SENTENCE STUDY AND REVIEW OF ADJECTIVES 235

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2. Point out the adjective clauses in the following sentences.& What noun or pronoun does each modify? What kind of sentence is each of the following?

1. An Italian gentleman, who sailed with Magellan, wrote an account of the voyage around the world.

2. In 1519 the little fleet, which consisted of five old ships, sailed from Spain.

3. Magellan had to put in irons an officer who tried to raise a mutiny among the sailors.

4. On the coast of Patagonia they found men who were giants in size but of a gentle and hospitable disposition.

5. In Patagonia, where further mutiny broke out, they stayed several months.

3. Which of each pair of sentences below do you think expresses the thought better? Which seems more sensible?

1. The foreign gentleman's daughter went to the dentist, and she had a toothache. (COMPOUND SENTENCE)

2. The foreign gentleman's daughter, who had a toothache, went to the dentist. (COMPLEX SENTENCE)

3. The captain selected five men, and he had no doubt about their courage. (COMPOUND SENTENCE)

4. The captain selected five men about whose courage he had no doubt. (COMPLEX SENTENCE)

5. A strange fish had wings and it was caught by a sailor. (CoмPOUND SENTENCE)

6. A strange fish, which had wings, was caught by a sailor. (COмPLEX SENTENCE)

We need both compound and complex sentences to express our thoughts. But every poor compound sentence should be changed; often it can be changed to a good complex sentence by making an adjective clause of one of the independent clauses.

Exercise. Change the following poor compound sentences into good complex sentences:

1. The first person made his appearance, and he was my brother Tom.

2. The man took me to the circus, and he was none other than my uncle.

3. Thomas started the trouble, and he always is an unreliable fellow. 4. The girls won the debate, and they usually do talk better than boys.

5. Miss Cook gave Uncle Silas a nudge with her elbow, and she wished to warn him not to talk so loud.

6. The black horse was responsible for the stampede, and he had not been watched carefully by the riders.

7. The girl lived next door to us, and she had a dangerous cold. 8. The old bridge had long been avoided by careful people, and it came down at last with a crash.

9. The pupil does not speak good English, and he is studying his grammar very hard.

10. The stokers had been fighting the fire for days, and they were glad to reach the harbor, where the fire boats could help.

Group Exercise. 1. Several recent compositions should be copied on the board or read aloud slowly. The entire class will study these, a sentence at a time. The following questions will help in this study:

1. Can any of the sentences be improved by adding suitable adjectives that make the thought clearer or more emphatic?

2. Can any of the compound sentences, if they are unsatisfactory, or any two or three simple sentences, if these are unsatisfactory, be made into good complex sentences?

2. Other compositions should be studied, corrected, and improved in the same way.

in front of a

edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with

oak and studded with

Before

spikes.

edifice, the jail of the settlement, and on one side of the portal, was a rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the could pity and be

and

to him.

heart of Nature

Oral Exercise. The preceding selection is from Hawthorne. Insert suitable adjectives where the blanks are. Think of several adjectives for each blank, then choose the one that seems to you the most appropriate.

Written Exercise. Write the selection as completed by you. Then compare it with the original passage given on page 150.

You see how desirable it is to choose one's adjectives with care. If well selected, they give definiteness, color, and completeness to one's sentences.

Oral Exercise. The teacher will copy on the board one or more paragraphs from your reader or some other book, leaving blanks where there are adjectives. Find several suitable adjectives for each blank. When you have selected the adjective that seems best fitted for each place, the teacher will tell you the adjectives that were used by the author of the selection.89

Oral Exercise. 1. Substitute other adjectives for fine and good in the following sentences. Try to find adjectives that have not been overworked, that have freshness and charm.

We had a fine time.

We had a good time

You could use the words enjoyable, pleasant, jolly, gay, happy. But there are many others. Make as long a list as possible of suitable adjectives. Select the two or three that you like best.

2. For each of the adjectives in italics in the sentences below, name several adjectives that could be put in its place. Substitute the best of these in the sentence. Has the sentence been improved in any way?

1. He is a fine speaker. 2. They bought a fine piano. 3. That is a fine horse. 4. See that fine building. 5. This is a fine program. 6. The book that you recommended is fine.

1. The old doctor is a good man. 2. He is a good physician. 3. He has a good practice. 4. He has a good wife. 5. He went to a good school.

1. The weather is beautiful. 2. Your new dress is beautiful. 3. That poem is beautiful. 4. What a beautiful view this is from your window! 5. Her face is beautiful. 6. When I was sick, she wrote me a beautiful letter.

1. That is a nice pin you have. 2. It was nice of you to visit me. 3. Did you have a nice time? 4. The speaker made a nice distinction between love of country and love of humanity. 5. They had a nice dinner at the new restaurant.

1. I think his conduct is awful. 2. An awful wind began to blow. 3. The cold was awful. 4. The heat was awful. 5. His manners were awful.

1. We won a great victory. 2. Isn't this a great day? 3. I feel simply great. 4. He is a great man. 5. It was a great performance. 6. It was a great treat. 7. This is a great book. 8. Her voice was great.

1. He is a wonderful man. 2. It was a wonderful speech. 3. His was wonderful acting. 4. Isn't this a wonderful day! 5. It's wonderful weather we're having. 6. She is a wonderful teacher. 7. The scene was wonderful.

The following adjectives might be used to describe a book: interesting, readable, absorbing, novel, entertaining, amusing, excellent, instructive, valuable, admirable, great, good. There are many others.

Oral Exercise. 1. Give five adjectives, or more if you can, that might be used to describe a day; five to describe a face; five to describe a clock.

2. Make similar lists descriptive of the following: a dog; a tree; a watch; a load of coal; a basket of groceries; a lead pencil; a chair; a pair of mittens; a smile; a voice.

Group Exercise. 1. Let several compositions be copied on the board, a blank being left wherever there is an adjective. The class may then suggest suitable adjectives for each blank. When the best has been selected, it may be compared with the adjective that the writer of the composition used.

2. If additional adjectives will improve the compositions, the class may suggest such, and the best of these may be inserted in the proper places.

3. Can any sentences be improved by the addition of adjective clauses?

2. Description

Here comes Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon! Forth she steps into the dusky, time-darkened passage; a tall figure, clad in black silk, with a long and shrunken waist, feeling her way towards the stair like a near-sighted person, as in truth she is.- HAWTHORNE, "The House of the Seven Gables

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It was in the back yard of the inn that a man was busily employed, early that morning, in brushing the dirt off a pair of shoes. He was