Exercise 1.40

Read the poem below.  You can print this page as a pdf or write the poem on a piece of paper in order to do this exercise. Circle the subjects of these sentences. Underline the verbs. 

The Lake

by John Collings Squire, Sir

1. I am a lake, altered by every wind. 

2. The mild South breathes upon me, and I spread a dance of merry ripples in the sun. 

3. The West comes stormily and I am troubled,

4. My waves conflict and black depths show between them. 

5. Under the East wind bitter I grow and chill, slate-coloured, desolate, hopeless. 

6. But when blows a stead wind from the North my motion ceases,

7. I am frozen smooth and hard; my conquered surface returns the skies' cold light without a comment.

8. I make no sound, nor can I; nor can I show what depth I have, if any depth below. 

Exercise 1.41

Complete the sentences by adding either a subject or a predicate. 

1. ______________________________heard a knocking on the door. 
2. The two buses ______________________________.
3. ______________________________ slowly fell behind the mountains, turning the sky to fire and then to dark. 
4. ______________________________ was a dusty old book on a forgotten shelf. 
5. ______________________________ did not know the time, so ______________________________ made a clock of stone and sunlight. 
6. Beneath the rolling clouds of bushy white, the flowers danced, and the birds _____________________________ .
7. ______________________________ raced home on a fine, fast scooter. 
8. There was an old woman who ______________________________. 

Exercise 1.42

Part A

Edit the following incomplete sentences so that they are complete sentences. 

1. The goldfish in the bowl 

2. He basketball into the net

3. painted the room the color of the sunset

4. I a handsome hamburger and fresh french fries 

5. The murmuring ocean 

6. hummed with excitement 

7. applauded the grand finish 

8. The brown bricks and silver stone

Part B

Reflect on your thinking. Consider these questions:

• What did you think about when you edited the incomplete sentences?
• How did you approach correcting them to be complete sentences?
• Was your editing process effective (successful)?
• Was your editing process efficient (timely)? 
• Would you change your editing process in any way next time?

Exercise 1.43

Write 3 complete sentences about coming to school. 

Exercise 1.44

Are the problems below independent or dependent clauses? Write "I" if the clause is independent. Write "D" if the clause is dependent. 

1. ___ The book was a gate to adventure. 
2. ___  If the bowl of cherries was like a valley of fall-colored trees
3. ___  Even though the goat was an old man
4. ___ The ship walked into the storm without fear.
5. ___ Purple is Kim's favorite color.

Exercise 1.45

What type of sentences are these? Write SI for simple, CP for compound, CX for complex, and CC for compound-complex. 

1. ____ The branches danced in the summer breeze.
2. ____ The sun slowly painted the hillside orange, and birds sang to greet its warmth. 
3. ____ The empty dining room echoed like a tomb.
4. ____ Because the snow still blanketed the sidewalks, my bicycle slept soundly in its shed.
5. ____ Laura had bought her textbook on sale with curling corners and pencil marks, while Tam's textbook was fresh from the printers, yet its shiny new covers contained all the old information.

Exercise 1.46

Part A

Evaluate the following sentences. If the sentence is incomplete write SF for the sentence fragment. If the sentence is complete write the type of complete sentence it is: SI for simple, CP for compound, CX for complex, and CC for compound-complex. 

1. ___ The great big bird

2. ___ Last Tuesday, I went to the mall. 

3. ___ In the ocean, there is a sleeping whale, and there is a waking volcano. 

4. ___ Near the tree in my family's backyard. 

5. ___ I have always looked for double rainbows, although I have not seen one yet. 

6. ___ quickly ran away.

7. ___ In the distance, the rolling thunder as loud as a jet

8. ___ My mother cooked the chicken, and my father set the table, even though we would start eating until grandma came home. 

Part B

Edit the sentence fragments from part A. Write them as complete sentences. 

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 1.47

Part A

Write two poems using complete sentences made by complete clauses. This poem should follow the grammar rules. 

1. Write a poem that only uses simple sentences. 

2. Write a poem that only uses compound-complex sentences. 

Part B

1. Read your poems aloud. How do the sentence types make the poems sound or feel different? Write your answer as complete sentences. 

Exercise 1.48

Read this poem. Then discuss the questions with your class or a partner. 

&: Seven Poems VII

by e.e. cummings

who knows if the moon's

a balloon, coming out of a keen city

in the sky-filled with pretty people?

(and if you and i should)

get into it, if they

should take me and take you into their balloon. 

why then

we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:

go sailing

away and away sailing into a keen

city which nobody's ever visited, where

always

    it's

        Spring) and everyone's

in love and flowers pick themselves

1. What do you think this poem is about?

2. What grammar rules does E.E. Cummings choose to break?

3. What effect did breaking the grammar rules have on his poem?

Exercise 1.49

Write a poem about a place or location that purposefully breaks the grammar rules.