17. A LANGUAGE LESSON The Boston Massacre The sunset music of the It was now March 3, 1770. British regiments was heard as usual throughout the town. The shrill fife and rattling drum awoke the echoes in King Street. The last ray of sunshine was lingering on the cupola of the Town House. And now all the sentinels were posted. One of them marched up and down before the Custom House, treading a short path through the snow. Meanwhile, Captain Preston was, perhaps, sitting in our great armchair before the hearth of the British Coffee House. Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, several young men passed by the Town House and walked down King Street. When they drew near the sentinel he halted on his post and took his musket from his shoulder. "Who goes there?" he cried in the gruff tones of a soldier's challenge. The young men, being Boston boys, felt as if they had a right to walk their own streets without being accountable to a British redcoat, even though he challenged them in King George's name. They made some rude answer to the sentinel. There was a dispute or perhaps a scuffle. Other soldiers heard the noise, and ran hastily from the barracks to assist their comrades. From Grandfather's Chair, by HAWTHORNE In the story, find, and learn to write, a date; the name of a nationality; the names of two buildings; two titles of honor; the name of a street; and an expression of the time of day. Find a quotation, and study the use of the quotation marks. Find, and learn to write, two nouns showing ownership. Find the word "perhaps," and notice its punctuation. Study other uses of the comma. Learn to spell the following words: Be ready to write the account from dictation. After you have finished writing from dictation, make a record of your errors and compare it with the following: Capitals for title of lesson, 3 first word of sentence, 14 name of month, I nationality, 2 street, 4 Periods, 14 Question marks, 1 Quotation marks, 2 Apostrophe for possession, 2 title of honor, 2 building, 9 18. A WRITTEN REVIEW 1. In what two parts of the sentence can pronouns be used? nouns? 2. The predicate is always what part of speech? 3. Words that show action are what part of speech? 4. What is a noun? 5. How do you find the predicate? 6. How do you find the subject? 7. How do you find the object? 8. What is a pronoun? · 9. Name some words that are pronouns. 10. Write the analysis of this sentence: Tailors make suits. II. Diagram this sentence: Trains carry passengers. 19. THE ADJECTIVE In these sentences tell the part of speech of the words in italics: 1. Dogs bite. 2. Knives cut boys. 3. Girls slam doors. One or more words that in some way change its meaning may be added to a noun. In the following sentences what words are added to the nouns? 1. Cross dogs bite. 2. Sharp knives cut boys. 3. Careless girls slam doors. The word "cross" is added to the noun "dogs" to tell what kind of dogs. The word "sharp" is added to the noun "knives" to tell what kind of knives. The word "careless" is added to the noun "girls" to tell what kind of girls. Words, when telling about, or modifying, nouns, are called adjectives. Adjectives tell about or modify nouns in other ways than by telling what kind, but all adjectives in this lesson modify nouns in the same way. The thing to remember is that a word is an adjective when it tells about, or modifies, a noun. a. Copy the following sentences, drawing one line under each noun: 1. Cross dogs bite. 2. Sharp knives cut little boys. 3. Careless girls slam doors. 4. Large apples break small branches. 5. Strong men do hard work. 6. Little kittens play. 7. Thin ice breaks. b. Be ready to tell the parts of speech of the words in italics in sentences 1-7. MODEL: Cross dogs bite. "Cross" modifies the noun "dogs." Therefore, "cross" is an adjective. "Cross" tells what kind of dogs. c. Find the adjectives in sentences 1-3, below, and tell, in writing, how you know they are adjectives. Follow the model used for oral work. 1. Happy children play pleasant games. 2. Strong horses draw heavy loads. 3. We ate red berries. 20. THE PREDICATE VERB AND SUBJECT Examine these sentences: I. Balls hurt boys. 2. Hard balls hurt little boys. In the first sentence the subject consists of one 1 To the Teacher: The more familiar terms, simple predicate, simple subject, entire predicate, and entire subject, may be used, if desired. word. In the second sentence the subject has a modifier. The subject, with its modifier, is called the complete subject. For example, "Hard balls" in sentence 2 is the complete subject. The principal word in the complete subject is called the subject substantive. "Balls" in sentence 2 is the subject substantive. The subject substantive is always the word that answers the question made by placing who or what before the predicate. In the same way there is always a word or, as you will learn later on, a group of words, that takes the principal part in telling what is done. This word is always a verb. It is called the predicate verb to distinguish it from the complete predicate. The complete predicate consists of the predicate verb and its modifiers, and the object, if any, and its modifiers. a. In the following sentences find the complete predicates and the complete subjects: 1. Hard balls hurt little boys. 2. Sharp pencils make good writing. 4. Rich women wear beautiful clothes. 5. They fought daring robbers. b. Copy the sentences above. Draw one line under the subject substantive. Draw two lines under the predicate verb. c. Make a list of the adjectives (8) in the sentences above, and opposite each write the word it modifies. d. Make a list of the pronouns (2). |