English 104
Optional Extra Credit Assignment
Due Monday, November 16
Credit: 7 points
Format: Typed and double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
Length: One page, or about 250-300 words.
Instructions: Choose one of the options below.
For any one of the options below, make use of as many parallel dependent clauses as you can.
Include several long strings of parallel dependent clauses (three or more clauses in a row, all
using the same subordinator). Use at least two kinds of dependent clauses. Underline each
dependent clause and label it according to what kind it is—adverb clause, relative clause, or
noun clause. Your composition must use complete sentences and must be proofread and checked
for basic grammar (subject-verb agreement, tenses, etc.).
Be creative and imaginative, and use those dependent clauses!
Option 1: Write a love letter to any recipient, real or imaginary. Your letter can be to a person, to
an object, or to a group of people. (Examples: To Harry Potter, to my great-grandmother (whom
I did not know), to my favorite old sweatshirt, to potato chips, to The Beatles, to my guitar.)
Your letter can be in the form of a poem if you like.
Option 2: Write the opposite of a love letter: a letter of hate or annoyance or complaint. Address
the letter to the thing that annoys you: call it “you.” For example, you might write to potato
chips, complaining about how bad for you they are; to the traffic light on your daily route that
always takes forever to change and that doesn’t give you enough time to cross the street; to
greediness; to cruelty. Your letter can be in the form of a poem if you like.
Option 3: Write a persuasive speech in which you try to convince a specific audience to take
action on something. You can choose any topic you want to, from the real to the imaginary. For
example, you could persuade your brother to stop playing video games and go to a movie with
you. You could convince your friend to go to your favorite restaurant. You could convince a
secret agent to undertake a special mission.