the kiss grammar book€¦ · web view“food” is an abstract word; ... lower later upper...
TRANSCRIPT
1
Book 3Book 3of theof the
KISS Grammar BooksKISS Grammar Books
© Dr. Ed VavraRevised Nov. 11, 2014
KISS Instructional Materials are available for free at KISSGrammar.org.
2
Welcome and Introduction..............................................................................5Unit 1 – Review.................................................................................................6
Ex. 1 - Punctuation...................................................................................................6
Ex. 2 - Helping Verbs...............................................................................................6
Ex. 3 - Phrasal Verbs From My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales.....................................7
Ex. 4 - The “To” Problem........................................................................................8
Ex. 5 - Writing Sentences with “To” and “Too”...................................................8
Ex. 6 - Complexities in S/V/C patterns...................................................................8
Ex. 7 – Complexities in Prepositional Phrases.......................................................8
Ex. 8 - Compound Main Clauses.............................................................................8
Unit 2 - Subordinate Clauses as Direct Objects............................................8IM......................................................................................................................................8
Ex. 1 –........................................................................................................................8
Ex. 2. –.......................................................................................................................8
Ex. 3 –........................................................................................................................8
Quotation Marks to indicate words that are spoken..........................................................8
Ex. 4 –........................................................................................................................8
Ex. 5 –........................................................................................................................8
Ex. 6 –........................................................................................................................8
Ex. 7 - A Sick Family of Tomatoes Joke.......................................................................9
Ex. 8 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................10
Unit 3 – Introduction to Number and Case.................................................10IM Number......................................................................................................................10
Ex. 1 –......................................................................................................................10
Ex. 2 –......................................................................................................................10
IM Case............................................................................................................................10
Ex. 3 –......................................................................................................................10
Ex. 4. –.....................................................................................................................10
Ex. 5 – Mixed..........................................................................................................10
Ex. 6 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................10
Unit 4 - Finite Verb or Verbal?.....................................................................111. “Let” and Make” [Need IM]........................................................................................11
3
Ex. 1 –......................................................................................................................11
Ex. 2 –......................................................................................................................11
2. The Noun Test.............................................................................................................11
Ex. 3 – Noun Test....................................................................................................13
Ex. 4 – Noun Test....................................................................................................13
Need: The “To” Test........................................................................................................13
Ex. 5 – “To” Test....................................................................................................13
Ex. 6 – “To” Test....................................................................................................13
Need: The Sentence Test.................................................................................................13
Ex. 7 – SentenceTest...............................................................................................13
Ex. 8 – SentenceTest...............................................................................................13
Need: Summary IM.........................................................................................................13
Ex. 9 – Mixed..........................................................................................................13
Ex. 10 – Mixed........................................................................................................13
Ex. 11 – Fix the Punctuation..................................................................................13
Unit 5 – Vocabulary.......................................................................................14Abstract and Concrete Words..........................................................................................14
Ex. 1 - Abstract and Concrete Words (and Phrases)....................................................15
Ex. 2 - Synonyms.........................................................................................................17
Ex. 3 - Antonyms.........................................................................................................18
Ex. 4 - Fill in the Blanks with Interesting Verbs.........................................................19
Ex. 5 – Prefixes........................................................................................................20
Ex. 6. Suffixes..........................................................................................................20
Ex. 7 - Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................20
Unit 6 - Statistical Stylistics...........................................................................21Ex. 1 – Edit a text....................................................................................................21
Ex. 2 – Statistical Analysis of a Student’s Writing..............................................21
Ex. 3 – Writing in Response to a Prompt.............................................................21
Ex. 4 – Statistical Analysis of My Own Writing (in Ex. 3).................................21
Ex. 5 – Sentence Building with Modifiers............................................................21
Ex. 6 – Sentence Combining..................................................................................21
Ex. 7 – Sentence De-combining.............................................................................21
Ex. 8 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................21
Unit 7 - The Logic of Modifiers.....................................................................22
4
Need IM...........................................................................................................................22
The Logic of Adjectives and Adverbs (KISS Level 1.2, Ex. 11)....................................22
Ex. 1 – AA................................................................................................................22
Ex. 2 – AA................................................................................................................22
The Logic of Prepositional Phrases (KISS Level 1.5, Ex.10).........................................22
Ex. 3 – PP................................................................................................................22
Ex. 4 – PP................................................................................................................22
Ex. 5 – Revising by adding modifiers of time and space.....................................22
Ex. 6 – Revising by adding modifiers...................................................................22
Ex. 7 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................22
Unit 8 - More Practice with Sub Clauses as Direct Objects.......................22Ex. 1 –......................................................................................................................22
Ex. 2 –......................................................................................................................22
Ex. 3 –......................................................................................................................22
Ex. 4 –......................................................................................................................22
Ex. 5 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................22
Unit 9 – Vocabulary.......................................................................................23Ex. 1 – Abstract and Concrete Words..................................................................23
Ex. 2 – Synonyms....................................................................................................23
Ex. 3 – Antonyms....................................................................................................23
Ex. 4 – Fill in the blank with interesting verbs....................................................23
Ex. 5 – Prefixes........................................................................................................23
Ex. 6. Suffixes..........................................................................................................23
Ex. 7 - Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................23
Unit 10 – Passages for Analysis.....................................................................23Ex. 1 –......................................................................................................................23
Ex. 2 –......................................................................................................................23
Ex. 3 –......................................................................................................................23
Ex. 4 –......................................................................................................................23
Ex. 5 –......................................................................................................................23
Ex. 6 – Fix the Punctuation....................................................................................23
Unit 11 – A Play: Aesop’s “The Hare and the Tortoise”............................24THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE...............................................................................24
Ex. 1 - A KISS Grammar Passage for Analysis...........................................................26
5
Ex. 2 -- Part Two..........................................................................................................27
Ex. 3 – Rhys’ “The Hare and the Tortoise”.................................................................28
Ex. 4 –Detmold’s “The Hare and The Tortoise”.........................................................29
Ex. 5 – Herford’s THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE..............................................30
Ex. 6 [W] - Writing Assignments for “The Hare and the Tortoise”............................31
Welcome and IntroductionWelcome and Introduction
Welcome to KISS Grammar. Your teacher and I are going to help you understand
how sentences work. That way, you’ll know and be able to discuss what’s good and
what’s bad about different sentences—those you read and those you write. I think you’ll
both learn and enjoy it.
—Dr. V.
6
Unit 1 – ReviewUnit 1 – Review
Ex. 1 - Punctuation
Ex. 2 - Helping Verbs
7
Ex. 3 - Phrasal Verbs
From My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales
by Edric Vredenburg; Illustrated by Jennie Harbour
Directions:1. Put parentheses ( ) around each prepositional phrase.2. Underline subjects once, finite verbs twice, and label complements (“PN,”
“PA,” “IO,” or “DO”).
1. The wind blew off Curdken’s hat.
2. Then she drove on the geese and sat down again in the meadow.
3. And Curdken went on telling the king his story.
4. The princess put on her maid’s shabby clothes.
5. Just look at the beautiful flowers.
6. The Wolf made a jump out of bed and swallowed down poor Little Red
Riding Hood also.
7. “Leave off that noise.”
8. Upon a clear space he had turned out his sack of jewels, so that he could
count and admire them.
9. Then she took her clumsy shoe off her left foot and put on the golden
slipper.
8
Ex. 4 - The “To” Problem
Ex. 5 - Writing Sentences with “To” and “Too”
Ex. 6 - Complexities in S/V/C patterns
Ex. 7 – Complexities in Prepositional Phrases
Ex. 8 - Compound Main Clauses
Unit 2 - Subordinate Clauses as Direct ObjectsUnit 2 - Subordinate Clauses as Direct Objects
IMIM
Ex. 1 –
Ex. 2. –
Ex. 3 –
Quotation Marks to indicate words that are spokenQuotation Marks to indicate words that are spoken
(Level 1.7, Ex. 8)
Ex. 4 –
Ex. 5 –
Ex. 6 –
9
Ex. 7 - A Sick Family of Tomatoes Joke
Directions:1. Put parentheses around each prepositional phrase.2. Underline verbs twice, their subjects once, and label complements (“PA,” “PN,” “IO”
or “DO”). 3. Put brackets [ ] around every clause that functions as a direct object and write “DO”
over the opening bracket.4. Put a vertical line after every main clause.
There was a family of tomatoes. There was a mom, a dad, and a baby.
They were taking a walk.
The dad noticed that the baby was slacking behind. The dad walked
over to the baby and squashed it.
The dad says, “Ketchup!”
10
Ex. 8 – Fix the Punctuation
Unit 3 – Introduction to Number and CaseUnit 3 – Introduction to Number and Case
IM NumberIM Number
Ex. 1 –
Ex. 2 –
IM CaseIM Case
Ex. 3 –
Ex. 4. –
Ex. 5 – Mixed
Ex. 6 – Fix the Punctuation
11
Unit 4 - Finite Verb or Verbal?Unit 4 - Finite Verb or Verbal?
In Unit Six, you learned that verbs can function as subjects and as complements.
Verbs, however, can also function as objects of prepositions, adjectives or adverbs. The
verbs that form sentences are called “finite.” These are the verbs that you should
underline twice. The verbs that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs are called
“verbals.” You should not underline these verbs twice.
The objective of this unit is to help you understand which verbs to underline and
which not to. Three tests will help you with this. This unit presents each test, followed by
an exercise. After that, it includes some mixed exercises.
1. “Let” and Make” [Need IM]1. “Let” and Make” [Need IM]
Ex. 1 –
Ex. 2 –
2. The Noun Test2. The Noun Test
A verb that functions as a noun (a subject, a complement, or the object of a
preposition) is not a finite verb. (Do not underline it twice.)
SubjectSwimming is good exercise (PN).
To have fun (DO) is good (PN) {for you}.
Direct ObjectThey like playing (DO) baseball (DO).
They like to play (DO) baseball (DO).
Predicate NounTheresa's favorite exercise is hiking (PN).
Bill’s idea {of fun} is to sleep (PN) late.
Object of PrepositionSally was thinking {of taking (OP) a walk (DO)}.
John liked to do (DO) anything (DO) {but swim (OP)}.
12
Note that like all verbs, verbals can have complements. Thus “baseball” is
the direct object of “playing,” and “walk” is the direct object of “taking.”
13
Ex. 3 – Noun Test
Ex. 4 – Noun Test
Need: The “To” TestNeed: The “To” Test
Ex. 5 – “To” Test
Ex. 6 – “To” Test
Need: The Sentence TestNeed: The Sentence Test
Ex. 7 – SentenceTest
Ex. 8 – SentenceTest
Need: Summary IMNeed: Summary IM
Ex. 9 – Mixed
Ex. 10 – Mixed
Ex. 11 – Fix the Punctuation
14
Unit 5 – VocabularyUnit 5 – VocabularyAbstract and Concrete WordsAbstract and Concrete Words
Why is it important for you to learn the difference between abstract and concrete words? To answer that question, we need to go to a more basic one—what is the purpose of talking or writing? I think that you will agree that the primary purpose of either is to get what you are trying to say into the head or heads of readers or listeners.
Abstract words do not do this very effectively. If, at the dinner table, you want more mashed potatoes, but you ask for more “food,” you may end up getting broccoli sprouts. “Food” is an abstract word; “mashed potatoes” is much more concrete.
Abstract words are words that people will interpret differently. When you use concrete words, what ends up in their heads will be much closer to what you want them to understand. (Note, by the way, that we are looking at phrases as well as words—“mashed potatoes” is a phrase.)
Words Can Be More or Less Abstract
Thing
Animal
Mammal
Cat
House Cat
Mysha
Consider the list on the left. “Thing” is the most abstract word we have—it can refer to anything and everything. But “animal” is more concrete—it excludes rocks and plants. “Mammal” is even more concrete. Ducks are animals, but they are not mammals. If we move down to “cat,” dogs and horses are now excluded, and “House Cat” excludes lions and tigers. At the bottom of the list, “Mysha” is the name of one specific cat. A word that refers to one, and only one thing, is as concrete (specific) as we can get. (In many cases, they are “proper” nouns.)
In other words, “abstract” and “concrete” are not two boxes into which words can be separated. As the list on the left shows, words can be more, or less, “concrete.”
In writing, it is important to use concrete words so that your readers will know what you really mean. When your teachers tell you to use more examples and details, one of the things that they mean is that you should use more concrete words.
15
Ex. 1 -
Abstract and Concrete Words (and Phrases)Adapted from Child-Story Readers: Wonder Stories (# 2)
New York: Lyons and Carnahan, 1927. p. 241-2
The Guitar Player
by Pablo Ruiz y
Picasso(1881-1973)
Directions:
1. Cross out the word in each row that does not fit with the others. Then, in
the last column, give an abstract word or phrase that would describe (include)
all the words that remain in that row.
Concrete Concrete Concrete Concrete Abstract1. lakes streams rivers babies 2. brother wife summer daughter 3. monkeys squirrels branches elephants 4. village town second city 5. creatures animals window beasts 6. trout minnow body shark 7. dwarfs fairy sheep ogre 8. cheek foot face rich 9. spider ant buffalo tick 10. glass flowers weeds vegetables 11. department grocery drug apple
12. Africa North America Mississippi Europe
13. scream tight roar howl 14. year month day creature 15. pear apple gift peach
[Continued on next page.]
16
Ex. 1 - Abstract and Concrete Words (and Phrases)
[Continued]
2. Number your paper from one to fifteen. For each of the abstract words
above, list as many more concrete words as you can think of.
3. Remember that the abstract/concrete distinction is not two boxes into
which words can be put. Words can be more or less abstract or concrete. Select
one of the concrete words on your list (or in the exercise above) and list five
words that are more concrete examples of that word. For example, “vegetable”
is more abstract than “peas,” “corn,” “carrots,” “spinach,” and “broccoli.”
4. To explain some abstract words, it is better to give and explain examples
of it. Pick one word from the following list and write a paragraph that explains
what it means to you. Use as many concrete examples as you can. Your teacher
may have everyone read their paragraphs in class to see the different ways in
which the word is defined.
book, house, policeman, picnic
17
Ex. 2 - Synonyms Adapted from
Child-Story Readers: Wonder Stories New York: Lyons and Carnahan, 1927. p. 113-4
La Baronne De Krundener
Et Son Fils by
Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807)
A synonym is a word that means the same, or almost the same, as another word.
Directions: 1. Number the lines of a piece of paper from 1 to 20. 2. In each line find the synonym of the first word in that line. Write this word on your paper by the right number.
1. glad happy smooth tight2. distant sunny deep far3. short brief high orange4. little flat small fast5. middle soft round center6. sad heavy unhappy misty7. tall high sweet white8. bright shining friendly lost9. fall light tear drop10. leap sleep jump walk11. join go unite write12. powerful strong long square13. usually never again generally14. thief burglar mayor brother15. big kind large old16. pretty beautiful snow ugly17. hard tiny straw difficult18. clothes dress shadow rainbow19. catch meet capture blow20. bad little rusty evil
18
Ex. 3 - AntonymsAdapted from
Child-Story Readers: Wonder Stories (#1)New York: Lyons and Carnahan, 1927. p. 113-4
Alabama and Kearsarge
1864 Edouard Manet
(1832-1883)
Antonyms are words that mean the opposite or almost the opposite of another word.
Directions: 1. Number the lines of a piece of paper from 1 to 20. 2. In each line find the antonym of the first word in that line. Write this word on your paper by the right number.
1. near here in far2. sorry joy glad shivered3. weak harmless strong feeble4. lower later upper floors5. short long safe storm6. easy quick hard air7. hard soft deep queer8. empty surprise angry full9. tall enjoy short upper10. thin cellar enjoy thick11. silly strong wise worse12. midnight evening starlight noon13. noises quiet stared fight14. queen king elf fairy15. lost secret trouble found16. straight harsh crooked unkind17. top side window bottom18. enemy friend giant frog19. soft terrible loud awful20. tame wild human tiny
19
Ex. 4 - Fill in the Blanks with Interesting Verbs
Adapted from The Mother Tongue, Book II
by George Kittredge and Sarah Arnold Boston, Ginn & Company, 1903
Directions: Rewrite these sentences on separate paper and fill in the blanks with interesting verbs or verb phrases. Try to find two different verbs (or phrases) that would work for each slot. (Write the second above the first.)
1. The sheriff _______________ his horse after the bank robbers.
2. A little leak _______________ a great ship.
3. The boy _______________ on the burning deck.
4. A sudden storm _______________ the sky.
5. A portrait of Mr. Gilbert _______________ on the wall.
6. A high wind _______________ hats and bonnets about.
7. The battleship _______________ a broadside at the enemy.
8. In the confusion, five or six of the enemy _______________.
9. Down _______________ the timber with a crash.
10. The girl _______________ the bucket with water and _______________
it to the thirsty wayfarers.
20
Ex. 5 – Prefixes
Ex. 6. Suffixes
Ex. 7 - Fix the Punctuation
21
Unit 6 - Unit 6 - Statistical StylisticsStatistical Stylistics
Ex. 1 – Edit a text
Ex. 2 – Statistical Analysis of a Student’s Writing
The number of words and the number of prepositional phrases per sentence
Ex. 3 – Writing in Response to a Prompt
Ex. 4 – Statistical Analysis of My Own Writing (in Ex. 3)
Ex. 5 – Sentence Building with Modifiers
Ex. 6 – Sentence Combining
Ex. 7 – Sentence De-combining
Ex. 8 – Fix the Punctuation
22
Unit 7 - The Logic of ModifiersUnit 7 - The Logic of Modifiers
Need IMNeed IM
The Logic of Adjectives and Adverbs (KISS Level 1.2, Ex. 11)The Logic of Adjectives and Adverbs (KISS Level 1.2, Ex. 11)
Ex. 1 – AA
Ex. 2 – AA
The Logic of Prepositional Phrases (KISS Level 1.5, Ex.10)The Logic of Prepositional Phrases (KISS Level 1.5, Ex.10)
Ex. 3 – PP
Ex. 4 – PP
Ex. 5 – Revising by adding modifiers of time and space
Ex. 6 – Revising by adding modifiers
Ex. 7 – Fix the Punctuation
Unit 8 - More Practice with Sub Clauses as Direct ObjectsUnit 8 - More Practice with Sub Clauses as Direct Objects
Ex. 1 –
Ex. 2 –
Ex. 3 –
Ex. 4 –
Ex. 5 – Fix the Punctuation
23
Unit 9 – VocabularyUnit 9 – Vocabulary
Ex. 1 – Abstract and Concrete Words
Ex. 2 – Synonyms
Ex. 3 – Antonyms
Ex. 4 – Fill in the blank with interesting verbs
Ex. 5 – Prefixes
Ex. 6. Suffixes
Ex. 7 - Fix the Punctuation
Unit 10 – Passages for AnalysisUnit 10 – Passages for Analysis
Ex. 1 –
Ex. 2 –
Ex. 3 –
Ex. 4 –
Ex. 5 –
Ex. 6 – Fix the Punctuation
24
Unit 11 – A Play: Aesop’s “The Hare and the Tortoise”Unit 11 – A Play: Aesop’s “The Hare and the Tortoise”
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISETHE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Based on Aesop’s The Hare and the Tortoise From Children’s Classics in Dramatic Form, Book One,
by Augusta StevensonIllustrated by Clara E. Atwood. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1911.
Time: a warm afternoon.
Place: a meadow.
Tortoise. Hare. Birds.
[The Hare walks in slowly, and sits under a tree. The Birds are
singing above him.]
Hare. It is too warm! Sing me to sleep, birds. Please sing me to sleep.
Birds. Tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet!
[The Tortoise creeps in.]
Hare. Where are you going, tortoise?
Tortoise. I am out for a walk, sir.
Hare. Why do you not go out for a run?
Birds. Ha, ha, ha!
Hare. How would you like to race with me?
Tortoise. I will race with you, sir.
Birds. Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Hare. We will race to that field over there. Come now. Are you ready?
25
Tortoise. I am. Please count for us, birdies.
Birds. One—two—three— Go!
[The Hare runs. The Tortoise creeps. The Hare soon reaches a
tree and stops.]
Hare. It is so warm! I will take a little nap here. I can easily get to the field
first.
[He sits, and is soon asleep. Soon the Tortoise creeps by him.
The Tortoise creeps on and on. The Birds follow quietly. The Tortoise
reaches the field.]
Tortoise. I am at the field! I am at the field!
Birds. Tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet, tweet!
[The Hare wakes and jumps up.]
Tortoise. I have won the race, friend hare!
Hare. Well—well—well!
Birds. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
26
Ex. 1 - A KISS Grammar Passage for AnalysisTHE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
From Children’s Classics in Dramatic Form, Book One, by Augusta StevensonIllustrated by Clara E. Atwood. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1911.
Part OneDirections:
1. Ignore the words in small print and the words that tell who is speaking.
2. Work sentence by sentence. Don’t jump around.3. Put parentheses ( ) around prepositional phrases.4. Underline subjects once, verbs twice, and label
complements “C”.5. Label each interjection (“Inj”), each noun used as an
adverb (“NuA”), and each example of direct address (“DirA”).
[The Hare walks in slowly, and sits under a tree. The Birds are singing
above him.]
Hare. It is too warm! Sing me to sleep, birds. Please sing me to sleep.
Birds. Tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet!
[The Tortoise creeps in.]
Hare. Where are you going, tortoise?
Tortoise. I am out for a walk, sir.
Hare. Why do you not go out for a run?
Birds. Ha, ha, ha!
Hare. How would you like to race with me?
Tortoise. I will race with you, sir.
Birds. Ha, ha, ha, ha!
27
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Ex. 2 -- Part Two
Directions: 1. Ignore the words in small print and the words that tell who is speaking.2. Work sentence by sentence. Don’t jump around.3. Put parentheses ( ) around prepositional phrases.4. Underline subjects once, verbs twice, and label complements “C”.5. Label each interjection (“Inj”), each noun used as an adverb (“NuA”), and each
example of direct address (“DirA”).
Hare. We will race to that field over there. Come now. Are you ready?
Tortoise. I am. Please count for us, birdies.
Birds. One—two—three— Go!
[The Hare runs. The Tortoise creeps. The Hare soon reaches a tree and
stops.]
Hare. It is so warm! I will take a little nap here. I can easily get to the field
first.
[He sits, and is soon asleep. Soon the Tortoise creeps by him. The Tortoise
creeps on and on. The Birds follow quietly. The Tortoise reaches the
field.]
Tortoise. I am at the field! I am at the field!
Birds. Tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet, tweet!
[The Hare wakes and jumps up.]
Tortoise. I have won the race, friend hare!
Hare. Well—well—well!
Birds. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
28
Ex. 3 – Rhys’ “The Hare and the Tortoise”
Adapted from Æsop’s fables: an anthology of the fabulists of all countries. Ernest Rhys, ed. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.; New York, E.P. Dutton & Co. 1913 [1936] 23.
Directions:1. Ignore the words in bold. You’ll learn about them later. The words that are in parentheses are
speaker tags. In each case, the complement of “says” is the sentence in which the tag appears. In these tags, just underline the subjects and verbs. Note that many sentences have more than one subject/verb pattern.
2. Place parentheses around each prepositional phrase.3. Underline subjects once, verbs twice, and write “C” over each complement.
A Hare jeered at a Tortoise for the slowness of his pace. But the Tortoise
laughed and said that he would run against her and beat her any day. “Come on,”
(said the Hare), “you shall soon see what my feet are made of.” They agreed to
start at once. The Tortoise jogged along, without a moment’s stopping, at his usual
steady pace. The Hare treated the whole matter very lightly. She would first take a
little nap (she said), and she should soon overtake the Tortoise. Meanwhile the
Tortoise plodded on, but the Hare overslept and arrived at the goal late. The
Tortoise had got in before her.
Slow and steady wins the race.
29
Ex. 4 –Detmold’s “The Hare and The Tortoise”
Adapted from Edward Detmold’s The Fables of Aesop. London; New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909.
Directions:1. Ignore the words in bold. You’ll learn about them later. The words that are
in parentheses are speaker tags. In each case, the complement of “says” is the sentence in which the tag appears. In these tags, just underline the subjects and verbs.
2. Place parentheses around each prepositional phrase.3. Underline subjects once, verbs twice, and write “C” over each
complement.
WHAT a Dull Heavy Creature (says a Hare) is this same Tortoise! And yet
(says the Tortoise) I’ll run with you for a wager. The Hare agreed, and the Fox, by
consent, was the Judge. They started together, and the Tortoise kept jogging, until
he came to the end of the course. The Hare lay down about midway, and took a
nap. I can (says he) catch up with the Tortoise when I please. He over-slept. He
awoke and scudded away as fast as he could. But the Tortoise got to the post
before him, and won the wager.
The Moral
Up and be Doing is a good idea. Action is the business of life. We will
never come to the end of our journey in time, if we sleep by the way.
30
Ex. 5 – Herford’s THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
From Oliver Herford’s The Herford Æsop: Fifty Fables in Verse. Illustrated by the author. Boston: Ginn and Co. 1921. 44-45.
A HARE one day a Tortoise chaffed
On her slow gait. The Tortoise laughed.
“’Tis true I’m slowest of the slow
And you’re the fastest thing I know;
Yet notwithstanding your swift pace,”
Said she, “I’ll beat you in a race.”
The Hare consented, half in jest,
To put the matter to the test,
And off they started. Like a flash,
Half round the course in one swift dash,
Bounded the Hare; then, feeling sure
That victory was now secure,
Sat down to rest.—.and fell asleep.
Meanwhile his Rival, creep, creep, creep,
Came slowly on, caught up, and passed.
Creep-creep, creep-creep, until at last
The Hare awaking, rubbed his eyes
And saw, to his intense surprise,
The Tortoise, faithful to her boast,
Was waiting at the winning-post.
31
Ex. 6 [W] - Writing Assignments for “The Hare and the Tortoise”
1. You’ve read the play by Augusta Stevenson and three versions of the fable. Now, write this fable as if you were using the exact words of the hare and the tortoise.
Get up a lively conversation between the animals. Be careful to use quotation marks correctly. You can use the following to remember what happened:
Hare made fun of tortoise—said tortoise had slow way, creeping along—tortoise asked hare to race—hare said tortoise was in fun—agreed to race—asked fox to mark bounds and give prize—fox showed where to start, how far to run—tortoise lost no time—started promptly—jogged straight on—hare sure he could win—lay down —took nap—awoke—ran fast—came to end—tortoise already there—what we learn from this
2. Write a comparison of the four versions—the play, the poem, and
the two prose versions. (You can look at the texts and take notes as you do
this.) In it try to answer the following questions.
a.) In addition to the Hare and the Tortoise, each version includes one
or more other animal characters. The play is really different
here. Why might Stevenson have made such a change?
b.) In each version, what gender (male or female) is the Hare? The
Tortoise? Quoting specific words, what evidence do you have
for the gender of each? Can you think of any reason why the
writers would make them different genders?
c.) Two versions include a “Moral” at the end. Why don’t the other
two? What differences are there in the two that have a moral.
d.) Which version do you like the best? Why? Which do you like the
least? Why? (Give at least one specific reason for each.)