Sentences, Fragments and Run-Ons – Lord of the Flies Chapter 1
Directions: Label each group of words as a sentence or a fragment. (Remember, a complete sentence
contains both a subject and a verb, AND expresses a complete thought.) Then, for each fragment, rewrite it
so that it is a complete sentence. You may use your novel for the rewrite.
1. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it from one hand.
2. An expression of pain and inward concentration altered the pale contours of his face.
3. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in
the air.
4. Ralph stood.
5. A school of tiny, glittering fish.
6. Three small children no older than Johnny.
7. Some act of God – a typhoon perhaps, or the storm that had accompanied his own arrival.
8. The only sound that reached them now through the heat of the morning.
9. “Get my clothes,” muttered Ralph.
10. Taking their cue from the innocent Johnny.
11. Ralph, who was not interested because he was still blowing.
12. The sand, trembling beneath the heat haze.
13. All three were hot, dirty and exhausted.
14. The children, who came along the beach, singly or in twos.
15. Merridew, his eyes staring, made the best of a bad job.
16. The two boys, bullet-headed and with hair like tow.
17. A black, bat-like creature that danced on the sand.
18. His grey shorts sticking to him with sweat.
19. Piggy stirred.
20. If Simon walks in the middle of us.
21. Ralph, faced by the task of translating all this into an explanation.
22. Now, toward the end of the afternoon, the mirages were settling a little.
23. Where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground.
24. Beyond the hollow the square top of the mountain.
25. There, too, jutting into the lagoon, the platform with insect-like figures.
Directions: Label each group of words as a sentence or a run-on. Then, rewrite and correct the run-ons
sentences by doing ONE of the following:
a. Use a semicolon between the two clauses. Do NOT capitalize the first word after the
semicolon.
b. Follow the comma with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to connect
the two clauses. (Do not start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. Sometimes
authors do this, but until you are a published author, it is a no-no)
c. Use a period to separate the two sentences.
*Remember: You cannot join two independent clauses with a comma! Independent clauses are like
sentences – they can stand alone.
1. The ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals
of fallen trees.
2. The sand was thick over his black shoes, the heat hit him.
3. Ralph did a surface dive and swam under water with his eyes open the sandy edge of the pool
loomed up like a hillside.
4. He became conscious of the weight of clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely, and ripped off each
stocking.
5. Here the beach was interrupted abruptly by the square motif of the landscape a great platform of
pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forest and terrace.
6. Ralph lolled in the water, sleep enveloped him like the swathing mirages that were wrestling with
the brilliance of the lagoon.
7. He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform, and found his
scattered clothes.
8. Ralph took the shell from Piggy a little water ran down his arm.
9. There came a rushing sound from its mouth but nothing more.
10. Clouds of birds rose from the treetops, something squealed and ran in the undergrowth.
11. Ralph’s face was dark with breathlessness, the air over the island was full of bird-clamor and echoes
ringing.
12. His face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise, and his heart was
making the stretched shirt shake.
13. A storm of laughter arose, even the tiniest child joined in.
14. As if released from class, the choir boys stood up, chattered, and piled their black cloaks on the
grass.
15. Some unknown force had wrenched and shattered these cubes so that they lay askew, often piled
diminishingly on each other.
16. The pink granite of the next cliff was further back from the creepers and trees.
17. Not for five minutes could they drag themselves away from this triumph. But they left at last.
18. The tide was running so that long streaks of foam tailed away from the reef for a moment they felt
that the boat was moving steadily astern.
19. The bushes were dark green and aromatic and the many buds were waxen green and folded up
against the light.