D.L.P. – Week Five GRADE EIGHT

Day One – Skills Participles – Correction of Dangling A participle looks like a verb but works like an adjective. To locate a participle, look for the all of the words that look like verbs. Because they are actions, they may even end in suffixes like “ing” or “ed.” If the verb-like word is an adjective, it should describe a noun and be close to that noun in the sentence. For example: Burning quickly, the building was destroyed. (Burning is the participle since it describes the building. Note that it is close to it in the sentence.) A participle is called dangling when it is not in close proximity to the noun it describes, or no noun is present for it to describe. Note this poor example: Burning quickly, fireman put out the flames. (In this example, the participle burning appears to describe the fireman. Obviously, that is not the case, so this participle would be considered dangling.) Punctuation of possessives An apostrophe is used to show possession or ownership. If the word showing ownership is singular, then the apostrophe is placed before the s. (boy’s) If the word is plural and ends in an s, then the apostrophe is placed after the s. (groups’) However, if the plural word does not end in an s, then the apostrophe is placed before the s. (children’s) Joint possession means more than one person owns something. If one thing is owned by more than one person, the apostrophe and s appear only on the final person in the group. (Bob and Mark’s car) Verb usage – to catch The verb catch is an irregular action verb. In the past catch changes to caught. The past participle is have caught.

Isaac Bashevis Singer received a traditional Jewish education, born in Poland in DAY ONE – SENTENCE ONE Born in Poland in 1904, Isaac Bashevis Singer received a traditional Jewish education.

Throughout Singers’ youth, all of Europe was catched up in political turmoil. DAY ONE – SENTENCE TWO Throughout Singer’s youth, all of Europe was caught up in political turmoil.

Day Two – Skills Verb Tense Consistency For logic purposes, the verbs used in a sentence or longer piece must be in the same tense. Punctuation – Period in an Abbreviation When a word is abbreviated, a period must be used to show that the word has been shortened. (Mister – Mr. street – st.) Punctuation – Comma – Introductory Subordinate Clause When a sentence begins with a subordinate (dependent) clause, the clause must be followed by a comma. If the subordinate clause ends the sentence, no commas separates it from the independent one.

With war approaching, the young writer emigrated to the United States and settles in New York City. DAY TWO – SENTENCE ONE With war approaching, the young writer emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City.

Although he later became a US citizen he retained many of his European ways. DAY TWO – SENTENCE TWO Although he later became a U.S. citizen, he retained many of his European ways.

Day Three– Skills Punctuation –Comma – Prepositional Phrases When a sentence starts with one prepositional phrase, it is the writer’s choice to place a comma after it or not. Be consistent. Some single prepositional phrases involving time seem logical. (At first, I was unsure.) However, if more than prepositional phrase begins a sentence, a comma must be placed at the end of them. (On Thursday in the morning, I…) Plurals – Formation of Most nouns are made plural by simply adding an s or es. (boys, churches) However, some words change completely in their spelling. (tooth-teeth, child-children) Some nouns remain the same whether they are singular or plural. (fish, moose) When unsure of how a plural is spelled, check a dictionary. Confused Words – their, there, they’re The word there is a possessive pronoun and shows ownership. The word there can be used to show a place. It can also be called an expletive when it is followed by a linking verb. They’re is a contraction made up of the words they and are.

For the subjects of his writing Singer drew on his Jewish heritage and on Jewish life in New York City. DAY THREE – SENTENCE ONE For the subjects of his writing, Singer drew on his Jewish heritage and on Jewish life in New York City.

His storys are marked by there wit and gentle humor. DAY THREE – SENTENCE TWO His stories are marked by their wit and gentle humor.

Day Four– Skills Negatives – Elimination of Doubles Only one negative word should be used per sentence. Negative words include no, not, never, and none. Redundancy – Elimination of Redundancy means that a writer says something more than once. Being repetitive in writing is unnecessary. (Ex. In my opinion I believe) Capitalization – Proper Nouns – Things Names of specific things must be capitalized. They may be the names of products (Kleenex), holidays (Fourth of July), languages (French), historical events (Battle of Gettysburg), or companies (Nike). When the noun is more than one word, follow the same rules for capitalizing words in a title. Punctuation – Comma – Appositives If an appositive is a single word, it is the writer’s choice to place comas around it or not, but a multiple word appositive must be set off from the sentence with commas. Punctuation – Comma – Nonrestrictive Clause vs. Restrictive Clause A nonrestrictive clause is a subordinate (dependent) clause that is not needed for the independent clause to make sense. This nonrestrictive clause adds detail and description, but since the independent clause can function without it, it must be set off by commas. If the subordinate clause is integral to the meaning of the independent clause, it is called a restrictive clause, and no commas are used.

For a long time Singer’s writings weren’t hardly known here in this country. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE ONE For a long time Singer’s writings were hardly known in this country.

He wrote in yiddish a language of European Jews which blends German dialects with Hebrew and Slavic vocabulary. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE TWO He wrote in Yiddish, a language of European Jews, which blends German dialects with Hebrew and Slavic vocabulary.

Day Five– Skills Punctuation – Comma – Interrupters An interrupter breaks up the flow of a sentence. If the interrupter starts the sentence, place a comma after it. If the interrupter is mid-sentence, place commas before and after it. Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs The three degrees of comparison are positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree is simply the adjective or adverb. The comparative degree means that two things are being compared. The suffix “er” is used or the words more or less. (bigger, more interesting, less exciting) The superlative degree compares more than two things. The suffix “est” or the words most or least are used. (biggest, most interesting, least exciting) A double comparison occurs when both the suffix and the words are used. Use one or the other. Punctuation – Period in an Abbreviation When a word is abbreviated, a period must be used to show that the word has been shortened. (Mister – Mr. street – st.)

Gradually however translations of his works won him a more wider audience. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE ONE Gradually, however, translations of his works won him a wider audience.

In 1978 IB Singer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his lifetime achievement as a writer. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE TWO In 1978 I.B. Singer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his lifetime achievement as a writer.