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The Grammardog Guide to

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

All exercises use sentences from the novel. Includes over 250 multiple choice questions.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style All sentences are from the novel

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Exercise 1 -- Parts of Speech . . . . 3 25 multiple choice questions Exercise 2 -- Proofreading: Spelling, Capitalization, . . . . 5 Punctuation 12 multiple choice questions Exercise 3 -- Proofreading: Spelling, Capitalization, . . . . 6 Punctuation 12 multiple choice questions Exercise 4 -- Simple, Compound, Complex Sentences . . . . 7 25 multiple choice questions Exercise 5 -- Complements . . . . 9 25 multiple choice questions on direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions Exercise 6 -- Phrases . . . 11 25 multiple choice questions on prepositional, appositive, gerund, infinitive, and participial phrases Exercise 7 -- Verbals: Gerunds, Infinitives, and . . . 13 Participles 25 multiple choice questions Exercise 8 -- Clauses . . . 15 25 multiple choice questions

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style

TABLE OF CONTENTS Exercise 9 -- Style: Figurative Language . . . 17 25 multiple choice questions on metaphor, simile, personification, and onomatopoeia Exercise 10 -- Style: Poetic Devices . . . 19 25 multiple choice questions on assonance, consonance, alliteration, repetition, and rhyme Exercise 11 -- Style: Sensory Imagery . . . 21 20 multiple choice questions Exercise 12 -- Style: Allusions and Symbols . . . 23 20 multiple choice questions on literary, religious, historical, and folklore allusions Exercise 13 -- Style: Literary Analysis – Selected Passage 1 . . . 25 6 multiple choice questions Exercise 14 -- Style: Literary Analysis – Selected Passage 2 . . . 27 6 multiple choice questions Exercise 15 -- Style: Literary Analysis – Selected Passage 3 . . . 29 6 multiple choice questions Exercise 16 -- Style: Literary Analysis – Selected Passage 4 . . . 31 6 multiple choice questions Answer Key Answers to Exercises 1-16 . . . 33 Glossary -- Literary Glossary . . . 35 Glossary -- Grammar Glossary . . . 46

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EXERCISE 1 PARTS OF SPEECH

Identify the parts of speech in the following sentences. Label the underlined words: v = verb n = noun adj = adjective adv = adverb prep = preposition pron = pronoun int = interjection conj = conjunction

____1. Marley was dead to begin with.

____2. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

____3. Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a

squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!

____4. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?”

____5. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly

that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

____6. “What right have you to be merry?”

____7. “If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

____8. He put his hand upon the key he had relinquished, turned it sturdily,

walked in, and lighted his candle.

____9. But there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said, “Pooh, pooh!” and closed it with a bang.

____10. It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon

it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house.

____11. “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost.

____12. He held up his chain at arm’s-length, as if that were the cause of all his unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.

____13. “At this time of the rolling year,” the specter said, “I suffer most.”

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EXERCISE 1 PARTS OF SPEECH

____14. “I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day.”

____15. The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window.

____16. Marley’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly. ____17. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if

its hold were of uncommon strength.

____18. The Spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately: “Your reclamation, then. Take heed!”

____19. “I see a vacant seat, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved.”

____20. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn’t care twopence for it.

____21. “He hasn’t the satisfaction of thinking – ha, ha, ha! – that he is ever

going to benefit us with it.”

____22. After tea, they had some music.

____23. He always knew where the plump sister was.

____24. Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end.

____25. From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children, wretched,

abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.

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EXERCISE 2 PROOFREADING: SPELLING, CAPITALIZATION, PUNCTUATION

Read the following passages and decide which type of error, if any, appears in each underlined section.

PASSAGE 1 PASSAGE 2

The mention of Marleys’ funeral brings Scrooge never painted out old Marleys 1 1 me back to the point I started from. Their name. There it stood, years afterward, 2 is no doubt that Marley was dead. this above the wearhouse door: Scrooge and 3 2 must be distinktly understood, or nothing Marley The firm was known as Scrooge 4 3 wonderfull can come of the story I am going and Marley. sometimes people new to the 5 4 to relate busines called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes 6 5 marley, but he answered to both names. 6 ____1. a. Spelling ____1. a. Spelling b. Capitalization b. Capitalization c. Punctuation c. Punctuation d. No error d. No error

____2. a. Spelling ____2. a. Spelling b. Capitalization b. Capitalization c. Punctuation c. Punctuation d. No error d. No error





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EXERCISE 3 PROOFREADING: SPELLING, CAPITALIZATION, PUNCTUATION

Read the following passages and decide which type of error, if any, appears in each underlined section.

PASSAGE 1 PASSAGE 2

When Scrooge awoke it was so dark, that, The quarter was so long, that he was more than

looking out of bed, He could scarcely distinguish once convenced he must have sunk into a doze

1 1 the transparent windowe from the opaque walls unconsciously, and missed the clock At length it

2 2 of his chamber He was endeavoring to pierce broke upon his listining ear.

3 3 the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes “Ding, dong!”

4 of a nieghboring church struck the four quarters. “A quarter past,” said scrooge, counting.

5 4 so he listened for the hour. “Ding, dong!

6 5 “Half past, said” Scrooge. 6







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EXERCISE 4 SIMPLE, COMPOUND, AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

Label each of the following sentences S for simple, C for compound, CX for complex, or CC for compound/complex.

____1. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled

his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.

____2. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal.

____3. This lunatic, in letting Scrooge’s nephew out, had let two other people in.

____4. They had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him.

____5. At the ominous word “liberality,” Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.

____6. “I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.”

____7. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s.”

____8. The clerk observed that it was only once a year.

____9. Now it is a fact that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large.

____10. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right.

____11. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never

believed it until now.

____12. “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.”

____13. Again the specter raised a cry, and shook his chain and wrung his shadowy hands.

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EXERCISE 4 SIMPLE, COMPOUND, AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

____14. Scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three quarters more, when he remembered on a sudden, that the Ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled One.

____15. Lights flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed

were drawn.

____16. As the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood upon an open country road with fields on either hand.

____17. The darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter

day, with snow upon the ground.

____18. They left the highroad, by a well-remembered lane, and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little weathercock-surmounted cupola, on the roof, and a bell hanging in it.

____19. Scrooge’s former self grew larger at the words, and the room became a little

darker and more dirty.

____20. During the whole of this time, Scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits.

____21. But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next.

____22. “It really seemed as if he had known our Tiny Tim, and felt with us.”

____23. Scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked in.

____24. Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.

____25. He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people

hurrying to and fro, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure.

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EXERCISE 5 COMPLEMENTS

Identify the complements in the following sentences. Label the underlined words: d.o. = direct object i.o. = indirect object p.n. = predicate nominative o.p. = object of preposition p.a. = predicate adjective

____1. Marley was dead, to begin with.

____2. Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years.

____3. Scrooge never painted out old Marley’s name.

____4. The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who, in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters.

____5. “You’re quite a powerful speaker, sir,” he added, turning to his nephew.

____6. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding.

____7. They were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold; and now stood with their hats

off, in Scrooge’s office.

____8. “Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?”

____9. He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner.

____10. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes.

____11. His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind.

____12. At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook his chain with such a dismal

and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon.

____13. “The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and

benevolence were all my business.

____14. Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the Ghost had entered.

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EXERCISE 5 COMPLEMENTS

____15. He gave the cap a parting squeeze, in which his hand relaxed, and had barely time to reel to bed before he sank into a heavy sleep.

____16. “I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.”

____17. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years, but it had begun to

wear the signs of care and avarice.

____18. Alas for Tiny Time, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame!

____19. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family.

____20. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon

the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song – it had been a very old song when he was a boy – and from time to time they all joined in the chorus.

____21. For he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him

the clue he missed, and would render the solution of these riddles easy.

____22. Scrooge knew the men, and looked toward the Spirit for an explanation.

____23. It gave him little surprise, however, for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his newborn resolutions carried out in this.

____24. The only emotion that the Ghost could show him, caused by the event, was one

of pleasure.

____25. The phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape.

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EXERCISE 6 PHRASES Identify the phrases in the following sentences. Label the underlined words: par = participial ger = gerund inf = infinitive appos = appositive prep = prepositional

____1. Once upon a time – of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve – old

Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.

____2. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

____3. Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark forever.

____4. “Let me hear another sound from you,” said Scrooge, “and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!”

____5. “I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute.”

____6. “But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I’ll keep my Christmas humor to the last.”

____7. “Scrooge and Marley’s I believe,” said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list.

____8. At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived.

____9. “In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.”

____10. He tried to say “Humbug!” but stopped at the first syllable.

____11. He was endeavoring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighboring church struck the four quarters.

____12. To his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped.

____13. He touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock.

____14. The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window.

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EXERCISE 6 PHRASES

____15. Old Fezziwig laid down his pen, and looked up at the clock, which pointed to the hour of seven.

____16. Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit’s wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence . . .

____17. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire.

____18. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song . . .

____19. It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recognize it as his own nephew’s

and to find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the Spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability!

____20. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up against the piano, smothering himself among the curtains, wherever she went, there went he!

____21. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee, for in the very air

through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.

____22. The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet and, as they went along, Scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen.

____23. They entered poor Bob Cratchit’s house – the dwelling he had visited before –

and found the mother and the children seated round the fire.

____24. “But, however and whenever we part from one another, I am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim – shall we? – or this first parting that there

was among us?” ____25. The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One.

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EXERCISE 7 VERBALS: GERUNDS, INFINITIVES, AND PARTICIPLES

Identify the underlined verbals and verbal phrases in the sentences below as being either gerund (ger), infinitive (inf), or participle (par). Also indicate the usage by labeling each:

subj = subject d.o. = direct object o.p. = object of preposition adj = adjective adv = adverb

Verbal Usage

____ ____1. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge.

____ ____2. “What right have you to be dismal?”

____ ____3. Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said “Bah!” again; and followed it up with “Humbug!”

____ ____4. “A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” said Scrooge, buttoning his greatcoat to the chin.

____ ____5. To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue.

____ ____6. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall and up the stairs, slowly, too, trimming his candle as he went.

____ ____7. To sit staring at those fixed glazed eyes in silence, for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him.

____ ____8. But how much greater was his horror when, the phantom taking off the bandage round his head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, his lower jaw dropped down upon his breast.

____ ____9. Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable; but he could see nothing.

____ ____10. Pondering on what the Ghost had said, he did so now, but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees.

____ ____11. Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the specter going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.

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EXERCISE 7 VERBALS: GERUNDS, INFINITIVES, AND PARTICIPLES Verbal Usage ____ ____12. “I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope

of escaping my fate.”

____ ____13. The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went.

____ ____14. The children’s faces, hushed and clustered round to hear what they little understood were brighter, and it was a happier house for this man’s death!

____ ____15. “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night.”

____ ____16. But now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately

ensued that she, with laughing face and plundered dress, was borne toward it, in the center of a flushed and boisterous group . . .

____ ____17. For he wished to challenge the Spirit on the moment of its appearance, and did not wish to be taken by surprise, and made nervous.

____ ____18. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing.

____ ____19. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing.

____ ____20. Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom’s hood and dress.

____ ____21. “What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?”

____ ____22. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

____ ____23. He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard.

____ ____24. Shaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much and shaving requires attention, even when you don’t dance while you are at it.

____ ____25. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.

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EXERCISE 8 CLAUSES Indicate how clauses are used in the sentences below. Label the clauses: subj = subject d.o. = direct object adj = adjective p.n. = predicate nominative o.p. = object of preposition adv - adverb ____1. “If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes

about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

____2. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven-years-dead partner that afternoon. ____3. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon it was a knocker again. ____4. “We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party.” ____5. Scrooge asked the question, because he didn’t know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. ____6. “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. ____7. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright, clear jet of light, by which all this was visible . . . ____8. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention and keeping down his terror, for the specter’s voice disturbed the

very marrow in his bones. ____9. “That which promised happiness when we were one in heart is fraught with misery now that we are two.” ____10. “How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say.” ____11. “Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. ____12. “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.” ____13. “I went forth last night on compulsion, and I learned a lesson which is working now.”

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 8 CLAUSES ____14. Bob’s voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. ____15. “What the half-drunken woman whom I told you of last night said to me, when I tried to see him and obtain a week’s delay, and what I thought was a mere excuse to avoid me, turns out to have been quite true.” ____16. When the strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him came upon his mind . . . ____17. He always knew where the plump sister was. ____18. At every fresh question that was put to him, this nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter and was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up off the sofa and stamp. ____19. The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head. ____20. The Phantom moved away as it had come toward him. ____21. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along. ____22. “There’s the window where I saw the wandering Spirits!” ____23. Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. ____24. He had never dreamed that any walk – that anything – could give him so much happiness. ____25. He passed the door a dozen times before he had the courage to go up and knock.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 9 STYLE: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Identify the figurative language in the following sentences. Label underlined words: p = personification s = simile m = metaphor o = onomatopoeia h = hyperbole

____1. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

____2. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous

fire, secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.

____3. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.

____4. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect.

____5. “We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

____6. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slyly down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall became invisible, and

struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterward, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there.

____7. The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold

as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge’s keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol . . .

____8. It was not in impenetrable shadow, as the other objects in the yard were, but

had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. ____9. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, “I know him! Marley’s Ghost” and fell again. ____10. “You travel fast?” said Scrooge. “On the wings of the wind,” replied the Ghost. ____11. “The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” ____12. All he could make out was, that it was still very foggy and extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people running to and fro, and making a great stir,

as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day, and taken possession of the world.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 9 STYLE: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE ____13. “A quarter past,” said Scrooge, counting. “Ding, dong!” ____14. He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long forgotten! ____15. All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music that the crisp air laughed to hear it. ____16. They charged into the street with the shutters – one, two, three – had ’em up in their places – four, five, six – barred ‘em and pinned ‘em – seven, eight, nine – came back before you could have got to twelve, panting like race-horses. ____17. . . . these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan lid to be let out and peeled. ____18. . . . two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. ____19. “As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better.” ____20. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered – flushed, but smiling proudly with the

pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half a quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.

____21. These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily. ____22. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as statues in one corner, and sat looking up at Peter, who had a book before him. ____23. “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy.” ____24. Clash, clash, hammer; ding, dong, bell! Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! ____25. “Thankee,” said Scrooge. “I am much obliged to you. I thank you fifty times. Bless you!”

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 10 STYLE: POETIC DEVICES Identify the poetic devices in the following sentences by labeling the underlined words: a. assonance b. consonance c. alliteration d. repetition e. rhyme ____1. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. ____2. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. ____3. What’s Christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a

time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer . . .

____4. The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded.

____5. With an ill will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat.

____6. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having

read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker’s book, went home to bed.

____7. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. ____8. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. ____9. The specter, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night. ____10. Scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over, and could make nothing of it. ____11. Fowls clucked and strutted in the stables, and the coach-houses and sheds were over-run with grass. ____12. At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat

down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be. ____13. He only knew that it was quite correct; that everything had happened so; that there he was, alone again, when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly holidays.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 10 STYLE: POETIC DEVICES ____14. Although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were

now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed, where shadowy carts and coached battled for the way, and

all the strife and tumult of a real city were. ____15. There was nothing they wouldn’t have cleared away, or couldn’t have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking on. ____16. When this result was brought about, old Fezziwig, clapping hands to stop the dance, cried out, “Well done!” and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose. ____17. When the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke up. ____18. There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the

passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. ____19. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion, Gain, engrosses you. ____20. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding conference with the second messenger dispatched to him through Jacob Marley’s intervention. ____21. . . . he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing

between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much.

____22. How it bared its breadth of breast, and opened its capacious palm, and floated on, outpouring, with a generous hand, its bright and harmless mirth on everything within its reach!

____23. “Who suffers by his ill whims?”

____24. Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler.

____25. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good

old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 11 STYLE: SENSORY IMAGERY Identify the type of sensory imagery in the following sentences. Label the underlined words: a. sight b. sound c. touch d. taste e. smell ____1. It was cold, bleak, biting weather, foggy withal, and he could hear the people in

the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.

____2. He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. ____3. But there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said, “Pooh, pooh!” and closed it with a bang. ____4. Marley, in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. ____5. The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked his chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. ____6. He was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before

he could see anything; and could see very little then. ____7. It wore a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. ____8. He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long forgotten! ____9. The Spirit touched him on the arm, and pointed to his younger self, intent upon his reading. ____10. This idea taking full possession of his mind, he got up softly, and shuffled in his

slippers to the door. ____11. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green that it looked a perfect

grove; from every part of which bright, gleaming berries glistened.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 11 STYLE: SENSORY IMAGERY ____12. The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy

mist, half thawed, half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as if all the chimneys in Great Britain had, by one consent, caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts’ content.

____13. A cat was tearing at the door, and there was a sound of gnawing rats beneath the hearthstone. ____14. His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister . . . ____15. The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. ____16. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. ____17. Scrooge’s nephew reveled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep

the infection off, though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar, his example was unanimously followed.

____18. The moment Scrooge’s hand was on the lock, a strange voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. He obeyed. ____19. Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offenses of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the struggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery. ____20. Mrs. Cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the two young Cratchits kissed him, and Peter and himself shook hands.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 12 STYLE: ALLUSIONS AND SYMBOLS Identify the type of allusion or symbol in the following sentences. Label the underlined words:

a. historical b. religious c. folklore/superstition d. literary e. childhood games ____1. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot . . . ____2. “I’ll retire to Bedlam.” ____3. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit’s nose with a touch of

such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then, indeed, he would have roared to lusty purpose.

____4. The office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk . . . went down a slide on

Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honor of its being Christmas Eve, and then ran home to Camden Town, as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindman’s buff.

____5. They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it

must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and have forgotten the way out again.

____6. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. ____7. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaoh’s daughters, Queens of Sheba, angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds . . .

____8. . . . and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient

Prophet’s rod, and swallowed up the whole.

____9. Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains.

____10. “Well!” returned Scrooge, “I have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of

my days persecuted by a legion of goblins all my own creation.

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EXERCISE 12 STYLE: ALLUSIONS AND SYMBOLS

____11. “Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode?”

____12. “Why, it’s Ali Baba!” Scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy.

____13. And the Sultan’s Groom turned upside down by the Genii; there he is upon

his head!

____14. “Poor Robin Crusoe, he called him, when he came home again, after sailing round the island.”

____15. “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night.”

____16. In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see who bore

a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty’s horn, and held it up, high up . . .

____17. “He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember, upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.”

____18. After a while they played at forfeits, for it is good to be children sometimes,

and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.

____19. It was a game called Yes and No, where Scrooge’s nephew had to think of

something, and the rest must find out what, he only answering to their questions yes or no, as the case was.

____20. Likewise, at the game of How, When, and Where, she was very great, and, to the secret joy of Scrooge’s nephew, beat her sisters hollow, though they were sharp girls, too, as Topper could have told you.

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EXERCISE 13 STYLE: LITERARY ANALYSIS – SELECTED PASSAGE 1

Read the following passage the first time through for meaning.

Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire, secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did. (From Stave One)

Read the passage a second time, marking figurative language, sensory imagery, poetic devices, and any other patterns of diction and rhetoric, then answer the questions below.

1 Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,

2 clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous

3 fire, secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped

4 his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out

5 shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He

6 carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw

7 it one degree at Christmas.

8 External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him.

9 No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain

10 less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail,

11 and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely,

12 and Scrooge never did.

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____1. The underlined words in Lines 3 and 8 are examples of . . . a. assonance b. consonance c. alliteration d. rhyme

____2. Line 1 contains an example of . . .

a. metaphor b. simile c. personification

____3. All of the following word pairs are examples of assonance EXCEPT . . . a. Hard – sharp (Line 2) b. cold – froze (Line 3) c. thin – lips (Line 4) d. wiry – chin (Line 5)

____4. All of the following descriptions are parallel in meaning EXCEPT . . .

a. he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone (Line 1) b. The cold within him froze his old features (Line 3) c. He carried his own low temperature always about with him (Lines 5-6) d. No wind that blew was bitterer than he (Line 9)

____5. The words “dog-days” in Line 6 refer to . . .

a. The days that Scrooge would bring his dog to the office b. The days of the summer months of June, July, and August c. The days on which Scrooge was grouchy and unkind d. The first days of winter in November and December

____6. The word “rime” in Line 5 probably is closest in meaning to . . .

a. a poem set in winter b. a scarf or muffler c. a coating of ice or snow d. a light colored wig or hat

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Once upon a time – of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve – old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather, foggy withal, and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already – it had not been light all day – and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that, although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who, in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. (From Stave One)

Read the passage a second time, marking figurative language, sensory imagery, poetic devices, and any other patterns of diction and rhetoric, then answer the questions below. 1 Once upon a time – of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve – old Scrooge sat busy in his

2 counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather, foggy withal, and he could hear the people in the court

3 outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon

4 the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already –

5 it had not been light all – and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring offices, like ruddy

6 smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense

7 without, that, although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see

8 the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard

9 by, and was brewing on a large scale.

10 The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who, in a dismal

11 little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was

12 so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box

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13 in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be

14 necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at

15 the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

____1. The passage contains ALL of the following inferences EXCEPT . . . a. The clerk is uncomfortable, but not afraid of Scrooge. b. The clerk requires close supervision by Scrooge. c. The clerk thinks he will be fired if he gets more coal from Scrooge.

____2. The words “Once upon a time” in Line 1 are a signal to the reader to be

aware of all of the following possibilities EXCEPT . . . a. The events of the story did not really happen. b. The story may contain supernatural elements. c. The story is factual, and therefore teaches a moral lesson. d. The story probably has a happy ending.

____3. All of the following words describe the tone of the passage EXCEPT . . .

a. dismal b. pessimistic c. gloomy d. dreary

____4. The underlined words in Lines 5-6 are an example of . . . a. metaphor b. simile c. personification

____5. Lines 8 and 9 contain an example of . . .

a. allusion and personification b. metaphor and personification c. simile and personification

____6. The author’s attitude toward the clerk is revealed in all of the following descriptions EXCEPT . . .

a. that he might keep his eye upon his clerk (Line 10) b. a dismal little cell beyond (Line 10-11) c. tried to warm himself at the candle (Line 14-15) d. not being a man of a strong imagination (Line 15)

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For the people who were shoveling away on the housetops were jovial and full of glee, calling out to one another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball – better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest – laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong. The poulterers’ shops were still half open, and the fruiterers’ were radiant in their glory. There were great, round, potbellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers’ benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people’s mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle-deep through withered leaves; there were Norfolk biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. The very gold-and-silver-fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on and, to a fish, went gasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. (From Stave Three)


1 For the people who were shoveling away on the housetops were jovial and full of glee, calling out to one

2 another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball – better-natured missile

3 far than many a wordy jest – laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong. The

4 poulterers’ shops were still half open, and the fruiterers’ were radiant in their glory. There were great,

5 round, potbellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the

6 doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced,

7 broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish friars, and winking

8 from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up

9 mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of

10 grapes, made, in the shopkeepers’ benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people’s mouths

11 might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their

12 fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle-deep through withered

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13 leaves; there were Norfolk biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and 14 lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching

15 to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. The very gold-and-silver fish, set forth

16 among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared

17 to know that there was something going on and, to a fish, went gasping round and round their little

18 world in slow and passionless excitement.

____1. Personification is used to describe ALL of the following EXCEPT . . . a. baskets b. onions c. filberts d. oranges and lemons

____2. The passage contains all of the following descriptions EXCEPT . . .

a. a snowball fight b. men tumbling out of doorways c. nuts that smell like dead leaves d. a fish bowl set among fruit

____3. In Lines 6-9, who is flirting with the girls? a. old gentlemen b. Spanish friars c. Spanish onions d. fruiterers

____4. In Line 18, “passionless excitement” is an example of . . .

a. oxymoron b. analogy c. assonance ____5. All of the following descriptions are parallel in meaning EXCEPT . . .

a. jovial and full of glee (Line 1) b. facetious snowball (Line 2) c. laughing heartily (Line 3) d. radiant in their glory (Line 4)

____6. All of the following statements accurately describe the passage EXCEPT . . . a. The description moves from reality to fantasy. b. The description is characterized by energy and vitality. c. There is a shift in tone from optimism to pessimism. d. The description reflects the boundless joy of Christmas.

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And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants, and water spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner, and nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. “What place is this?” asked Scrooge. “A place where miners live, who labor in the bowels of the earth,” returned the Spirit. “But they know me. See!” A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced toward it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children’s children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song – it had been a very old song when he was a boy – and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud, and so surely as they stopped, his vigor sank again. (From Stave Three)


1 And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where

2 monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants, and water

3 spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner, and

4 nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting sun had left a

5 streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, frowning

6 lower, lower, lower yet was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night.

7 “What place is this?” asked Scrooge.

8 “A place where miners live, who labor in the bowels of the earth,” returned the Spirit. “But they know

9 me. See!”

10 A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced toward it. Passing through the wall of

11 mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man and

12 woman, with their children and their children’s children, and another generation beyond that, all decked

13 out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind

14 upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song – it had been a very old song when he was a

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style EXERCISE 16 STYLE: LITERARY ANALYSIS – SELECTED PASSAGE 4 15 boy – and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they raised their voices, the old

16 man got quite blithe and loud, and so surely as they stopped, his vigor sank again.

____1. The underlined words in Line 1 are examples of . . .

a. assonance b. consonance c. alliteration d. rhyme

____2. The word “giants” in Line 2 is an example of . . . a. metaphor b. simile c. personification d. allusion

____3. In Line 3, “the frost that held it prisoner” refers to . . .

a. the giant b. the sun c. ice and snow d. the Ghost

____4. In Lines 5-6, “frowning lower, lower, lower” refers to . . . a. the giant b. the streak d. Scrooge e. the Ghost

____5. The author uses the scene with the miner’s family to support ALL of

the following themes EXCEPT . . . a. Christmas is celebrated in remote, unexpected places. b. Christmas is a family celebration. c. Christmas is more important to elderly people than it is to the young. d. Christmas is celebrated as joyously by the poor as by the rich.

____6. The underlined words in Line 16 are examples of . . .

a. assonance b. consonance c. alliteration d. rhyme

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style ANSWER KEY EXERCISES 1-16 EXERCISE 1: 1. adj 2. pron 3. int 4. pron 5. adv 6. adj 7. n 8. prep 9. int 10. conj 11. v 12. adv 13. adj 14. prep 15. v 16. pron 17. adj 18. conj 19. prep 20. pron 21. int 22. prep 23. adv 24. pron 25. n EXERCISE 2: Passage 1: 1. c 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. a 6. c Passage 2: 1. c 2. a 3. c 4. b 5. a 6. b EXERCISE 3: Passage 1: 1. b 2. a 3. c 4. d 5. a 6. b Passage 2: 1. a 2. c 3. a 4. b 5. c 6. c EXERCISE 4: 1. S 2. CC 3. S 4. S 5. S 6. C 7. S 8. CX 9. CX 10. CX 11. CC 12. S 13. S 14. CX 15. C 16. CX 17. C 18. S 19. C 20. S 21. CX 22. CX 23. S 24. CX 25. CX EXERCISE 5: 1. p.a. 2. p.n. 3. d.o. 4. p.a. 5. p.n. 6. o.p. 7. p.n. 8. d.o. 9. o.p. 10. p.n. 11. p.a. 12. o.p. 13. p.n. 14. d.o. 15. d.o. 16. p.n. 17. o.p. 18. d.o. 19. p.n. 20. i.o. 21. i.o. 22. o.p. 23. i.o. 24. p.n. 25. o.p. EXERCISE 6: 1. prep 2. inf 3. par 4. ger 5. inf 6. prep 7. par 8. ger 9. appos 10. inf 11. prep 12. prep 13. inf 14. par 15. prep 16. appos 17. par 18. ger 19. prep 20. par 21. inf 22. inf 23. appos 24. ger 25. prep EXERCISE 7: 1. inf subj 2. inf adj 3. par adj 4. ger o.p. 5. inf subj 6. par adj 7. inf subj 8. par adj 9. ger o.p. 10. ger o.p. 11. inf adv 12. ger o.p. 13. par adj 14. inf adv 15. par adj 16. ger subj 17. inf d.o. 18. inf adv 19. ger o.p. 20. par adj 21. ger o.p. 22. inf adj 23. par adj 24. ger subj 25. ger o.p. EXERCISE 8: 1. adj 2. adv 3. adv 4. o.p. 5. adv 6. adj 7. p.n. 8. p.n. 9. adj 10. d.o. 11. o.p. 12. adv 13. adj 14. d.o. 15. subj 16. adv 17. d.o. 18. adj 19. adv 20. adv 21. adj 22. adj 23. adj 24. d.o. 25. adv EXERCISE 9: 1. s 2. s 3. m 4. p 5. p 6. p 7. p 8. s 9. p 10. m 11. m 12. p 13. o 14. h 15. p 16. s 17. p 18. p 19. s 20. s 21. o 22. s 23. s 24. o 25. h

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens – Grammar and Style ANSWER KEY EXERCISES 1-16 EXERCISE 10: 1. d 2. c 3. b 4. b 5. e 6. c 7. a 8. d 9. b 10. d 11. a 12. c 13. a 14. a 15. e 16. c 17. b 18. a 19. a 20. a 21. b 22. c 23. a 24. b 25. d EXERCISE 11: 1. b 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. b 6. c 7. a 8. e 9. c 10. b 11. a 12. a 13. b 14. b 15. e 16. d 17. e 18. c 19. e 20. c EXERCISE 12: 1. d 2. a 3. c 4. e 5. e 6. c 7. b 8. b 9. c 10. c 11. b 12. d 13. d 14. d 15. b 16. c 17. b 18. b 19. e 20. e EXERCISE 13: 1. c 2. a 3. d 4. a 5. b 6. c EXERCISE 14: 1. a 2. c 3. b 4. b 5. a 6. b EXERCISE 15: 1. c 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. d 6. c EXERCISE 16: 1. c 2. d 3. c 4. b 5. c 6. a

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LITERARY GLOSSARY A Alexandrine. A line of poetry written in iambic hexameter (six feet of iambs). Allegory. A story with both a literal and symbolic meaning. Alliteration. The repetition of initial consonant or vowel sounds in two or more successive or nearby words. Example: fit and fearless; as accurate as the ancient author. Allusion. A reference to a well-known person, place, event, work of art, myth, or religion. Example: Hercules, Eden, Waterloo, Prodigal Son, Superman. Amphibrach. A foot of poetry with an unaccented syllable, an accented syllable, and an unaccented syllable. Example: another Amphimacer. A foot of poetry with an accented syllable, an unaccented syllable, and an accented syllable. Example: up and down. Anadiplosis. A type of repetition in which the last words of a sentence are used to begin the next sentence. Analogy. A comparison of two things that are somewhat alike. Example: But Marlow was not typical . . . to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze . . . Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Anapest. A foot of poetry with two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable. Example: disengage. Anaphora. A type of repetition in which the same word or phrase is used at the beginning of two or more sentences or phrases. Anecdote. A brief personal story about an event or experience. Antagonist. A character, institution, group, or force that is in conflict with the protagonist. Antihero – A protagonist who does not have the traditional attributes of a hero. Antimetabole. A type of repetition in which the words in a successive clause or phrase are reversed. Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy. Antiphrasis. The use of a word or phrases to mean the opposite of the intended meaning. Example: In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Antony’s use of “. . . but Brutus is an honorable man . . .” to convey the opposite meaning. Apostrophe. A figure of speech in which the speaker directly addresses an object, idea, or absent person. Example: Milton! thou should be living at this hour. (London, 1802 by William Wordsworth). Archetypes. Primordial images and symbols that occur in literature, myth, religion, and folklore. Examples: forest, moon, stars, earth mother. warrior, innocent child, wizard.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY A Aside. In drama, lines delivered by an actor to the audience as if the other actors on stage could not hear what he is saying. Assonance. The repetition of vowel sounds in two or more words that do not rhyme. Example: The black cat scratched the saddle. Asyndeton. The omission of conjunctions in a series. Example: “ I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Caesar. Atmosphere. The way that setting or landscape affects the tone or mood of a work.

B Ballad. A songlike poem that tells a story. Example: Barbara Allan. Bathos. Sentimentality. Bildungsroman. A novel that deals with the coming of age or growing up of a young person from childhood or adolescence to maturity. Example: Pip in Great Expectations, Huckleberry Finn, or Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. Blank verse. Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Example: Shakespeare plays. Burlesque. Low comedy, ridiculous exaggeration, nonsense.

C Cacophony. The unharmonious combination of words that sound harsh together. Caesura. A natural pause or break in a line of poetry. In scansion the symbol // is used to mark a caesura. Canto. A section of a long poem. Caricature. Writing that exaggerates or distorts personal qualities of an individual. Chiaroscuro. The contrasting of light and darkness. Cinquain. A five-line stanza. Classicism. A literary approach that imitates the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome that stresses order, balance, reason, and idealism. Climax. The high point in the plot, after which there is falling action. May coincide with crisis. Colloquialism. A local expression that is not accepted in formal speech or writing. Comedy. A work of literature that has a happy ending. Comic relief. Humorous action or lines spoken in a serious point in a play. Example: The Porter Scene in Macbeth, Act II, scene iii). Conceit. In poetry, an unusual, elaborate comparison. Example: John Donne compares separated lovers to the legs of a drawing compass.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY C Concrete poem. A poem that takes the shape of its subject. Example: Easter Wings by George Herbert). Conflict. The struggle between characters and other characters, forces of nature, or outside forces beyond their control, internal conflict within a character who struggles with moral choices and matters of conscience. Connotation. The universal associations a word has apart from its definition. Example: Connotations of the word witch are: black cat, cauldron, Halloween, broomstick, and evil spell. Consonance. The repetition of a consonant at the end of two or more words. Example: Hop up the step. Context. The words and phrases surrounding a word. Couplet. A pair of rhyming lines in the same meter. Crisis. The point at which the protagonist experiences change, the turning point.

D Dactyl. A poetic foot with one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables. Example: multitude. Denotation. The definition or meaning of a word.

Denouement. The falling action or final revelations in the plot. Description. Words that paint a picture of a person, place, or thing using details and sensory imagery. Dialect. Regional speech that identifies a character’s social status. Dialogue. Conversation between two or more characters. Diction. Word choice. Doppelganger. A look-alike, double, or twin. Example: Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities. Double entendre. A statement that has two meanings, one of which is suggestive, sexual, or improper. Dramatic irony. When the reader or audience knows or understands something that a character does not know. Dramatic monologue. When a character speaks to a silent listener. Dynamic character. A character who undergoes change as a result of the actions of the plot and the influence of other characters. Dysphemism. A coarse or rude way of saying something. The opposite of euphemism. Example: A euphemism for die would be pass away. A dysphemism would be croak.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY

D Dystopia. The opposite of utopia. Literally bad place. Examples of literature about dystopia include Anthem by Ayn Rand, 1984 by George Orwell, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

E Elegy. A formal poem about death. Elision. The omission of part of a word. Example: o’er for over, and e’re for ever. Ellipsis. Three periods (. . .) that signify the omission of one or more words. Epic. A long narrative poem about the adventures of gods or a hero. Example: Beowulf, The Odyssey by Homer. Epilogue. A concluding statement. Epiphany. A sudden insight or change of heart that happens in an instant. Epitaph. An inscription on a tomb or gravestone. Epithet. A word or phrase describing a quality of a person, place, or thing that is repeated throughout a work. Example: wine-dark sea in Homer’s The Iliad. Essay. A short nonfiction work about a specific subject. Essays may be narrative, persuasive, descriptive, expository, or argumentative. Example: Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Ethos. Moral nature or beliefs. Euphemism. An indirect way of saying something that may be offensive. Example: Passed away instead of died, senior citizens instead of old people. Existentialism. 20th century philosophy concerned with the plight of the individual who must assume responsibility for acts of free will. Characteristics are alienation, anxiety, loneliness, absurdity. Example: The Stranger by Albert Camus. Extended metaphor. A metaphor that is elaborated on and developed in several phrases or sentences. Extended personification. A personification that is elaborated on and developed in several phrases or sentences. Extended simile. A simile that is elaborated on and developed in several phrases or sentences.

F Fantasy. A 20th century literary movement characterized by plots, characters, and settings not based in reality. Example: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien). Falling action. All action that takes place after the climax. Farce. Comedy that involves horseplay, mistaken identity, exaggeration, and witty dialogue. Example: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY F Fiction. Literature about imaginary characters and events. Figurative language. The use of figures of speech to express ideas. Figures of Speech. Include metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, and oxymoron. First person narration. The story is told from the point of view of one character. Example: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Flashback. A plot device that allows the author to jump back in time prior to the opening scene. Flat character. A one-dimensional character who is not developed in the plot. See static character. Foil. A character who, through contrast, reveals the characteristics of another character. Dr. Watson is a foil to Sherlock Holmes. Foreshadowing. A clue that prepares the reader for what will happen later on in the story. Free verse. Poetry that is not written in consistent patterns of rhyme or meter.

H Heptastich. A seven-line stanza.

Hero/Heroine. The main character, the protagonist whose actions inspire and are admired. Heroic couplet. In poetry, a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines. Homophone. A word that sounds like another word but has a different spelling. Example: see/sea, two/too, here/hear, fair/fare, threw/through. Hyperbole. A figure of speech that uses exaggeration. Example: Our chances are one in a million. I like this car ten times more than our other one. I will love you till the seas run dry.

I Iamb. A foot of poetry with one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable. Example: alone.

Idiom. A saying or expression that cannot be translated literally. Example: jump down someone’s throat, smell a rat, jump the gun, bite the dust. Inference. Information or action that is hinted at or suggested, but not stated outright. Interior monologue. A device associated with stream of consciousness where a character is thinking to himself and the reader feels like he is inside the character’s mind. Irony. The opposite of what is expected. A reality different from appearance.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY K Kenning. A kind of metaphor used in Anglo-Saxon poetry to replace a concrete noun. Example: In Beowulf the ship is called the ringed prow, the foamy-necked, and the sea-farer.

L Legend. A tale or story that may or may not be based in fact, but which reflects cultural identity. Example: Legends about King Arthur, Robin Hood, and other folk heroes. Litotes. Understatement that makes a positive statement by using a negative opposite. Example: He’s not a bad singer. Lyric poem. A poem that expresses the emotions and observations of a single speaker, including the elegy, ode, and sonnet.

M Magical realism. In 20th century art and literature, when supernatural or magical events are accepted as being real by both character and audience. Example: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Malapropism. The use of a word somewhat like the one intended, but ridiculously wrong. Example: Huckleberry Finn’s use of diseased to mean deceased.

Metaphor. A figure of speech in which one thing is said to be another thing. Example: Her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine. ( Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte). Metaphysical poetry. A 17th century literary movement that includes English poets John Donne, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell. Their poems featured intellectual playfulness, paradoxes, and elaborate conceits. Meter. The rhythm in a line of poetry. The number and types of stresses or beats on syllables are counted as feet. Examples: monometer (one foot), dimeter (two feet), trimeter (three feet), tetrameter (four feet), pentameter (five feet), hexameter (six feet), and heptameter (seven feet). Metonymy. The use of an object closely associated with a word for the word itself. Example: Using crown to mean king, or oval office to mean president. Mock epic. A poem about a silly or trivial matter written in a serious tone. Example: The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope. Monologue. A speech given by one person. Mood. Synonymous with atmosphere and tone. Motif. A recurring pattern of symbols, colors, events, allusions, or imagery. Myth. A fictional tale about gods or heroes. Allusions to Greek, Roman, Norse, and Celtic myths are common in English literature.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY N Narrative poem. A poem that tells a story. Example: ballads (Barbara Allen) and epics (Beowulf, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner). Narrator. The person telling the story. Naturalism. A late 19th century literary movement that viewed individuals as fated victims of natural laws. Example: To Build a Fire by Jack London. Neoclassicism. A literary movement during the Restoration and 18th century (1660-1798) characterized by Greek and Roman literary forms, reason, harmony, restraint, and decorum. Nonfiction. Prose writing about real people, places, things, or events. Novel. A long work of fiction that has plot, characters, themes, symbols, and settings. Novella. A lengthy tale or short story.

O Octave. An eight-line stanza.

Ode. A long, formal poem with three alternating stanza patterns: strophe, antistrophe, and epode. Omniscient narrator. When the narrator’s knowledge extends to the internal thoughts and states of mind of all characters. Example: The Pearl by John Steinbeck.

Onomatopoeia. A figure of speech that uses words to imitate sound. Example: clink, buzz, hum, splash, hiss, boom. Ottava rima. A stanza containing eight iambic pentameter lines with the rhyme scheme abababcc. Example: Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats. Oxymoron. A figure of speech that combines words that are opposites. Example: sweet sorrow, dark victory, jumbo shrimp.

P Parable. A story that teaches a lesson. Paradox. A statement that on the surface seems a contradiction, but that actually contains some truth. Example: For when I am weak, then I am strong. Saint Paul. Paraphrase. The restatement of a phrase, sentence, or group of sentences using different words that mean the same as the original. Parallelism. Arranging words and phrases consistently to express similar ideas. Example: I like to hike, fishing, and swimming. (Incorrect) I like hiking, fishing, and swimming. (Correct). Parataxis. Sentences, phrases, clauses, or words arranged in coordinate rather than subordinate construction. Example: Every little while he locked me in and went down to the store, three miles, to the ferry, and traded fish and game for whisky, and fetched it home and got drunk and had a good time, and licked me. (Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain).

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LITERARY GLOSSARY P Parody. Witty writing that imitates and often ridicules another author’s style. Example: Ancient Mariner Dot Com is a parody of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Pastoral. A poem set among shepherds or rural life. Pathos. Pity, sympathy, or sorrow felt by the reader in response to an author’s words. Pentameter. Five feet of verse in a poem. Peroration. The last lines of an oration in which the major points are summarized. Persona. The voice in a work of literature. The persona may be the narrator or the author who uses the narrator to express ideas. Personification. A figure of speech that attributes human qualities to an inanimate object. Example: The wind sighed. The moon hid behind the clouds. Petrarchan sonnet. A sonnet divided into two parts: 8 line octave that rhymes abba abba, 6 line sestet that rhymes cde cde. The octave presents a situation or problem, and the sestet solves the problem. Also called an Italian sonnet.

Picaresque. A story told in episodes where the protagonist has adventures and may be a rascal. Example: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Plot. The sequence of events in a story. Poetic devices. Words with harmonious sounds including assonance, consonance, alliteration, repetition, and rhyme. Point of view. The perspective from which a story is told. Polysyndeton. The overuse of conjunctions in a sentence. Postmodern. Contemporary fiction characterized by an antihero and experimental style. Prose. Written language that is not poetry, drama, or song. Prose can be fiction or nonfiction. Protagonist. The main character. Pun. A play on words. Example: He wanted to become a chef, but he didn’t have the thyme. Pyrrhic. A foot of poetry with two successive unaccented syllables. Example: unsinkable.

Q Quatrain. A four-line stanza.

R Realism. Writing that is characterized by details of everyday life.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY R Refrain. Regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song. Regionalism. Writing about a specific geographic area using speech, folklore, beliefs, and customs. Repartee. A comeback, a quick response. Repetition. A poetic device that uses the repeating of words, sounds, phrases, or sentences. Rhetoric. The art of persuasion. Words used to persuade. Rhyme. Words with identical sounds, but different spellings. Example: cat/hat, glare/air, tight/write. Rhyme scheme. The pattern of rhyming words. The last word in each line is assigned a letter of the alphabet beginning with a. Example: If the last words in each of four lines are me (a), grave (b), see (a), and save (b), the rhyme scheme is abab. Rising action. The path of the plot leading to the climax. Romance. A story about distant, imagined events as opposed to realistic experience. Originally referred to medieval tales about knights and nobles. Modern usage refers to sentimental love stories.

Romanticism. 18th-19th century literary movement that portrayed the beauty of untamed nature, emotion, the nobility of the common man, rights of the individual, spiritualism, folklore and myth, magic, imagination, and fancy. Round character. A complex character who undergoes change during the course of the story. Example: Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities. Run-on line. In poetry a line that does not stop, but continues to the next line.

S Sarcasm. A bitter remark intending to hurt and express disapproval. Satire. Writing that blends humor and wit with criticism of institutions or mankind in general. Noted satirists include Chaucer, Dante, Voltaire, Moliere, Swift, and Twain. Scansion. The process of determining the meter of a poem. Stressed syllables are marked with a slanted line over the sound. Unstressed syllables are marked with a horseshoe over the sound. When the pattern emerges, one can then determine the meter and number of feet in a line of poetry. Sensory imagery. Language that evokes images and triggers memories in the reader of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Sestet. A six-line stanza. Setting. The time and place where a story takes place.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY S Shakespearean sonnet. A sonnet with three four-line quatrains and a two-line couplet that ends the poem and presents a concluding statement. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. Also called an English sonnet. Short story. A brief work of fiction with a simple plot, and few characters and settings. Simile. A figure of speech that compares two things that are not alike, using the words like, as, or than. Example: eyes gleaming like live coals, as delicate as a snowflake, colder than ice. Soliloquy. A long speech made by a character who is alone, who reveals private thoughts and feelings to the reader or audience. Sonnet. A fourteen-line lyric poem about a single theme. Speaker. The imaginary voice that tells a poem. Spenserian stanza. A stanza with nine iambic lines rhymed ababbcbcc. All lines are pentameters except the last line written in hexameter or alexandrine. Spondee. A foot of poetry with two equally strong stresses. Example: bathtub, workday, swing shift. Stanza. Lines of poetry considered as a group.

Static character. A character who changes little in the course of the story. Example: Jerry Cruncher in A Tale of Two Cities, Tom Sawyer in Huckleberry Finn. Stream of Consciousness. A narrative technique that imitates the stream of thought in a character’s mind. Example: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Style. The individual way an author writes. Subplot. A minor or secondary plot that complicates a story. Example: Mr. Micawber and his family in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Surrealism. 20th century art, literature, and film that juxtaposes unnatural combinations of images for a fantastic or dreamlike effect. Suspense. Anticipation of the outcome. Symbol. Something that stands for something else. Example: the albatross (guilt) in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; the handkerchief (infidelity) in Othello, the red letter A (adultery) in The Scarlet Letter. Synecdoche. A figure of speech in which the part symbolizes the whole. Example: All hands on deck, I’ve got some new wheels. Syntax. Word order, the way in which words are strung together.

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LITERARY GLOSSARY T Tercet. A three-line stanza. Terza rima. A three-line stanza first used by Dante Alighieri in his The Divine Comedy. The first and last lines of each tercet rhyme. The middle line of the first tercet rhymes with the first and last lines of the next tercet, aba bcb cdc ded. Theme. A central idea. Third person narration. When a story is told by a voice from outside the story. Example: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Tone. The attitude toward a subject or audience implied by a work of literature. Trochee. A foot of poetry consisting of one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable. Example: monkey Trancendentalism. A 19th century American philosophical and literary movement that promoted the belief that intuition and conscience transcend experience and are therefore better guides to truth than logic and the senses. Characteristics are respect for the individual spirit, the presence of the divine in nature, the belief that divine presence is everywhere (the Over-Soul, a concept influenced by Hinduism). Trope. In rhetoric, a figure of speech involving a change in meaning, the use of a word in a sense other than the literal.

U Understatement. Saying less than is actually called for. Example: referring to an Olympic sprinter as being pretty fast. Unreliable narrator. A narrator who is not credible when it comes to telling the story. Example: Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein. Utopia. A perfect or ideal world.

W Wordplay. Verbal wit.

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY A Abbreviation. A shortened form of a word, usually followed by a period. Example: Mr., Dr., U.S.A. Mrs. Bennet’s best comfort was that Mr. Bingley must be down again in summer. (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen). Active voice. A verb is active if the subject of the sentence is performing the action. Example: Rikki-Tikki shook some of the dust out of his fur and sneezed. (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling). Adjective. A word that describes. An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun. Example: Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing. (Moby Dick by Herman Melville). Adjective clause. A clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Example: The mother who lay in the grave, was the mother of my infancy. (David Copperfield by Charles Dickens). Adverb. A word that describes a verb, explaining where, when, how, or to what extent. An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Example: The time I spent upon the island is still so horrible a thought to me, that I must pass it lightly over. (Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson). Adverb clause. A clause that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Example: As she kissed me, her lips felt like ice. (Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte).

Antecedent. A word or group of words that a pronoun refers to or replaces. Example: He had a conscience, and it was a romantic conscience. (Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad). Apostrophe. A punctuation mark (‘) used in contractions to replace a letter, or added to the last letter of a noun followed by an s to indicate possession. Example: Don’t turn me out of doors to wander in the streets again. (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens). Appositive. A noun, pronoun, or phrase that identifies or extends information about another noun or pronoun in a sentence. Example: At the man’s heels trotted a dog, a big native husky, the proper wolf dog. (To Build a Fire by Jack London).

C Capitalization. The following words are capitalized: brand names, business firms, calendar items, course names with numbers, first word of a direct quotation, first word of a line of poetry, first word of a sentence, geographical names, government bodies, historical events, institutions, interjections, languages, proper nouns, proper adjectives, races, religions, school subjects, seasons, special events, titles of persons, publications, works of art, movies, novels, plays, poems, short stories, screenplays, essays, and speeches, words referring to Deity, words showing family relationship. Example: The Pontelliers possessed a very charming home on Esplanade Street in New Orleans. (The Awakening by Kate Chopin).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY C Clause. A group of words that has a subject and a predicate. Clauses begin with the words: as, that, what, where, which, who, whose, until, since, although, though, if, than. Example: At seven in the morning we reached Hannibal, Missouri, where my boyhood was spent. (Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain). Closing. In a letter, the words preceding the signature at the end of a letter. Example: Love, Best regards, Yours truly, Sincerely. Example: Your unworthy and unhappy friend, Henry Jekyll (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson). Collective noun. A singular noun that names a group of persons or things. Example: crowd, public, family, swarm, club, army, fleet, class, audience. As for the crew, all they knew was that I was appointed to take the ship home. (The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad). Colon: A punctuation mark (:) used after any expression meaning “note this.” Also used after the salutation in a business letter, before a list, between hour and minute, biblical chapters and verses, and volumes and pages. A colon never follows a verb or preposition. Example: I had three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. (Walden by Henry David Thoreau).

Comma. A punctuation mark (,) used after the salutation and closing of a letter, between parts of a compound sentence, in a series, after an introductory clause or prepositional phrase, to set off appositives and nonessential phrases and clauses, with coordinate adjectives, with dates and addresses, parenthetical expressions, quotation marks, and two or more adjectives. Example: They talked much of smoke, fire, and blood, but he could not tell how much might be lies. (The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane). Common noun. A word that names a person, place, or thing. Example: A night on the sea in an open boat is a long night. (The Open Boat by Stephen Crane). Complement. A word that completes the meaning of an active verb. (direct object, indirect object, predicate adjective, and predicate nominative. Complex sentence. One independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Example: About midnight, while we still sat up, the storm came rattling over the Heights in full fury. (Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte). Compound adjective. An adjective formed by two words separated by a hyphen and treated as one word. Example: He is a sweet-tempered, amiable, charming man. (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY C Compound complement. Two or more words used as direct objects of the same verb, objects of the same preposition, predicate nominatives or predicate adjectives of the same verb, or indirect objects of the same understood preposition. Example: I have a rosy sky and a green flowery Eden in my brain. (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte). Compound-complex sentence. Two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. Example: It is an honest town once more, and the man will have to rise early that catches it napping again. (The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain). Compound noun. A noun composed of more than one word. Example: The kiss was a turning-point in Jude’s career. (Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy). Compound preposition. A preposition composed of more than one word. Example: because of, on account of, in spite of, according to, instead of, out of. Example: The sun came up upon the left, out of the sea came he! (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge). Compound sentence. A sentence consisting of two or more independent clauses. Example: I was now about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart. (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass).

Compound subject: Two or more subjects that share the same verb. Example: Bartleby and I were alone. (Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville). Compound verb. Two or more verbs that share the same subject. Example: He rose, dressed, and went on deck. (Benito Cereno by Herman Melville). Conjunction. A word that connects words or groups of words. Examples: and, or, nor, but, yet, for, so. Every little while he locked me in and went down to the store, three miles, to the ferry, and traded fish and game for whisky, and fetched it home and got drunk and had a good time, and licked me. (Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain). Contraction. A word formed by combining two words, using an apostrophe to replace any missing letters. Example: Denmark’s a prison. (Hamlet by William Shakespeare).

D Dash. A punctuation mark used to set off abrupt change in thought, an appositive, a parenthetical expression or an appositivethat contains commas. Example: My brother fired – once – twice – and the booming of the gong ceased. (The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad). Declarative sentence. A sentence that makes a statement. Example: I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. (Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY D Demonstrative pronoun. A pronoun used to point out a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Example: this, that, these, those. This was the noblest Roman of them all. (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare). Dependent clause. Another name for subordinate clause. Direct object. A noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb. Example: I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. (Song of Myself by Walt Whitman).

Direct quotation. The exact words spoken. Quotation marks are used before and after a direct quotation. Example: “I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson,” said he. (The Crooked Man by Arthur Conan Doyle).

E Elliptical clause. A subordinate clause in which a word or words are omitted, but understood. Example: I thought [that] the heart must burst. (The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe). Ellipsis. A punctuation mark (. . .) indicating the omission of words or a pause. Example: “Oh! Ahab,” cried Starbuck . . . “See! Moby Dick seeks thee not.” (Moby Dick by Herman Melville).

Essential phrase or clause. Necessary to the meaning of a sentence and therefore not set off with commas. Also called restrictive. Example: Ethan was ashamed of the storm of jealousy in his breast. (Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton). Exclamation point. A punctuation mark (!) used after an interjection and at the end of an exclamatory sentence. Example: Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said “Bah!” again; and followed it up with “Humbug!” (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens). Exclamatory sentence. Expresses strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point. Example: O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio is dead! (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare). Expletive. A word inserted in the subject position of a sentence that does not add to the sense of the thought. Example: There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde).

G Gerund. A verbal ending in ing used as a noun. Example: Saying is one thing, and paying is another. (The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy). Gerund phrase. A gerund with all of its modifiers. Example: The coming of daylight dispelled his fears, but increased his loneliness. (White Fang by Jack London).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY H Helping verbs. A verb that precedes the main verb. Example: am, is, are, has have, had, shall, will, can, may, should, would, could might, must, do, did, does. And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door. (The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe). Hyphen. Punctuation mark (-) used to divide words at the end of a line, between certain numbers (sixty-two), to separate compound nouns and adjectives, between some prefixes and suffixes and their root words. Example: Why didn’t you tell me there was danger in men-folk? (Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy).

I Imperative sentence. A sentence that gives a command or makes a request. Example: Fetch me the handkerchief! (Othello by William Shakespeare). Indefinite pronoun. A word that refers to an unnamed person or thing. Example: All, any, anybody, anything, both each, either everybody, everyone everything, few, many, most, neither, nobody, none no one, nothing, others, several, some someone, something. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. (Macbeth by William Shakespeare).

Independent clause. A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. Example: The artist must possess the courageous soul that dares and defies. (The Awakening by Kate Chopin). Indirect object. A noun or pronoun that precedes a direct object and answers the questions to or for whom? or to or for what? Example: The horse made me a sign to go in first. (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift) Infinitive. A verbal that begins with to that is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Example: to walk, to read, to imagine. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. (The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry). Infinitive phrase. An infinitive with its object and modifiers. Example: To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and ditch was the worst of nightmares. (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson). Interjection. A word that is used to express strong feeling that is not related grammatically to the rest of the sentence. Example: Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley). Interrogative sentence. A sentence that asks a questions and ends with a question mark. Example: Is there no pity sitting in the clouds that sees into the bottom of my grief? (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare). Intransitive verb. A verb that does not require an object. Example: By degrees Rip’s awe and apprehension subsided. (Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY

I Inverted order. A sentence that does not follow the typical order of subject-verb-object. Example: Work in the coal mine I always dreaded. (Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington). Irregular verb. A verb that does not form the past tense or past participle by adding ed or d to the present tense. Example: But at night came his revelry: at night he closed his shutters, and made fast his doors, and drew out his gold. (Silas Marner by Geroge Eliot).

L Linking verb. A verb that links the subject with a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective. Example: is, became, remain, look, appear, seem. Example: Miss Daisy Miller looked extremely innocent. (Daisy Miller by Henry James). Loose sentence. An independent clause followed by a dependent clause. Example: I didn’t go shopping because it was raining.

M Modifiers. Words that describe or provide more meaning to a word. Modifiers include adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositional phrases, verbals, and clauses.

N Nominative pronoun. A pronoun used as a subject or predicate nominative. Example: I am a man more sinned against than sinning. (King Lear by William Shakespeare). Nonessential phrase or clause. Not necessary to the meaning of a sentence and therefore set off with commas. Also called nonrestrictive. Example: There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. (The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin). Noun. A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Example: This time he was aware that it was the club, but his madness knew no caution. (The Call of the Wild by Jack London). Noun clause. A subordinate clause used as a subject, direct object, object of a preposition, appositive, or predicate nominative. Example: What saves us is efficiency – the devotion to efficiency. (Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad).

O Object of preposition. The noun or pronoun with its modifiers that follows a preposition. Example: Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble hollow and harsh. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens). Objective case. Pronouns used as direct objects, indirect objects, or as objects of a preposition. Example: For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother. (Henry V by William Shakespeare).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY

O Objective complement. A noun or adjective that renames or describes a direct object. Example: O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of

infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. (Hamlet by William Shakespeare).

P Parallelism. Arranging words and phrases consistently to express similar ideas. Example: I like to hike, fishing, and swimming. (Incorrect) I like hiking, fishing, and swimming. (Correct). Parenthetical expression. Words that are not grammatically related to the rest of a sentence, set off by parentheses (( )). Example: He had passed his life in estimating people (it was part of the medical trade), and in nineteen cases out of twenty he was right. (Washington Square by Henry James).

Participial phrase. A participle with its modifiers and complements. Example: In the morning, looking into each other’s faces, they read their fate. (The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte). Participle. A verbal ending in ing, ed, d, or an irregular form that is used as an adjective. Example: I am not in the giving vein today. (Richard III by William Shakespeare). Parts of Speech. The parts of speech are verb, noun, adjective, adverb, preposition, pronoun, interjection, and conjunction.

Passive voice. Indicates that the subject receives the action of the verb in a sentence. Example: The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer. (The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane). Period. A punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a declarative sentence or an abbreviation. Example: Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. (The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle). Periodic sentence. A dependent clause followed by an independent clause. Example: Because it was raining, I didn’t go shopping. Personal pronoun. Refers to a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Example: I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them. Phrase. A group of related words that do not have a subject or a verb. Example: Climbing to a high chamber, in a well of houses, he threw himself down in his clothes on a neglected bed, and its pillow was wet with wasted tears. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens). Possessive pronoun. A pronoun form used to show ownership. Example: my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, their, theirs. My Intended, my ivory ,my station, my river, my – everything belonged to him. (Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad). Predicate. A group of word or words that tells something about the subject. Example: Joe laid his hand upon my shoulder with the touch of a woman. (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY

P Predicate adjective. An adjective that modifies the subject in a sentence with a linking verb. Example: No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe). Predicate nominative. A noun or pronoun that identifies, renames, or explains the subject in a sentence with a linking verb. Example: The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. (The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne). Prefix. A word part added to the beginning of a word to change its basic meaning. Example: Do your work and you shall reinforce yourself. (Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson). Preposition. A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence. Example: I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley). Prepositional phrase. A group of words that begins with a preposition, ends with a noun or pronoun, and is used as an adjective or an adverb. Example: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. (Walden by Henry David Thoreau).

Pronoun. A word that takes the place of one or more nouns. Example: Do all men kill the things they do not love? (The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare).

Proper adjective. A capitalized adjective formed from a proper noun. Example: I changed to the Illinois edge of the island to see what luck I could have, and I warn’t disappointed. (Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain). Proper noun. A capitalized noun that names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Example: This is Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard. (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson).

Punctuation. Punctuation marks include apostrophe, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, period, question mark, quotation marks, and semicolon.

Q Question mark. A punctuation mark (?) used to indicate a question or to end an interrogative sentence. Example: Who in the rainbow can show the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? (Billy Budd by Herman Melville). Quotation mark. Punctuation mark (‘) used to enclose a quotation or title within a quotation. Example: “There’s a charming piece of music by Handel called ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith.’” (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY Q Quotation marks. Punctuation mark (“) used at the beginning and end of a direct quotation, to enclose titles of art works, chapters, articles, short stories, poems, songs, and other parts of books or magazines. Example: Here in Milan, in an ancient tumbledown ruin of a church, is the mournful wreck of the most celebrated painting in the world – “The Last Supper,” by Leonardo da Vinci. (The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain).

R Reflexive pronoun. A pronoun formed by adding self or selves to a personal pronoun. Example: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare). Regular verb. A verb that forms its past tense and past participle by adding ed or d to the present tense. Example: He ordered me like a dog, and I obeyed like a dog. (David Copperfield by Charles Dickens). Relative pronoun. A pronoun that relates an adjective clause to its antecedent. Example: who, whom, whose, which, that. Note: Adjective clauses sometimes begin with where and when. Example: There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. (Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain).

Restrictive phrase or clause. Another name for essential phrase or clause.

S

Salutation. The opening greeting that comes before the body of a letter. Use a comma after the salutation in a friendly letter and a colon after the salutation in a business letter. My Dear Victor, (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley). Semicolon. A punctuation mark (;) used to separate the independent clauses of a compound sentence that are not joined by conjunctions, before certain transitional words (however, furthermore, moreover, therefore, etc.), and between items in a series if the items contain commas. Example: Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare). Sentence. A group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. Example: The odor of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. (The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe).

Sentence fragment. A group of words that lacks either a subject or a verb that does not express a complete thought. Example: Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens). Series. Three or more words or phrases in succession separated by commas or semicolons. Example: At a table he sat and consumed beefsteak, flapjacks, doughnuts, and pie. (The Cop and the Anthem by O. Henry).

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GRAMMAR GLOSSARY S Simple predicate. The verb. The main word or phrase in the complete predicate. Example: This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen. (King Lear by William Shakespeare). Simple sentence. A sentence that is one independent clause. Example: Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. (Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain).

Subject. A word or group of words that names the person, place, thing, or idea the sentence is about. Example: A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. (The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle). Subordinate clause. A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought. Also called a dependent clause. Example: As Ichabod approached this fearful tree, he began to whistle. (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving). Suffix. A word part added to the end of a word that changes its meaning. Example: A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority. (Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau).

T Tense. The form a verb takes to show time. Example: present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. Example: We will have rings and things and fine array. (The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare). Transitive verb. An action verb that requires an object. Example: Vanity, working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief. (Emma by Jane Austen).

U Understood subject. A subject that is understood rather than stated. Example: [You] Give me the worst first. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens).

V Verb. A word or words that show the action in the sentence and tell what the subject is doing. Example: A girl learns many things in a New England village. (The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne). Verbal. A verb form used as some other part of speech. The three verbals are: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. Verbal phrase. The main verb plus one or more helping verbs. Example: would have made, will be going, should do. After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs! (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

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