LESSON 21

COMPOSITION CONNECTED TERMS AND

INTERJECTIONS

COMMA - RULE. Words or phrases connected by conjunctions are separated from each other by the comma unless all the conjunctions are expressed.

Remark. When words and phrases stand in pairs, the pairs are separated according to the Rule, but the words of each pair are not.

When one of two terms has a modifier that without the comma might be referred to both, or, when the parts of compound predicates and of other phrases are long or differently modified, these terms or parts are separated by the comma though no conjunction is omitted.

When two terms connected by or have the same meaning, the second is logically explanatory of the first, and is set off by the comma, i. e., when it occurs in the body of a sentence, a comma is placed after the explanatory word, as well as before the or.

Direction. Justify the punctuation of these sentences:

1. Long, pious pilgrimages are made to Mecca.

2. Empires rise, flourish, and decay.

3. Cotton is raised in Egypt, in India, and in the United States.

4. The brain is protected by the skull, or cranium.

5. Nature and art and science were laid under tribute.

6. The room was furnished with a table, and a chair without legs.

7. The old oaken bucket hangs in the well.

Explanation. No comma here, for no conjunction is omitted. Oaken limits bucket, old limits bucket modified by oaken, and the limits bucket modified by old and oaken. See Lesson 13.

8. A Christian spirit should be shown to Jew or Greek, male or female, friend or foe.

9. We climbed up a mountain for a view.

Explanation. No comma.

Up a mountain tells where we climbed, and for a view tells why we climbed up a mountain.

10. The boy hurries away from home, and enters upon a career of business or of pleasure.

11. The long procession was closed by the great dignitaries of the realm, and the brothers and sons of the king.

Direction. Punctuate such of these sentences as need punctuation, and give your reasons:

1. Men and women and children stare cry out and run. 2. Bright healthful and vigorous poetry was written by Milton.

3. Few honest industrious men fail of success in life. (Where is the conjunction omitted?)

4. Ireland or the Emerald Isle lies to the west of England.

5. That relates to the names of animals or of things without sex.

6. The Hebrew is closely allied to the Arabic the Phoenician the Syriac and the Chaldee.

7. We sailed down the river and along the coast and into a little inlet.

8. The horses and the cattle were fastened in the same stables and were fed with abundance of hay and grain.

9. Spring and summer autumn and winter rush by in quick succession.

10. A few dilapidated old buildings still stand in the deserted village.

EXCLAMATION POINT-RULE. All Exclamatory Expressions must be followed by the exclamation point.

Remark. Sometimes an interjection alone and sometimes an interjection and the words following it form the exclamatory expression; as, Oh! it hurts. Oh, the beautiful snow! O is used in direct address; as, O father, listen to me. Oh is used as a cry of pain, surprise, delight, fear, or appeal. This distinction, however desirable, is not strictly observed, O being frequently used in place of Oh.

CAPITAL LETTERS RULE. The words I and O should be written in capital letters.

Direction. Correct these violations of the two rules given

above:

1. o noble judge o excellent young man. 2. Out of the depths have i cried unto thee. 3. Hurrah the field is won. 4. Pshaw how foolish. 5. Oh oh oh i shall be killed. 6. o life how uncertain o death how inevitable.

LESSON 22

ANALYSIS AND PARSING

Direction. Beginning with the 8th sentence of the first group of exercises in Lesson 21, analyze thirteen sentences, omitting the 4th of the second group.

Direction. Using the nouns below, compose sentences with compound subjects; compose others in which the verbs shall form compound predicates; and others in which the adjectives, the adverbs, and the phrases shall form compound modifiers:

In some let there be three or more connected terms. Observe Rule, Lesson 21, for punctuation. Let your sentences mean something.

NOUNS

Washington, beauty, grace, Jefferson, symmetry, lightning, Lincoln, electricity, copper, silver, flowers, gold, rose, lily.

VERBS

Examine, sing, pull, push, report, shout, love, hate, like, scream, loathe, approve, fear, obey, refine, hop, elevate, skip, disapprove.

ADJECTIVES

Direction. See Caution, Lesson 13.

Bright, acute, patient, careful, apt, forcible, simple,

* See note on page 9 of preface.

homely, happy, short, pithy, deep, jolly, mercurial, precipitous.

ADVERBS

Direction. See Caution, Lesson 15.

Neatly, slowly, carefully, sadly, now, here, never, hereafter.

PHRASES

On sea; in the city; by day; on land; by night; in the country; by hook; across the ocean; by crook; over the lands; along the level road; up the mountains.

LESSON 24 *

REVIEW

CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION

Direction. Give the reason for every capital letter and for every mark of punctuation used below:

1. The sensitive parts of the body are covered by the cuticle, or skin. 2. The degrees of A.B., A.M., D.D., and LL.D. are conferred by the colleges and the universities of the country. 3. Oh, I am so happy! 4. Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters rejoice at the news. 5. Plants are nourished by the earth, and the carbon of the air. 6. A tide of American travelers is constantly flooding Europe. 7. The tireless, sleepless sun rises above the horizon, and climbs slowly and steadily to the zenith. S. He retired to private life on half pay, and on the income of a large estate in the South.

Direction. Write these expressions, using capital letters and marks of punctuation where they belong:

*See note on page 9 of preface.