Higher Lessons in English A work on english grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd, Reed, Alonzo, 1899-

If the compositions contain more than two or three short paragraphs each, it will be almost impossible to secure good work.

Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.

FROM FRANKLIN'S "AUTOBIOGRAPHY."

1. I was dirty from my journey, my pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. 2. I was fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of rest; I was very hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in copper. 3. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refused it on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it.

1. Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the markethouse I met a boy with bread. 2. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. 3. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. 4. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, or the greater cheapness and the names of his bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any sort. 5. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. 6. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it; and, having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other.

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+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--Break up sentence 1, paragraph 1, into three distinct sentences, and tell what changes this will make in capitals and punctuation. Do the same for 2. Which read more closely together, and are more closely connected, the parts of 2, or of 1? How is this shown to the eye? Analyze the first two sentences you made from 1. Find two object complements of _knew_, one a noun and the other a group of five words. Find in 2 a phrase whose principal part is made up of three nouns. What have you learned about the commas used with these nouns? In making separate sentences of 3 what words do you change or drop? Are these the words that bind the parts of 3 together? What noun is used adverbially after _gave_? Supply a preposition and then tell what phrases modify _gave_. Find the object complement of _gave_. What modifies _refused_ by telling when? What, by telling _why_?