Specifications for the final exam/study sheet
We have covered Chapters 1-5. You are responsible for the
information in those chapters – whether we went over it in class or
not.
Section 1 (15%) – Identification of words traditionally known as “parts
of speech.” You should be able to spot individual words and label
them with the following labels:
Noun: Common (NC)
Noun: Proper (NPR)
Adjective (ADJ)
Adverb (ADV)
Verb: Lexical (LV)
Verb: Auxiliary (AUX)
Determiner: article (DET-A)
Determiner: demonstrative (DET - D)
Determiner: possessive (DET – PO)
Pronoun: Subject (PS)
Pronoun: Object (PO)
Pronoun: Possessive (see DET – PO)
Preposition: (PREP)
Particle: (PART)
Example:
Directions: Write the correct label above each word:
In
the
house
late summer
in
river and the
a
of
village
plain to
the
that year we
lived in
a
that looked
across
the
mountains. (From A Farewell to
Arms by E. Hemingway)
To prepare: I will pull sentences from the first page of Gabriel Garcia
Marquez’s book One Hundred Years of Solitude. You can find this
page by going to Amazon.com.
Section 2. (20%) Understanding of the verb phrase. You should be
able to identify the predicate and within that find the finite verb
phrase. For each finite verb phrase, you should be able to identify
tense and aspect and voice.
Example: (modified from the New York Times, April 22, 2008)
Directions: UNDERLINE the predicate in each of the following
sentences. Draw a BOX around the complete finite verb phrase.
After each sentence, identify tense, aspect, voice.
1. A Hard Plastic Is Raising Hard Questions.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice:
2. Are toxic plastics lurking in your kitchen?
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice:
3. It’s an important question.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
4. Many families have been asking this since the release of a report
last week.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
5. A chemical in plastic baby bottles, water bottles and food
containers is facing increasing scrutiny by health officials in Canada
and the United States.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
6. The substance is bisphenol-a.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
7. Bisphenol- a is widely used in the making of the hard, clear and
nearly unbreakable polycarbonate.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
8. Studies and tests show something really scary.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
9. Trace amounts of BPA have leached from polycarbonate
containers into foods and liquids.
Tense:
Aspect:
Voice
To Prepare: The sentences you will see will all be simple sentences
(one finite verb phrase). I suggest you simply review your notes.
ANSWERS:
1. A Hard Plastic [Is Raising] Hard Questions.
Tense: present
Aspect: progressive
Voice: active
2. [Are ]toxic plastics [lurking] in your kitchen?
Tense: present
Aspect: progressive
Voice: active
3. It [is] an important question.
Tense: present
Aspect: simple
Voice active
4. Many families [have been asking] this since the release of a report
last week.
Tense: present
Aspect: perfect progressive
Voice active
5. A chemical in plastic baby bottles, water bottles and food
containers [is facing ]increasing scrutiny by health officials in Canada
and the United States.
Tense: present
Aspect: progressive
Voice active
6. The substance [is] bisphenol-a.
Tense: present
Aspect: simple
Voice active
7. Bisphenol- a [is widely used] in the making of the hard, clear and
nearly unbreakable polycarbonate.
Tense: present
Aspect: simple
Voice passive
8. Studies and tests [show] something really scary.
Tense: present
Aspect: simple
Voice active
9. Trace amounts of BPA[ have leached] from polycarbonate
containers into foods and liquids.
Tense: present
Aspect: perfect
Voice active
To Prepare: The sentences you will see will all be simple sentences
(one finite verb phrase). I suggest you simply review your notes.
Section III. (30%) Noun Phrases and What They Are and What They
Do.
Given a list of sentences, you will identify the noun phrases in each
one by: a) bracketing the noun phrase to show the internal structure
of subordinate noun phrases and b) identifying the role of the noun
phrase in the sentence (from a list of possible roles).
Noun phrase roles we have covered:
Subject (SUB)
Direct Object (DO)
Indirect Object (IO)
Subject Complement (SC)
Adverbial (ADV)
Object of Preposition (where the prepositional phrase is an adverbial
or a verb complement) (OP – ADV; OP – VC ) OR an noun
modifier/adjectival (OP-ADJ)
Example: From Wikipedia
Directions: Bracket the noun phrases in the following sentence to
show patterns of noun phrase subordination. Above each noun
phrase be sure to write the correct label.
OP-VC
OP-ADJ
1.The digital divide refers to [the gap among [those people with
OP-ADJ
OP-ADJ
[effective access to [digital information technology. ]]]]
Section IV. (30%) Predicate Patterns.
I will give you a list of basic predicate patterns that we have practiced
in class. You will also have a list of sentences – all of them simple
and active. Your job will be to simply identify the pattern of each
sentence.
The basic predicate patterns in simple sentences we have studied
are
1. VP+DO
2. VP+IO+DO
3. VP+DO+OC:NP
4. VP+DO+OC:ADJ PH
5. VP+DO+VC
6. VP+SC:NP
7. VP+SC:ADJ PH
8. VP
9. VP+VC
10. VP+ADV
Obviously, all of these can be further modified by the addition of
adverbials!
Example:
Directions: Write the number of the sentence pattern next to each
sentence.
1. __{9}____ The monks in the stands protested against the arbitrary
decision.
2. __{2}___ The Dahlai Llama showed China an interesting
perspective.
You will also have an opportunity to write sentences in each of these
patterns. I will choose one of these topics:
1. Zoo animals
2. Computers
3. The Iraq War
Section V. The Role of Grammar (5%)
There will be a final section in which you will apply what you’ve
learned to a critique. This will be done outside of class. Please see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-ukN1Rvb8 and watch
the video carefully. This is another segment of
“GRAMMAR ROCK.” Please write a one page critique of
the CONTENT of this video. This should be brought with
you to class – typed; double spaced.