Midterm Review
I. GRAMMAR
Parallel Structure: the use of the same forms and structures to express equal ideas in
a sentence. Forms and structures include clauses, phrases, and parts of speech.
The following sentence includes errors in parallelism. Find and fix them. You may need to
rephrase portions of some sentences.
Odysseus travels to the underworld to follow Circe’s advice, to seek a way home, and
because he must avoid Poseidon’s wrath. Odysseus knows this is dangerous for himself and its
danger for his men, too. He sees the ghosts of wounded soldiers, admired queens, and a former
commander who was betrayed by his wife. Agamemnon found that her and her boyfriend had a
plan for his death. Agamemnon’s ghost tells Odysseus to distrust women, to question their
motives, but his wife is trustworthy. A reader could think that The Odyssey both criticizes
women for dishonesty and Penelope is idealized for her courage and loyalty. Between she and
Agamemnon’s wife, the book presents contrasting extremes.
Grammar Review
Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers
Name
A modifying phrase or clause must clearly and sensibly modify word in the sentence. When there
is no word that the phrase or clause can sensibly modify, the modifier is said to dangle.
Example: Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on the step.
Corrected: Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her foot on the steps.
Dangling Modifiers: Remove the danglers by revising the sentences.
1. Coming up the front walk, the bouquet in the picture window looked beautiful.
2. Left alone in the house, the thunderstorm terrified him.
3. Enormous and architecturally striking, everyone is impressed by the new building.
4. When selecting a college, the social life seems to interest some students more than
education.
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Midterm Review
5. After considering the proposal for several hours, it was rejected by the council.
6. While talking with friends recently, the topic of dentistry came up.
7. After spending Saturday morning working in the library, a feeling of righteousness possessed
me.
8. After flying in darkness for two hours, the moon rose, and navigation became difficult.
9. While driving at high speed on a deserted highway, two deer leaped in front of our car.
10. Living in this coastal town for many years, the fishing boats and their skippers were well
known to him.
Pronoun Case
Prepositional phrases always use the objective case as the object of the preposition.
Predicate nominatives (I am he.) always use the nominative case.
1. (We, us) heard that Tim and (she, her) were disappointed.
2. Where is (he, him)?
3. The caller may have been (he, him, they, them).
4. Are (she, her) and (I, me) going to be the only contestants in the three-legged race?
5. Between you and (I, me), I like your plan better.
6. My mother named my brother and (me, I) after her uncles.
7. (She, her, they, them) made the shrimp tempura that (we, us) liked so much.
8. The teacher gave Rosa and (they, them) extra math homework.
9. Is that package for Mom or (I, me)?
10. Everyone in the class except (she, her) and (him, he) had read the selection from The
Odyssey.
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Midterm Review
Sentence Fragments, Run-on Sentences Subject and Verb Agreement, Pronoun Case,
Parallelism, and Ambiguous Pronouns
Odysseus meet many characters in the underworld. And most of them seems miserable.
They have left their loved ones, carried their sorrows, and sadness is all they gain. Shades in the
underworld. They are shadows of life the men and Odysseus knows that one day he will face
this fate. Odysseus’ men have strong values of courage and loyalty, that doesn’t mean them are
strong enough for this situation. When they face the fear of their own deaths. This one idea
beyond all other fears cause them to flee.
Verb Tense-Verbs must be consistent in terms of tense
The following are correct examples.
1. Max has worked (present imperfect) all summer, and now he has (present) enough
money to buy a bicycle.
2. The chorus had practiced (past imperfect) for weeks before they sang (past) in public
last night.
3. The surgeon will have reviewed (future imperfect) the test by next Friday, and she will
decide (future) whether or not to operate then.
Find occasions of changes in verb tense or incorrect tense in the following paragraph.
To my surprise, Nancy Chang has decided to drop by about five o’clock last Friday. What she
wanted is a fishing companion. She has been thinking about going fishing all week. As I was
getting my gear together, I have become excited and in my imagination see the fish on my line.
On our way out to the lake, clouds begin to form and we knew we are in for trouble. It rains all
right, for the whole weekend; the fish were safe for another week.
More Verb Tense:
1. I hope to sleep in when it snowed this week.
2. Jackie Robinson amazed fans of baseball on the field, but he becomes an inspiration to the
world with how he handles racial insults.
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Midterm Review
On your own, complete the following examples. Fix problems with ambiguous pronouns,
pronoun case, parallelism, modifier placement, and fragments and run-ons:
1. A Martian invader is a brutal individual caring only for their own success.
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2. Godzilla hates three things: powerful weapons, annoying humans, aliens who invade earth.
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_______________________________________________________________________________
3. An invading alien often finds Godzilla. Unbeatable with advanced technology.
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4. When these aliens face Earth’s monsters. They often find they are their only true threat.
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5. However, with unquenchable and unbeatable rage, the Aliens are always defeated by Godzilla.
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Midterm Review
II. LITERATURE
Semester One Texts and Critical Details:
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul Baumer, Kantorek, Kandinsky, Himmelstoss, Tjaden, Kemmerich’s Boots,
Butterfly on a Skull
Cry, the Beloved Country
Stephen Kumalo, Stephen’s Wife, Absalom Kumalo, Absalom’s Wife, Gertrude
Kumalo, James Jarvis, Arthur Jarvis, Msimangu, Napoleon Letsitsi, Ndotsheni,
landscape, major events and themes
Amleth
Amleth, Hermutrude, Gerutha, Feng, major events and themes
Hamlet
Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, Horatio, Fortinbras,
Yorick, major events and themes
Pan’s Labyrinth
Ofelia, Carmen, Captain, Mercedes, Faun, King of the Underworld, Creature from
Below, major events and themes
III. LITERARY TERMS
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Metaphor
Imagery
-Symbolism
-Tone
Personification
Motif (Repetition)
Juxtaposition
Irony
.
Theme
Read the attached short story and find examples of each term.
Choose a theme for the story and prove that theme use examples of
literary terms in “The Spreading ‘You Know’ “ by James Thurber.
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Midterm Review
Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers
A modifying phrase or clause must clearly and sensibly modify word in the sentence. When there
is no word that the phrase or clause can sensibly modify, the modifier is said to dangle.
Example: Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on the step.
Corrected: Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her foot on the steps.
Dangling Modifiers: Remove the danglers by revising the sentences.
1. After working in the fields all day, little strength was left for social activities.
2. When only a youngster in grade school, my father instructed me in the art of boxing.
3. Yielding to the temptation to look at a classmate’s paper, the proctor caught them cheating.
4. While working in California, her family was living in New York.
5. Having run off the road while passing a car, my father told me I did not know how to drive.
6. Having promised to be home by midnight, the family was annoyed when I came in at two
o’clock.
7. While playing in the high chair, I was afraid the baby would fall out.
8. Riding in the glass-bottomed boat, hundreds of beautiful tropical fish could be seen.
9. Being very shy, strangers terrify my little sister.
10. After being wheeled into the operating room, a nurse placed a mask over my nose.
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