Capitals and Punctuation

44. WRITTEN LESSON

37

Write five sentences. In the first, tell where Washington lived. In the second, tell something about him as general. In the third, name some battle in which he fought. In the fourth, tell something about him as president. In the fifth, tell why he is called the father of his country.

Exchange papers, and correct for mistakes in spelling, capitals, and periods, marking each mistake with a small cross x. Return the papers. Are the corrections right? When there is a mistake, rewrite the sentence correctly.

45. LANGUAGE LESSON

CAPITALS AND PUNCTUATION

Names of states, towns, and streets begin with capitals. Dr. James W. Reynolds lives on West St., in the city of Portland, Oregon.

Write sentences in answer to these questions:

1. Where do you live? 2. On what street is the schoolhouse? 3. Where does your cousin live? 4. What city is the capital of your state? 5. Who is the governor of your state?

Write the names (1) of five states; (2) of five large cities; (3) of five streets or avenues.

The preceding exercises are to be corrected by the class. Note the punctuation in these sentences. How is the comma used?

1. George, will you lend me your pencil?

2. Yes, May, and I will sharpen it for you.

3. Thank you, George.

The name of the person spoken to is marked off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

46. ORAL LESSON

THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bedclothes, through the hills.

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All
up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,

And sees before him, dale and plain,

The pleasant land of counterpane.

- ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

Read the poem carefully. What is the first stanza about? The second tells of the toy soldiers among the clothes. What other toys are mentioned in the third stanza? In the fourth stanza the little boy playing with his toys suddenly becomes a giant looking over a great land. Why does he think of himself as a giant? What are the meanings of these words: uniforms, drills, fleets, dale, counterpane? Is the title of the poem good? Commit the poem to memory.

This poem, like the one in Lesson 7, is from a book of poems called A Child's Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis

Stevenson. These poems tell of many of his games, thoughts, and dreams when he was a boy. He was a famous writer of many books. Even after he was famous, he was still almost as fond of play as a boy, and there were no games he liked better than those played with toy soldiers. He and his young stepson had a great army of lead soldiers with which they made all sorts of drills, battles, and wars. Sometimes one of these war games would last all day.

Recite this poem, and the poems in Lessons 7 and 19. In speaking verses, remember to stand straight, hold your head up, speak distinctly, and pause between the stanzas. Which of the three poems do you like best? Why?

47. WRITTEN LESSON

Write the poem, "The Land of Counterpane," without looking at your book.

may exchange papers.

When the poems are written, you Compare the written copy with the printed. Draw a line through each mistake in spelling or capitals, and write the correct word or letter above.

48. LANGUAGE LESSON

Name the months of the year and the days of the week in their order. The names of the months and of the days are always written with capitals. Learn to write these abbreviations: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except the second month alone;
To which we twenty-eight assign,
Till leap-year makes it twenty-nine.

Write on the blackboard the name and street address of the following a minister, a physician, a teacher.

Write the name and addresses of the President of the United States; of the Governor of your state.

You have learned in Lesson 17 that the hyphen is used between syllables when a word is divided at the end of a line. It is also used between the parts of many compound words, as old-fashioned, thirty-one, leap-year.

49. ORAL LESSON

A TRUE STORY

Jocko was a bright little monkey and a great pet. He had been given to George and May by their uncle, and the children soon became very fond of him. He was so active and so like a child in his ways that they never tired of watching him. How he would grin and chatter! No one could help laughing to see him. But Jocko was very mischievous. He would not stay at home, but would climb the fences and run away into the neighbors' gardens. He liked especially to get into the henyard and pull the feathers out of the hens. He made so much trouble that finally George's father bought an iron ball and chain and fastened it to Jocko's leg.

Now Jocko could climb no more fences. He could run about the yard, dragging the ball after him; but when he tried to climb, the iron ball pulled him back. How he hated that ball! He would scold and chatter at it for many minutes at a time. But scolding did no good, and the neighbors' hens were left in peace.

In the back yard was an old well, which was no longer used. Sometimes the children would pull the wooden cover back and drop stones into the well so as to hear them splash in the water. This interested Jocko very much. He would watch the children and listen to the splash. He seemed to want to play the game

himself.

One day the well was left uncovered. There was no one in the yard but Jocko. He ran to the well and peered over the edge. Then he looked at the iron ball that had caused him so much trouble. An idea seemed to come to him, and he talked to himself in a most excited fashion. Then he seized the iron ball in his front paws, and rolled it to the edge of the well, and gave it another push.

There was a great splash, and that was the end of poor Jocko.

Read the story to yourself. Who was Jocko? To whom did he belong? What could he do? What were his faults? Why did he have to wear an iron ball and chain? What play of the children was Jocko especially interested in? Did you ever drop stones in the water to hear them splash? What idea came into Jocko's head? Was it a good idea? Why did he drop the ball into the well? What was the result? Did Jocko know too much for his own good? Or didn't he know enough? Which is the better, to know something thoroughly or to know it only by halves? Do you remember the fable of the tortoise who talked too much in Lesson 13, and the fable of the larks in Lesson 37? you make a fable out of this true story of Jocko?

Could

What