

______________________________________________________________________________

7. Stereotypes- Something everyone believes to be true but isn’t.

Hint: What bad things do we know about wolves? Write a sentence saying that is what

wolves do all the time.

All Wolves want to eat people. (Some wolves may never see a human.)

(If included in the story, the wolf would probably gain sympathy by saying this is what people

believe, but it isn’t true.

______________________________________________________________________________

8. Stereotypes- Use all, always, or never with a statement that is only true sometimes.

Hint: Write a sentence that says something negative about little girls like Little Red Riding

Hood; something that is true sometimes. Instead of saying that it is true sometimes, write it

so that it sounds as if it is true all of the time.

All little girls that are doted on are self-centered. (This is also a stereotype.)

(If using this stereotype, the wolf would say this about little girls.)

______________________________________________________________________________

187

9. Sarcasm- To create sarcasm, you can use an “If-must” statement.

Example: If I am a girl, then I must like pink.

If I am a wolf, then I must be guilty. (Think of expressions that help the wolf, or that the wolf

might say if on trial for his actions.

______________________________________________________________________________

10. Sarcasm- Another way to create sarcasm is to use “Of course” plus a false statement.

Example: Of course dogs should be running around loose in the neighborhood.

Of course doting on little girls is good for them.

______________________________________________________________________________

11. Hyperbole- Exaggerate something good about the Wolf or exaggerate something bad about

everyone else.

Hint: Start a so statement. Little Red Riding Hood was so sneaky that she… (Finish the rest

of the sentence. After you are done, eliminate the so statement.)

Example: He was so smart that he read every book in the library. (Use the exaggeration for

your hyperbole.) He read every book in the library.

Little Red Riding Hood walked all over the entire forest alone. (Hyperbole because she didn’t walk

through the entire forest.)

______________________________________________________________________________

188

12. Hyperbole- (Make the Wolf appear to be helplessly hungry with no other options. Use an

exaggeration.)

Hint: Start a so statement. Old Father Wolf was so weak from hunger… (Finish the rest of

the sentence. After you are done, eliminate the given statement.)

Example: I am so hungry that I could eat a horse. Exaggeration = hyperbole = I could eat a

horse.

The poor wolf was so hungry because he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in years. (Exaggeration.)

The Wolf hadn’t eaten a decent meal in years. (Hyperbole.)

______________________________________________________________________________

189

ASSIGNMENT 6.6A


adjectives for the list of nouns taken from the paragraph.


1. ____________________________ Wolf

2. ____________________________ Little Red Riding Hood

3. ____________________________ Grandmother

4. ____________________________ Forest

5. ____________________________ huntsman

For the nouns below, compose a sentence that tells more about the subject. Once you have

written your sentence, rewrite it as an introductory word, phrase, or clause.



6. Little Red Riding Hood __________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. The Wolf ______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

8. The grandmother _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

9. The forest ____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

As you rewrite the story, weave in the words and phrases you have generated.

190

ASSIGNMENT 6.6B

Slanting a Short Story. Re-write “Little Red Riding Hood” from Old Father Wolf’s point of view.

To help slant the story from Old Father Wolf’s point of view, weave in the slanted sentences and

phrases which you created in Assignments 6.1 and 6.2A. When necessary, manipulate the sentences

so that they flow naturally in your rewritten narrative. Remember: the goal is to make Father Wolf

seem innocent and Little Red Riding Hood appear not so innocent.

Also, feel free to omit (leave out) details that incriminate the wolf and add in new, but plausible

details that support the wolf’s innocence.

(Note: Do not move too far away from the story line. The events should be very similar. If

you change the details, you will make the Wolf appear to be a liar. Also, do not pattern your

slanted narrative after the one paragraph examples of the fighting brothers. Your slanted

narrative should be a short story that shows rather than tells. See page 173.

As with your other assignments, type your story in MLA format and create a new title.

191


Little Red Riding Hood: Wolf Edition

I blame the mother. What responsible mother would just send their small, pretty little girl

to run errands all by themselves-through the woods no less. Dangerous creatures roam the parts

where I first ran into Little Red Riding Hood. As I recall, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was

taking a stroll through the woods. I was just a young pup, looking for a bit of fun, so my actions

can’t really be held against me. As I said before if anyone is to be blamed, it’s the mother. If she

hadn’t sent her daughter out to traipse through the forest alone, no one would’ve gotten eaten, I

wouldn’t have this horrible scar across my stomach, and I wouldn’t have almost died. But let me

begin again. I was walking through the forest when I ran into Little Red Riding

Hood.

“Hello there,” I said to her with mild surprise. It’s very uncommon to see little girls

wandering through the woods all alone.

“Hi,” she replied sweetly with a large smile on her face. She had a red riding hood on her

head, her hair was in two light, blond braids and she was carrying a basket that had a sweet and

sticky smell coming from it.

“Where are you headed this fine afternoon?” I asked as if we were old friends.

“To see my grandmother. She’s gotten sick and so my mother has sent me to take care of

her. I’m bringing her this cake and a pot of butter. She’s from Texas, and Mother says that all

Southerners like to fry food in butter. My grandmother says that my hair is the color of butter and

seeing it makes her feel better. She said I look just like Goldilocks.”

“Ha ha ha,” I said with a light laugh, “that’s very true. Say, have you have had fried cake

before?

192

“No,” Little Red replied with wide brown eyes, “is it good?”

Good!” I exclaimed. “It’ll knock your socks off! I’ll tell you what. I’ll start a fire with that pile

of sticks over there, and I’ll show you how to fry a cake the right way.”

“Oh that sounds like fun! But Mother said this cake and butter is for grandmother. She

might not like me eating instead.”

“Oh what shame,” I said in my most disappointed voice. “I make the best fried cake in the

whole forest. My grandfather was the one who taught me.”

“My grandfather taught me how to cook a little bit, too.” Little Red Riding Hood said

quietly.

“Yes, dear old, Granddad,” I said tearing up a bit. You see, I never wanted to eat the little

girl, I wanted the cake, and if shedding tears would get me cake, so be it. “He was such a kind man.

Now he’s worm food.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My grandfather isn’t worm food, but he died last summer.”

“That’s the same- oh never mind. Hey, I have an idea.” I said brightly.

“What’s that?” she said, excitement ringing in her voice and glittering in her eyes.

“How about you and I both go to your grandmother’s house and we’ll fry the cake up for

her.”

“That sounds like fun,” the small one said, clapping her hands together in anticipation.

“And to make it even more fun, we’ll race each other to her house. Where does your grandmother

live?”

“By that mill below the hill. It’s the first house in the village.”

“Alright then. I’ll go by this path, and you go by that path there and we’ll see who gets there

first.”

“Ok,” she ran over to the path and called out, “On your mark, get set, go!”

193

I set of running while laughing to myself. I’d sent her down the longer road that is filled

with all sorts of things that would distract a small child. She’ll end up stopping picking nuts,

running after butterflies, and making nosegays of the wild flowers.

I reached the elderly woman’s house long before Little Red did and I knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” and old Southern belle voice called out.

“It’s me, your granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood,” I said disguising my voice, “and I’ve

brought you a cake and a little pot of butter as a present from Mother.”

The mini grandmother was in bed, but because she was so sick she cried out, “Oh Little Red,

it’s so nice to hear your voice. Come in, dear. Just pull out the peg and the latch will fall.”

Well once I drew out the peg, and the door flew open, the little old lady took one look at me

and let out a caterwaul like I’ve never heard. I quickly slammed the door shut. I tried to explain that

all I wanted was a bit of fried cake and being a Southern-bred woman she could understand that,

but she wouldn’t stop screaming. So I did what any rational person would do. I ate her. Swallowed

her whole and alive. I wasn’t going to digest her, I just needed her to be quiet so her yells wouldn’t

attract the neighbors. After I ate her, you know what let’s say consumed, ate seems so harsh. So as I

was saying, after I consumed her, I put on one of her dressing gowns and laid in the bed and waited

for Little Red Riding Hood to come along. I was starting to think she wasn’t going to show up,

when I heard a knock at the door. Toc. Toc.

“Who’s there”? I called out in my best grandmotherly voice.

Well I guess she must’ve thought the voice sounded wrong, because after she came in the

house, she began asking a lot of questions- questions that one would not normally ask an older lady.

Another area where her mother has failed. That child was too impertinent.

“Oh, Grandmother!” she exclaimed. “What big arms you have!”

“The better to hug you with, my dear.” I replied trying my best to convince Little Red

Riding Hood that I was her grandmother.

194

“And Grandmother, your ears have grown a lot of fur on them since the last time I saw you.”

“The better to hear your insolent remarks with, my child.”

“Grandmother dear, what big eyes you have!”

“It’s my new makeup, dear.”

“But Grandmother, what big teeth you have!”

“The better to eat you with!”

I guess I snapped around this time. I just couldn’t take it anymore. All I wanted was a tiny

piece of fried cake, not to play Twenty Questions. As I opened my mouth to eat her (I mean

consume), I heard her grandmother screaming to be let out. Well, when Little Red heard her

grandmother she began to scream to. And being a little girl, she could scream much louder than the

old lady. Even after I consumed her, you could still her screams coming through my stomach. As

luck would have it, a lumberjack who was working nearby, heard all of the commotion and came

running through the door. He must have been a smart one, because it only took him two seconds to

take in the situation and swing at my stomach, splitting it open. After the grandmother and Little

Red Riding Hood, were let out, the three of them sat down to eat. The grandmother must have felt

some compassion for me, because she stitched up my stomach and cooked the fried cake for me.

195

ASSIGNMENT 6.6C

Editing Your Expanded Narrative: Return to your expanded narrative. Edit your paper using the

following checklist.

Word Editing

Eliminate








Sentence Editing


Add



Paragraph Editing

Add



Overall Paper


Punctuation

Change verbs ending with: “s”



196

APPENDIX

198

COMMONLY USED ADVERBS

Manner Place Time Frequency

angrily above again again

anxiously anywhere afterward annually

awkwardly below before continually

carefully between by and by continuously

cheerfully beyond heretofore daily

deliberately here instantly frequently

eagerly in immediately occasionally

eventually on now often

fortunately outside lately periodically

gracefully there then randomly

hastily towards today rarely

painfully under tomorrow seldom

quickly up soon twice

well where yesterday yearly

199

COMMONLY USED ADJECTIVES

Appearance Condition Emotions Senses

adorable alive angry abrasive

any color clever agitated bitter

broad dead brave cool

colossal gifted confused damp

clean harsh dazed faint

crooked impatient eager greasy

glamorous inexpensive embarrassed gritty

hollow powerful faithful hissing

immense sensitive fierce juicy

magnificent shy haughty rotten

massive strong lazy sweet

scrawny wealthy mischievous screeching

straight weak mysterious tart

wimpy wrong obnoxious thundering

200

COMMONLY USED PREPOSITIONS

about before from to

above behind in toward

across below into under

after beneath of until

against beside off unto

along between on up

among beyond over upon

around by through with

at for till within

201

COMMONLY USED VERBS (HELPFUL SYNONYMS)

Verb Synonym

ask beg, demand, grill, implore, inquire, invite, plead, pray,

question, quiz, request, seek

come advance, appear, approach, arrive, join, occur, materialize, reach,

give administer, assign, deliver, donate, enter, furnish, hand, move,

present, provide, pass, transfer

get achieved, acquire, attain, catch, contract, earn, experience,

gain, hold, obtain, receive, suffer, take, win, understand, find

have accept, , acquired, attained, contracted, experience, gain, hold, keep, obtain, own, possess, receive, retain, take

look behold, eye, face, gaze, glance, inspect, observe, peer,

scrutinize, stare, study, survey, view, watch

run bolt, chase, dart, dash, fly, hasten, hurry, jog, race. rush,

scamper, sprint

see behold, discern, envision, detect, glimpse, notice, perceive, sight, spot, survey, watch

walk creeps, hike, marched, parade, roam, slog, step, stride, tiptoe,

traipse, trek, trod, trolled, wandered,

was + ing verb

eliminate the was and change the verb to the past tense

was running= ran was coughing= coughed was laughing = laughed

started to + verb

remove the started to and change the verb to the past tense

started to sing = sang started to walk = walked =>(sauntered)

began to + verb

remove the began to and change the verb to the past tense

began to dream = dreamed=> (fantasized) began to fall = fell =>(plummeted)

202

STORY PLOT TABLE

Sto

ry

Bac

kgro

un

d

Info

rmat

ion

Title

Author Genre

Where It Was Written

When It Was Written

Plo

t S

tru

ctu

re

Set

tin

g

(Wh

en

Wh

ere)

Place

Time

Ch

arac

ters

(W

ho

)


something) Antagonist

(Works against Protagonist)

Sto

ry

Co

nfl

ict

Wh

at, W

hy,

Ho

w

Type of Conflict (Man vs.

____________) Inciting Incident


lead to the climax)

Climax

Falling Action

Denouement

Theme

203

PARAGRAPHING ASSIGNMENTS

PARAGRAPHING ASSIGNMENT

Determining Paragraph Breaks: Read the narrative that follows. When you are done, rewrite it

placing the paragraph breaks in the proper location.

The Bundle of Sticks

A certain Father had a family of Sons, who were forever quarreling among themselves. No

words he could say did the least good, so he cast about in his mind for some very striking example

that should make them see that discord would lead them to misfortune. One day when the

quarreling had been much more violent than usual and each of the Sons was moping in a surly

manner, he asked one of them to bring him a bundle of sticks. Then handing the bundle to each of

his Sons in turn he told them to try to break it. But although each one tried his best, none was able

to do so. The Father then untied the bundle and gave the sticks to his Sons to break one by one.

This they did very easily. "My Sons," said the Father, "do you not see how certain it is that if you

agree with each other and help each other, it will be impossible for your enemies to injure you? But

if you are divided among yourselves, you will be no stronger than a single stick in that bundle."

In unity is strength.

204

ANSWER

The Bundle of Sticks with Paragraph Breaks

A certain Father had a family of Sons, who were forever quarreling among themselves. No

words he could say did the least good, so he cast about in his mind for some very striking example

that should make them see that discord would lead them to misfortune.

One day when the quarreling had been much more violent than usual and each of the Sons

was moping in a surly manner, he asked one of them to bring him a bundle of sticks. Then handing

the bundle to each of his Sons in turn he told them to try to break it. But although each one tried

his best, none was able to do so.

The Father then untied the bundle and gave the sticks to his Sons to break one by one. This

they did very easily.

"My Sons," said the Father, "do you not see how certain it is that if you agree with each other

and help each other, it will be impossible for your enemies to injure you? But if you are divided

among yourselves, you will be no stronger than a single stick in that bundle."

In unity is strength.

205

PARAGRAPHING ASSIGNMENTS PARAGRAPHING ASSIGNMENT

Determining Paragraph Breaks: For the narrative that follows, draw lines to indicate where the

paragraphs breaks should be located.

The Miser

A Miser had buried his gold in a secret place in his garden. Every day he went to the spot,

dug up the treasure and counted it piece by piece to make sure it was all there. He made so many

trips that a Thief, who had been observing him, guessed what it was the Miser had hidden, and one

night quietly dug up the treasure and made off with it. When the Miser discovered his loss, he was

overcome with grief and despair. He groaned and cried and tore his hair. A passerby heard his cries

and asked what had happened. "My gold! O my gold!" cried the Miser, wildly, "someone has robbed

me!" "Your gold! There in that hole? Why did you put it there? Why did you not keep it in the

house where you could easily get it when you had to buy things?" "Buy!" screamed the Miser

angrily. "Why, I never touched the gold. I couldn't think of spending any of it." The stranger

picked up a large stone and threw it into the hole. "If that is the case," he said, "cover up that stone.

It is worth just as much to you as the treasure you lost!"

A possession is worth no more than the use we make of it.

206

Answer

The Miser with Paragraph Breaks

A Miser had buried his gold in a secret place in his garden. Every day he went to the spot,

dug up the treasure and counted it piece by piece to make sure it was all there. He made so many

trips that a Thief, who had been observing him, guessed what it was the Miser had hidden, and one

night quietly dug up the treasure and made off with it.

When the Miser discovered his loss, he was overcome with grief and despair. He groaned

and cried and tore his hair.

A passerby heard his cries and asked what had happened.

"My gold! O my gold!" cried the Miser, wildly, "someone has robbed me!"

"Your gold! There in that hole? Why did you put it there? Why did you not keep it in the

house where you could easily get it when you had to buy things?"

"Buy!" screamed the Miser angrily. "Why, I never touched the gold. I couldn't think of

spending any of it."

The stranger picked up a large stone and threw it into the hole.

"If that is the case," he said, "cover up that stone. It is worth just as much to you as the

treasure you lost!"

207

Republished Public Domain Works

Albright, Evelyn May. Descriptive Writing. New York: Macmillan, 1911. Web.

Brooks, Stratton D. English Composition. Vol. 2. London: American Book, 1912. Web.

Bryce, Catherine T., and Frank E. Spaulding. Aldine Second Language Book: For Grades Five and Six.

New York: Newson &, 1914. Print.

Claxton, Philander P., and James McGinniss. Effective English, Junior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,

1921. Print.

Clippinger, Erle Elsworth. Illustrated Lessons in Composition and Rhetoric. Boston: Silver, Burdett and,

1912. Web.

Dalgleish, Walter Scott. Introductory Text-book of English Composition, Based on Grammatical

Synthesis. Halifax, N.S.: A. & W. Mackinley, 1883. Print.

Foerster, Norman. Sentences and Thinking: A Practice Book in Sentence Making. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 1919. Web.

Gardiner, J. H., George Lyman Kittredge, and Sarah Louise Arnold. Manual of Composition and

Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn &, 1907. Web.

Gerrish, Carolyn M., and Margaret Cunningham. Practical English Composition. Boston: D.C. Heath,

1912. Print.

Hamilton, Clayton Meeker. Manual of the Art of Fiction: Prepared for the Use of Schools and Colleges.

New York: Doubleday, 1920. Web.

Herrick, Robert, and Lindsay Todd Damon. New Composition and Rhetoric for Schools. Chicago: Scott,

Foresman and, 1911. Print.

Hodge, Lamont Foster, and Arthur Lee. Elementary English, Spoken and Written. New York: Charles

E. Merrill, 1928. Web.

208

Holmes, Henry Wyman, and Oscar Charles Gallagher. Composition and Rhetoric. New York: D.

Appleton and, 1917. Web.

Huntington, Tuley Francis. Elements of English Composition, Designed for Use in Secondary Schools.

New York: Macmillan, 1904. Print.

Huntington, Tuley Francis. Elements of English Composition, Designed for Use in Secondary Schools.

New York: Macmillan, 1904. Web.

Laertius, Diogenes, and Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

London: H. G. Bohn, 1853. Web.

Merkley, George Earle, and Arthur C. Ferguson. Composition-rhetoric. New York: Newson, 1913.

Web.

Rainolde, Richard. A Booke Called the Foundacion of Rhetorike. London: University of Cambridge,

1563. Print.

Scott, Fred Newton, and Joseph Villiers Denney. The New Composition-rhetoric: Edition of 1911.

Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911. Print.

Shackford, Martha Hale, and Margaret Judson. Composition--rhetoric--literature; a Four Year's Course

for Secondary Schools. Boston: B.H. Sanborn &, 1908. Print.

Smith, George James. Longmans' English Lessons. New York, London: Longmans, Green, and, 1907.

Print.

Spaulding, Frank E. Aldine Third Language Book Language, Grammar, Composition: Grades Seven and

Eight and Junior High Schools. New York: Newson &, 1917. Print.

Tanner, William M. Composition and Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn &, 1922. Print.

Taylor, C. Ralph. Vital English. New York: F.M. Ambrose &, 1919. Web.

Williams, William. Composition and Rhetoric by Practice: With Exercises Adapted for Use in High Schools

and Colleges. Boston: D.C. Heath &, 1891. Print.

easy narrative writing teacher’s edition

Documents