Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 29 (IV) · Part 1: Part I: The elementary course
29. Appositives, and a review
Goal: Your child can find and write appositives ("Mr. Jones the mason") and uses commas with them as the book directs.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and a pencil (or a slate)
What's in the book
Part IV of Lesson 29 defines the appositive and gives a comma rule, models, sentences to mark and three model analyses. Page 47 has review questions and fifteen sentences for pointing out verbs, participles and adjectives.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Ask your child to write the possessive of girl, girls, man and men.
Same person, two names
Read the book's example: "Mr. Jones the mason is insane." Ask: Who is the mason? The same person as Mr. Jones.
Read:
An Appositive is a word, or group of words, used to modify a noun or pronoun by denoting the same object.
The comma rule
Read:
An appositive is usually set off by a comma unless it is unmodified, or modified by the only.
Say"Milton the poet" needs no comma. "Stevenson, the celebrated engineer," does.
Find the appositives
Point them out:
Mr. Whitcomb the lawyer is out of town.
Whang, the Chinese miller, acted foolishly.
Washington, the capital of the United States, is situated on the Potomac.
Write sentences
Write five sentences with appositives, following the book's models:
Mr. Tod the mason died yesterday.
I have seen Mr. Smith the engineer.
Review exercise
Page 47 asks your child to point out verbs, participles and adjectives. Try a few:
Charles found an old knife.
Five boys earned three dollars.
Use it today
Look for an appositive in a newspaper or book ("our neighbor, Mrs. Lee,"). Notice the commas.
Afterwards
On another day, analyze the three model sentences on page 46 with the book's models: "Sweet sounds soothe the ear," "Frank's father is a merchant" and "Milton the poet was blind."
Answers to the book's problems
Appositives: 1 lawyer. 2 miller (the Chinese miller). 3 poet. 4 engineer (the celebrated engineer). 5 man (the man who sells strawberries). 6 Webster. 7 capital (the capital of the United States). Review, a few of the items (verb / adjectives, including articles): 1 is / a, good. 2 found / an, old. 8 earned / Five, three. 9 have sailed / Both. 10 earned / Each, a. 11 were / Several, tardy. 12 escaped / Few. 13 died / Many.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.