hazardous adventure and the zest of battle. Wherever he went he carried his own pack, and in the uttermost parts of the earth he kept his conscience for his guide. Oral work. What qualities of Roosevelt do you admire most? How may we all emulate him? Do these paragraphs tell how Roosevelt looked or how he worked? Written work. Make a list of the adjectives and adverbs used in this selection. 126. PUNCTUATION I THE COLON The colon (:) indicates that something is to follow. The colon is used before a quotation formally introduced. Example: The lawyer spoke as follows: "I cannot plead my client needed the money, but I can state, and I can prove, that yours did." that A quotation preceded by thus or as follows and the colon, is said to be formally introduced. The colon is used after the salutation in a business letter. The colon is used after a single word to be followed by an illustration. Example: Mr. John H. Thompson The colon is used before an enumerating list. Example: Send for the following articles: brushes, floor wax, filler, oil, and polishes. Exercise. Supply colons where they are needed in the following sentences: Please send the following pupils to me immediately after school Fred Smith, Elsie Deering, Jane Nutley, Mary Rowe, and William Yates. The merchant ordered this list leather purses, hand-bags, change pocketbooks, and bill folders. Congress has lately passed the following good laws the Good Roads Measure, the Loan Bill, and the Naval Appropriation Bill. The following magazines may be found in the school library The Outlook, The Youth's Companion, St. Nicholas, and The Independent. Short stories by these authors were recommended to the class O. Henry, Richard Harding Davis, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. II THE SEMICOLON Two sentences are often very closely connected in thought. The first sentence may be the cause of the second sentence or the second may be the cause of the first sentence. For example, we say, 1. We cannot go. It is raining. 2. He did not study. He has failed in his lessons. In each case we have two complete thoughts, but they are very closely related. In cases like this we may use semicolons, the semicolon serving to draw the two sentences closer than the period does. For example: 1. We cannot go; it is raining. 2. He did not study; he has failed in his lessons. 3. He waited in breathless silence; the stealthy footsteps came nearer and nearer. A semicolon is used to separate the parts of a compound sentence when the conjunction is omitted. The semicolon is used to separate the members of the compound sentence when they are long, particularly when one or both of them contain a comma. Such sentences have the value of compound sentences. Exercise. Punctuate the following sentences in two ways. Explain your punctuation: 1. Nils didn't care to move he thought a thief had sneaked into the house. 2. He was destitute he had lost his position. 3. They will not be able to go they are preserving quinces. 4. You may not be able to find John he sells papers from five to six. 5. It was beautiful in the country it was summer time. 6. Alexander turned the horse's head toward the sun the horse had been afraid of his own shadow. 7. George Washington was very strong he excelled in athletic exercise. 8. Sit in this chair by the table you will have a better light for your work. 9. When thirteen years of age Washington wrote a book of rules for conduct these governed his own conduct through life. 10. We will occupy this row of seats the ones in front are reserved for the faculty. II A semicolon is used to separate members of a series or members of a compound sentence when a comma has been used in any member. Example: The principal characters in the book of Esther are Ahasuerus, the king; Vashti, the queen; Haman; Mordecai; and Esther, his niece. How many characters are enumerated? Would the meaning of the sentence be clear if commas were used to separate the members of the series? Exercise. Punctuate the following sentences: 1. With a deft stroke of the hatchet the rough bark of the tree was removed the dull old cross-bar auger bored holes half-way through the trees the assistant trudging after drove sumac spouts into the holes and the feet of the busy workers plowed furrows through the snow 2. Fragments of ice began to fall and as we rushed to the bow of the vessel we expected to see the whole side nearest us crash bodily upon the schooner 3. His worldly effects consisted of two shirts and a half two stocks for the neck a pair or two of worsted stockings an old pair of corduroy small clothes a rusty razor and his greatest treasure a broken pitch pipe 4. On that side of the road where the brook entered the wood a group of oaks chestnuts and willows threw a gloom over everything and many people dreaded to pass this bridge 5. Silas Marner leaned forward at last and stretched forth a trembling hand but instead of the hard coin his fingers encountered soft warm golden curls 6. It may be a silly cod gaping in surprise or a silvery haddock or a pollock handsome but worthless or a shiny writhing stupid dogfish a villain if ever there was one 7. Spring was approaching and as he walked through his fields he could smell the sweet clean invigorating air 8. A great Dane hound with white eyes black and tan ears and a tail as long and smooth as a policeman's night club was coming and my companion and I took to our heels 9. He was a snub-nosed flat-browed common-faced boy but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man 10. When I retired to my cabin the awful scene still followed me and the whistling of the wind through the rigging sounded like funeral wailings Write two compound sentences separated by semicolons. Write three sentences containing series separated by semicolons. III A semicolon is used before namely, as, and similar words introducing an explanation, or illustration. Example: Some birds are very beneficial to gardens; namely, the robin, the wren, and the cat-bird. Exercise. Punctuate the following sentences: 1. A few men can truthfully be called men of action for example Col. Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini 2. At least two of our helpful birds are not appreciated for example the owl and the marsh hawk 3. I like books of adventure such as Kidnapped Treasure Island and Robin Hood 4. The garden of Shakespeare's birthplace contains many old-fashioned flowers such as mignonette larkspur columbine and sweet alyssum 127. A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION Name the essential marks of punctuation. Why do we punctuate? Show how punctuation helps in writing sentences. Explain with illustrations the punctuation of direct quotations. Illustrate and explain five uses of the comma. |