Sentence to Explain (from Assignment #7)

Consider the following sentence from Guts:

I would not learn how truly serious a moose attack could be until I was in Alaska training for the Iditarod. (Paulsen, 2001, p. 41)

Using grammar that we have discussed in this course, explain what you see in this sentence.

Sentence to Explain (from Assignment #7)

Consider the following sentence from Guts:

It was a generous offer and I didn't feel right rejecting it so I nodded and leaned down and tasted it. (Paulsen, 2001, p. 124)

Using grammar that we have discussed in this course, explain what you see in this sentence.

Sentence to Explain (from Assignment #7)

Consider the following sentence from Guts:

A fellow and I took my dogs up from Minnesota in an old truck, driving on the Alaska Highway for eight full days, and got to a place north of a trading post named Trapper Creek. (Paulsen, 2001, p. 42)

Using grammar that we have discussed in this course, explain what you see in this sentence.

Sentence to Explain (from Assignment #7)

Consider the following sentence from Guts:

I had taken a stroke with the paddle just as I saw her, and while I was smiling the canoe drifted close to her – not four feet away. (Paulsen, 2001, p. 42)

Using grammar that we have discussed in this course, explain what you see in this sentence.

Text of the President's Address

Click here for a link to the text of President Bush’s speech on immigration reform that he gave MON 15 May. It may be useful to print the “Printer-Friendly Version” because our focus is the text of the speech.

Another Sentence to Consider

Here is a second sentence to consider. Once again, we want to ask ourselves what the sentence shows us structurally, especially in terms of sentence type and verb pattern. So, the following sentence is our second example. Read the sentence closely, and then address the questions that follow.

I unmade the bed, dragged the mattress onto the floor, folded the spread over to serve as padding on the box spring, found an extra blanket in the closet, put a pillow on the mattress, and left a pillow on the box spring. (Parker, 1996, p. 287)

What is the sentence type here, and why? What are the subject-verb combinations? What are the verb patterns here? Once again, the procedure is to leave an explanation as a comment. We’ll find out who sees the sentence clearly and who does not.

Reference: Parker, R. (1996). Chance. New York: Putnam.

Appreciating a Good Sentence

We are taught in American schools to analyze in order to understand; seldom are we taught to appreciate. When we are taught to appreciate, we often are taught to appreciate in a manner consistent with the teacher's; we are seldom taught to appreciate in our own way. Today, instead of analyzing a sentence, I choose simply to post one so that those who come by may enjoy it.

From time to time we all run across sentences that strike us in one way or another. Sometimes we are struck by the simplicity of the expression; sometimes we are stuck by the form. Other times it is a combination of form and expression, and other times we are not really sure why the sentence strikes us. For however it might strike you, spend some time to appreciate this sentence from Anna Quindlen; it is a good one:

I have sat on the edge of several beds while Green Eggs and Ham was read, or recited more or less from memory; I read A Wrinkle in Time three times in a row once, when I was twelve, because I couldn't bear for it to end, wanted them all, Meg and Charles Murry and even the horribly pulsing brain called It, to be alive again as they could only live within my mind, so that I felt as if I killed them when I closed the cover and gave them the kiss of life when my eyes met the words that created their lives. (Quindlen, p. 52)

We see here a statement of the power of reading and the joy of re-reading. One book I have read at least a dozen times is Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. Sometimes when you know what's coming, you relish the event even more. Sometimes when you have read the chapters several different times, you begin to see the insight that the words carry. And sometimes it's not easy to put into words what happens. What books have you re-read and why?

If you enjoy this sentence from Anna Quidlen's book, perhaps you might enjoy reading her book; it's full of good sentences.

Reference:

Quindlen, A. (1998), How reading changed my life. New York: Ballantine.

To Begin

The purpose here is to become more aware of English structure and thereby to appreciate more the miracle of language.