1. Writing with Focus Postponing Adjectives Postponing adjectives Review A Review B

2. Postponing adjectives Adjectives often come before the noun they modify. Look what happens when Stephen Crane places the adjective later in the sentence. Adjective The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed a resting army stretched out on the hills. Noun The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. In this sentence from The Red Badge of Courage, Crane draws focus to the adjective by postponing it. The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed a resting army stretched out on the hills.

3. Postponing adjectives Adjectival phrases A group of words may also act together as an adjective, forming an adjectival phrase. Later in the same paragraph, Crane postpones an entire participial phrase: participial phrase A group of words may also separate an adjective or adjectival phrase from the noun it modifies. A river, amber-tinted in the shadow of its banks, purled at the army's feet…. The men there seemed to be in conventional moods, altogether unaware of the impending annihilation.

4. Postponing adjectives Participial phrases A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective. Present Participle Past Participle paint ed speak ing k o sp paint ing The woman speaking drew a crowd. The painted wall was still sticky. en

5. Postponing adjectives Participial phrases A participial phrase consists of a participle and its complements and modifiers. Jan, painting the wall, stood on a ladder. Participle Complement Spoken slowly, the poem made more sense. Participle Modifier

6. Postponing adjectives Notice that a comma is placed before a postponed adjective or adjectival phrase when it comes at the end of a sentence. Commas enclose a phrase in the middle of a sentence. A river, amber-tinted in the shadow of its banks, purled at the army's feet…. The men there seemed to be in conventional moods, altogether unaware of the impending annihilation.

7. Postponing adjectives Combining sentences Postponed adjectives can also bring two sentences together. Instead, Crane wrote the sentence this way. He thought that all the regiment was fleeing. It was pursued by these ominous crashes. 1. 2. He thought that all the regiment was fleeing, pursued by these ominous crashes. Crane could have expressed these ideas separately:

8. Postponing adjectives 2.A brown and sickly cloud hangs over the refinery on warm days. 3.My brother does not know about the surprise party. He will be arriving home at noon. Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface directly after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary. 1.The shattered mirror fell out of its frame in a thousand pieces.

9. Postponing adjectives 1.The mirror, shattered, fell out of its frame in a thousand pieces. Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface directly after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary.

10. Postponing adjectives 2.A cloud, brown and sickly, hangs over the refinery on warm days. Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface directly after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary.

11. Postponing adjectives 3.My brother, arriving home at noon, does not know about the surprise party. Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface directly after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary.

12. Postponing adjectives [End of Section] Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary. 1. The sizzling platter of fajitas arrived at our table. 2.Two bullet-fast and screaming fighters flew overhead. 3.The train finally arrived. It was delayed three hours. 4. The custodian pushed his broom along the hall. He was whistling a tune from a Broadway musical. 5. E-mails from adoring fans poured in. They numbered more than anyone could have time to answer. On Your Own

13. Postponing adjectives Possible Answers Revise each of the following sentences by placing the adjective or adjectival phrase in boldface after the noun it modifies. Delete any words as necessary. 1. The platter of fajitas, sizzling, arrived at our table. 2.Two fighters flew overhead, bullet-fast and screaming. 3.The train, delayed three hours, finally arrived. 4. The custodian, whistling a tune from a Broadway musical, pushed his broom along the hall. 5. E-mails from adoring fans poured in, more than anyone could have time to answer.

14. 4.Commander Soto saw that a mass of wires had spilled from the shattered panel, twisted together like a nest of snakes. Review A 1. A reef, castlelike, rose from the ocean floor. 2.Dark thunder clouds, dingy and menacing, hung in the sky. For each of the following sentences, identify which noun the underlined adjective or adjectival phrase modifies. 3.Alison said nothing throughout dinner, insulted by being seated with her much younger cousins.

15. Review A 1. A reef, castlelike, rose from the ocean floor. 2.Dark thunderclouds, dingy and menacing, hung in the sky. 4.Commander Soto saw that a mass of wires had spilled from the shattered panel, twisted together like a nest of snakes. For each of the following sentences, identify which noun the underlined adjective or adjectival phrase modifies. 3.Alison said nothing throughout dinner, insulted by being seated with her much younger cousins.

16. Review B Write a paragraph in which you describe a dramatic situation. In two sentences, postpone adjectives to draw attention to a particular aspect of your description.

17. Review B At first it seemed as if the wall of sandbags would hold back the flood. The crews of townspeople, exhausted from their work, went home to move their belongings to higher ground. But the river kept rising. Water began to spill over the tops of the carefully stacked bags, now irrelevant in the face of nature. Write a paragraph in which you describe a dramatic situation. In two sentences, postpone adjectives to draw attention to a particular aspect of your description. [possible answer]

18. The End