You have learned that an appositive, or explanatory modifier, is in the same case as the word which it explains. Those appositives which we have considered so far are all used to explain nouns which are in the nominative case. Appositives may also be used to explain nouns in the objective case. For example: 1. The message was written by Mr. Coolidge, the president. 2. We received a bill from Mr. Jones, the carpenter. 3. The world owes much to Edison, the inventor. 4. Dickens wrote Bleak House, a famous novel. 5. The book belongs to Bertha, my sister. The words president, carpenter, inventor, novel, and sister, being explanatory modifiers, are in the objective case, since they must agree in case with the nouns which they explain, Coolidge, Jones, Edison, Bleak House, and Bertha. Nouns which follow direct objects and explain them are called objective complements. For example: The class chose John leader. They named the baby Mary. I SUMMARY OF OBJECTIVE CASE You have now learned that nouns are in the objective case: 1. When they receive the action performed by the subject. (direct object) 2. When they are the direct objects of prepositions. 3. When they name the person to or for whom an action is performed. (indirect object) 4. When they explain nouns which are in the objective case. Additional uses of the noun in the objective case are the cognate object, the secondary object, and the retained object. Examples of these uses are: Cognate object: They slept the sleep of the dead. Secondary object: He asked me the number of our telephone. Retained object: Henry was given the position. None of these uses present any functional difficulty; there is no use, therefore, of burdening the student with classifications. II REVIEW Select the nouns in the following sentences which are in the objective case. Tell why they are in the objective case. 1. The mother handed the basket to Mary. 2. Robert mended the tire quickly. 3. They named the ship "Victory." 4. The smallest boy on the team won the race. 8. Father gave my brother John a bicycle. 9. The boys apologized to Miss Jones, the teacher. 10. The troops were loyal to Pershing, the general. 11. The boys chose Rob Brown scout-master. Assignments for fast workers. Draw a diagram similar to the one on page 145, filling in nouns in the various forms of the objective. You ought not to go. They ought not to come. She ought not to have done that. 8. Common Errors Corrected 73. DESCRIPTION The following paragraph from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow shows how sounds may be used to suggest a lonely, deserted spot. Notice how careful Mr. Irving is to create the feeling of loneliness when he mentions the barking of a dog. What word does he use to describe the chirp of the cricket? What does the frog suggest? It was the very witching time of night that Ichabod, heavy-hearted and crestfallen, pursued his travels homeward, along the sides of the lofty hills which rise above Tarrytown, and which he had traversed so cheerily in the afternoon. The hour was as dismal as he. In the dead hush of midnight he could even hear the barking of the watchdog from the opposite shore of the Hudson; but it was so vague and faint as only to give an idea of his distance from this faithful companion of man. No signs of life occurred near him, but occasionally the melancholy chirp of a cricket, or perhaps the guttural twang of the bullfrog from a neighboring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably, and turning suddenly in his bed. Written exercise. Think of a time when you felt very lonely. Write a description of your surroundings at that time. Put in everything that contributed to your lonely feeling. Don't be afraid to be frank and truthful. Make an honest effort to tell exactly why you were lonely. Perhaps you can write a better description of some other mood. For example, you have had a gift which has made you particularly happy; you have had a riotously jolly time with some companions. MAUNA LOA Mauna Loa, or "Big Mountain," is one of the three celebrated Hawaiian volcanoes that have been set aside as national parks. Usually Mauna Loa presents a beautiful and peaceful scene. Around its base is a luxuriant tropical forest. Tree ferns, with their great fuzzy trunks, rise to a height of forty feet; groves of mahogany stand ready to be made into beautiful furniture, and the precious sandalwood, prized alike by the wood-carver and the incense-burning monk, is more abundant here than anywhere else in the world. But volcanoes do not always sleep. Under the date of April 16, 1926, we read the following: "Mauna Loa is in violent eruption. Two great streams of lava are flowing down the mountain side. One stream is a thousand feet wide and ten feet deep; and the other is nearly five hundred feet wide and eight feet deep. Already the lava has destroyed a great forest. At the present rate both streams will reach the sea in a few days." On April 19, more details were given, and we read these. startling facts: "A flood of molten lava pouring out from the crater of Mauna Loa struck the sea and started the ocean boiling several hundred feet from the shore. All houses and the wharf of Hoopuloa were buried under fifty feet of crackling, sizzling lava. As the molten stream flowed into the ocean, great spurts of steam shot into the air, showering the entire region about the bay. "At night the scene is weird, awe-inspiring, and fascinating. Fountains of fire four hundred feet high, leap into the air from three different vents, while down the mountain side rush three red, glowing, dragon-like streams of scorching lava, twisting their way to the sea and destroying whatever happens to be in their path. "Thomas A. Jaggar, of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, has been encamped high upon the mountain since the fifteenth." Oral assignment. In magazines and old newspapers read more about Mauna Loa. Find out something about the brave scientist, T. A. Jaggar, who has lived for several years in "Volcano House" on the very rim of a neighboring crater serving his fellow men by issuing warnings of the mountain's activity. Find pictures of Mauna Loa and come to class prepared to give a short interesting talk about this spectacular volcano. Written assignment. Reproduce some account that you have read of an active volcano or choose one of the topics listed below: 1. A Trip to a Volcano 2. Mauna Loa 3. Kilauea 4. T. A. Jaggar and His Work 7. An Old Volcano Crater 8. Old Faithful 9. An Interesting Cave 10. A Stream That Disappears Into the Earth |