Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar

1. Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar

2. Punctuation Commas: Used for a pause in a sentence. • Despite being late,Sam didn’t get a detention. • I wanted ham, cheese and chips. Colon: Used to introduce a list, a definition or a statement. • You need to buy: 2 eggs, flour, butter and sugar. • I know how I’m going to handle this: I’m going to hide. Semi-Colon: Used to separate two independent clauses • Bill was going bald;his hair was falling out. • Richard likes cake; George likes salad.

3. Sentences What is the difference between a simple, compound and complex sentence? • Simple Sentence: Contains only one independent clause I went to the park. • Compound Sentence: Contains at least 2 independent clauses joined together with a conjunction or semi-colon. I went to the park and I walked the dog. He cooked while I cleaned. I needed an umbrella; it was raining.

4. Subordinate Clause A subordinate clause is typically introduced by a conjunction, which forms part of and is dependent on a main clause. The subordinate clause adds additional information to the sentence which would not make sense on its own. Identify the subordinate clause in the following sentences: • She answered the phone when it rang. • The King, putting the crown on his head, stepped up to the throne. • Creeping carefully, she snuck out of the house.

5. Complex Sentence: Contains a subordinate and independent clause. After I ate breakfast, I washed the dishes. When the rain fell, everyone rushed inside. Write an example of a simple, compound and complex sentence. Subordinate clause does not express a complete thought – it adds information to the sentence

6. Varying Sentences Sentences can have a significant impact on the quality of work. A sentence can be changed simply by re-ordering the words or adding punctuation. • The green misty glasswas laying on the floor, shining dangerously. • Layingdangerouslyon the floor, the green misty glass was shining. • Dangerously, the green misty glass lay on the floor. What is the effect of changing the sentence structure?

7. Re-order the following sentences so that they start with the verb. The boy was sitting in his chair as he thought about his life. Becomes… Sitting in his chair, the boy thought about his life. • She jumped in fear and screamed loudly. • He read his book while listening to music. • The man hurried along the road, while cars streamed past him, his desperation growing.

8. Re-order the sentences so that they start with the adverb: • The detective hurried anxiously through the rain swept streets. • The lady walked nervously towards the mysterious shop. • The tiger crept silently towards his prey.

9. Nouns Find the nouns in the following extract: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

10. Nouns Find the nouns in the following extract: It was a bright cold dayin April, and the clockswere striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chinnuzzled into his breastin an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glassdoorsof Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirlof gritty dustfrom entering along with him. Find the noun phrases in the following extract: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

11. Noun Phrases Find the noun phrases in the following extract: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. Find all the other noun phrases in the extract from 1984.

12. Pre and post-modification Nouns can be used before and after the noun to develop its meaning: • Enthusiastic student • Ambitious student • Student under stress • Student without hope What effect do these phrases have? Are some more effective than others? Why?

13. Adverbs and Adverbials • Walk • Walk hesitantly • Walk joyfully • Walk to the left • Walk confidently Adverbials are to verbs like noun phrases are to nouns.

14. Adverbs and Adverbials Identify the verbs in the following opening: The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel…Ratz was tending bar, his prosthetic arm jerking monotonously as he filled a tray of glasses with draft Krin. He saw Case and smiled, his teeth a webwork of East European steel and brown decay. Which words would make them adverbial phrases? Adverbials build on the verbs telling us more about their manner, time, place or probability – speaking (verb) vs. speaking monotonously (adverbial phrase) Identify the full adverbial phrase: The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a deadchannel…Ratz was tending bar, his prosthetic arm jerking monotonouslyas he filled a tray of glasses with draft Krin. He saw Case and smiled, his teeth a webwork of East European steel and brown decay.

15. Adverbs and Adverbials Identify the adverbial phrases in the following extract: When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere. I felt that the moment I work. And yet, when I started functioning a little more smartly, I became doubtful. After all, the odds were that it was I who was wrong, and not everyone else – tough I did not see how that could be. I went on waiting, tinged with doubt. But presently, I had my first bit of objective evidence – When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, thereis something seriously wrong somewhere. I felt that the moment I work. And yet, when I started functioning a little more smartly, I became doubtful. After all, the odds were that it was I who was wrong, and not everyone else – tough I did not see how that could be. I went on waiting, tinged with doubt. But presently, I had my first bit of objective evidence -

16. The Catcher in the Rye How have sentences been used in this text? Tasks: • Find a simple, compound and complex sentence. • Find a noun and adverbial phrase. • Copy them out. • Under each sentence, explain why it has been used and the impact it has on the reader. • What language has Salinger used for his protagonist? What kind of a character is he? How does he come across to the reader?

17. The Catcher in the Rye If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have two haemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all - I’m not saying that - but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goodam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my brother and all. He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. He didn’t use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was ‘The Secret Goldfish.’ It was about this little kid that wouldn’t let anybody look at his goldfish because he’d bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies... don’t even mention them to me.

18. This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music.The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals – sounds that say listen to this, it is important. So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. don’t just write words. Write music. - Gary Provost

19. River Congo Re-draft a paragraph, focusing on sentence structures and punctuation using the green pen. Must have: • At least one type of each sentence: simple, compound, complex, noun and adverbial. • At least one example of each punctuation mark: comma, colon, semi-colon, exclamation mark and question mark.