English 104/Winter 2014
Assignment Sheet #4
Wednesday 2/26: Come ready for the final challenging (and fun!) unit of the course—verbal
phrases. In Writers’ Choices, read the brief introduction to verbals and verbal phrases on p.
185.
Due Thursday 2/27: Today is a special day because Michael Kischner, co-author of our
textbook, will teach the class while I am at a conference. Please ask him lots of questions!
Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 186-189. On p. 191, diagram #1-10.
Then, in the sentences below, fill in each blank with a gerund phrase that is at least three words
long. Over the phrase, write what the phrase is functioning as in the sentence (subject, direct
object, etc.).
1. ___________________ is my favorite thing to do on a cold winter day.
2. I have always hated _____________________.
3. One of Superman’s greatest skills is _____________________________.
4. Picasso became a great artist by _________________________.
5. Keemo’s favorite sport, ____________________________, can,
unfortunately, be dangerous.
Due Friday 2/28: Michael Kischner will teach the class again today.
In Writers’ Choices, read pp. 189-191. Do sentence combining, pp. 192-193, #1-10, replacing
each word or phrase in bold face with a gerund phrase made out of the information in each
exercise. *Special note for sentence-combining exercise #8: Your combined sentence should
start with Mark’s not Mark. The proper determiner before a gerund is often a possessive
because a gerund functions as a noun.
Compose a sentence for each of the following: a gerund phrase functioning as (a) subject, (b)
direct object, (c) subject complement, (d) object of the preposition, (e) appositive (five
sentences total). Please underline and label each gerund phrase.
Finally, diagram the following sentences (no answer key):
1)
2)
3)
4)
Someone had entered the bank by blasting a hole through the floor.
Repairing the damage will be a complicated task.
The hardest part of the job will be removing the debris.
Being a bank employee can be difficult.
Due Monday 3/3: I’ll be eager to hear about the grammar adventures you’ve Michael Kischner.
Today we move to participle phrases. Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 197-201. On p. 204-205,
diagram #1-10. Compose the following, remembering to underline the participle phrases:
1. Two sentences with participle phrases at the beginning; use present participles.
2. Two sentences with participle phrases in the middle or at the end; use present
participles.
3. Two more sentences with participle phrases at the beginning; use past participles.
Remember that past participles do not indicate past tense but, rather, passive voice.
4. Two more sentences with participle phrases in the middle or at the end; use past
participles.
Due Tuesday 3/4: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 202-204. In the section on punctuation, p. 204,
note that participle phrases may be restrictive or non-restrictive. This applies only to participle
phrases that follow the nouns they modify; those that precede the nouns are always nonrestrictive and always set off by commas.
In Writers’ Choices, combine sentences #1-20 on pp. 205-207. Unlike some other structures,
participle phrases lend themselves very well to sentence combining, and this is a good set of
exercises. They’re worth doing and thinking about. Also in Writers’ Choices, p. 207-208, do
exercise C, “Catching the Dangling Modifier.”
Due Wednesday 3/5: Infinitive phrases, part 1. Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 211-214. On p. 223,
diagram #1-10.
Complete the following sentences by filling in each blank with an infinitive phrase beginning
with to. Over it, indicate its function in the sentence (subject, direct object, etc.) Please write
out the full sentence.
1. ___________________ is not easy.
2. It is extremely easy _______________________.
3. My friend loves __________________________.
4. Ahab’s decision ___________________________ was a big mistake.
5. Food _________________________ should be placed in the donation bins.
6. Harold asked his friend ________________________________.
7. _______________________ is _________________________.
Due Thursday 3/6: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 219-222. On pp. 224-225, combine #1-9.
Compose one of each kind of the following sentences: (a) with inf. phr. as subject; (b) with inf.
phr. as delayed subject, (c) with inf. phr. as direct object, (d) with inf. phr. as appositive, (e) with
inf. phr. as adjective, and (f) with inf. phr. as adverb.
Due Friday 3/7: Infinitive phrases, part 2. (Today we get into some pretty complicated infinitive
phrases). Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 214-219. On p. 223, diagram #11-20. Compose two
sentences for each of the following kinds of infinitive phrase, and underline the infinitive phrase
(a total of ten sentences):
1. inf. phrase with subject (Writers’ Choices, pp. 214-215); the verbs that takes these
phrases are verbs such as ask, tell, order, permit, forbid, implore, exhort–verbs involving
one person speaking to another.
2. inf. phrase without to (Writers’ Choices, pp. 215-216).
3. inf. phrase introduced by for (Writers’ Choices, p. 217); try one sentence with the “for”
phrase in the beginning as subject, and one with the “for” phrase as the delayed subject
after an expletive “It.”
4. to inf. phrase as part of the verb phrase (Writers’ Choices, pp. 217-218); these pages tell
you that this kind of phrase occurs with certain auxiliaries such as do and will and the
modal auxiliaries
5. inf. phrase used absolutely (Writers’ Choices, p. 218).
Due Monday 3/10: We will practice further with infinitve phrases. Homework, if any, will be
announced and provided in class.
Due Tuesday 3/11: A final verbal phrase: the nominative absolute phrase. Read Writers’
Choices, pp. 229-231. Nominative absolute phrases are perhaps the most sophisticated
structure you are going to learn this quarter. They can make your writing quite impressive!
Underline all nominative phrases in all of the sentences for diagramming, p. 234, #1-20. Next
to each one, write “cause/time” or “details” to say what you think the absolute phrase is doing
in each sentence. Sometimes it might seem to you to be doing a bit of both; in that case, write
“both.” The important thing is to think about it. Diagram #1-10.
Expand each sentence below by filling in the blank with a nominative absolute phrase:
1. _________________________ , Beatrice entered the ballroom.
2. The child stood before his mother, ___________________________.
3. ___________________ , Superman flew through the sky, ____________.
Due Wednesday 3/12: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 231-234. Combine p. 235-236, #1-10.
Compose two of each kind of sentence described in Writers’ Choices, p. 237, “On Your Own”
(ten sentences in all – just do one pair for #3). Underline each nominative absolute phrase and
circle its subject. This is to help you remember that every nominative absolute phrase must
have its own subject. This will help prevent you from accidentally writing participle phrases.
Due Thursday 3/13: Do the Sample Test for Part 4, pp. 239-240. We will go over the answers in
class.
Friday 3/14: Test #4