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1/20/15
• Take out your copy of “The Most Dangerous
Game”
• Take out “Literary Devices Planning Sheet” and
pass to front of room
• Take out Scavenger Hunt and set aside
Some examples from Connell’s
“The Most Dangerous Game”
• Some wounded thing– by evidence, a large
animal– had thrashed about in the
underbrush… A small glittering object not far
away caught Rainsford’s eye and he picked it
up.
• Find this excerpt on page 3, about 2/3 down
the page.
Some examples from Connell’s
“The Most Dangerous Game”
• Some wounded thing– by evidence, a large
animal– had thrashed about in the
underbrush… A small glittering object not far
away caught Rainsford’s eye and he picked it
up.
• Underline each word in your story. Label each
underlined word in pencil in the margin. Is it a
noun? Verb? Adjective? Adverb? Pronoun?
Some examples from Connell’s
“The Most Dangerous Game”
• Some wounded (adjective) thing– by
evidence, a large animal– had thrashed (verb)
about in the underbrush… A small glittering
(adjective) object not far away caught
Rainsford’s eye and he picked (verb) it up.
• Label each underlined word in pencil. Is it a
noun? Verb? Adjective? Adverb? Pronoun?
• What do you notice about all these words?
Yes!
• Without the suffix, they are all examples of
verbs.
• Wound, thrash, glitter, pick– all verbs.
• So, how can wounded be an adjective? How
can glittering be an adjective?
Quotes from the experts…
“Verbs are the most important of all your tools.
They push the sentence forward and give it
momentum. Active verbs push hard; passive
verbs tug fitfully.”
On Writing Well
William Zinsser
Verbs are so effective that we
often steal them and transform
them into other parts of speech.
• When we do this it is called a verbal.
Verbals…
• A verbal looks and sounds like a verb, but it is
NOT a verb. It works as another part of
speech.
• Avoid confusing a verbal and a verb. They are
never the same and can never occupy the
same space in a sentence.
• Verbals will not have helping verbs.
Participles and Participial Phrases
• A participle is a verbal used as an ADJECTIVE.
• Participles modify NOUNS or PRONOUNS only.
• A participle will answer the adjective questions
“Which one?” and “What kind?”
• Participles are either PRESENT or PAST --• Present participles end in –ing
• Past participles usually end in -ed, but some past
participles have irregular endings such as -en, -n, t. Even the word made can be a participle.
Examples of Participles and
Phrases
• Present Participle (with an –ing ending)
The sleeping student missed his next class.
(Which student?) (The verb is missed.)
• Past Participle (with –ed, -en, -n, -t, made)
The defrosted meat lay on the kitchen table.
The broken chair is dangerous.
The jacket, torn and ripped, is ruined.
The car made in Japan is a Nissan.
Participial Phrases
• A participial phrase is a verbal that includes its
modifiers or complements -- all working
together as an ADJECTIVE.
• A participial phrase can be anywhere in a
sentence and be combined with an adverb, a
prep phrase, or a complement.
• If an adverb precedes a participial phrase,
include it as part of the phrase:
Quickly raising his hand, Joe was called on first.
Gerunds
• A gerund is a verbal ending in -ing and used as a
NOUN. Examples:
Subject: Swimming is fun.
Direct Object: I love swimming.
Indirect Object: Joe’s competitive edge gave his
swimming a real boost.
Object of a Prep: Joe’s love for swimming is strong.
Predicate Nom: Joe’s favorite sport is swimming.
Appositive: Joe’s favorite sport, swimming, is easy.
What are complement gerunds?
• Direct Objects, Indirect Objects and Predicate
Nominatives = nouns that end in –ing
• Direct Objects answer whom? What? And
follow action verbs
• Indirect objects answer For whom? To whom?
For what? To what? And follow action verbs.
An indirect object comes before a direct
object
• Predicate nominatives follow linking verbs and
rename the subject before the verb.
Gerund or Participle? It’s easy!
• Remember: Gerunds are nouns. Participles
are adjectives.
• Gerunds end in –ing.
• Participles end in –ing, -ed, -en, -n, -t
• Nouns are things; adjectives describe things.
• Know what the verbal is doing in the
sentence.
• Do not confuse the verb and the verbal.
Now, let’s finish the treasure hunt
• We’ll complete page 3 together. You will then
complete pages 4, 5, 6, and 7 with a partner.
• After completing the search, update your
treasure hunt sheet by adding participles and
gerunds with page numbers.
Infinitives
• Infinitives are verbals that usually begin with
the word to and another verb.
• Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives or
adverbs.
• Infinitives can never be prep phrases. An
infinitive is to + a verb form (to go, to see)
whereas a prep phrase is to + an object (noun
or pronoun): to school, to Utah, to the dance
Infinitive Phrases
• Like gerunds and participle phrases, an
infinitive phrase can be combined with
modifiers and complements – all working
together as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
Examples:
We left home early to get to the movie on time.
My family hopes to leave for Utah tomorrow.
The book to read is Fahrenheit 451.
Finding and Using Infinitives
• Infinitives can come anywhere in a sentence.
• Infinitives act like nouns, adjectives or
adverbs.
• Sometimes the word to is omitted when the
infinitive follows verbs such as dare, feel, hear,
help, let, make, need, see and watch.
Example: No one dared go without permission
Identifying Infinitive Phrases
• Adjective infinitives will always follow a noun
or pronoun: The place to go is called Mezzo.
(Which place? What kind?)
• Noun infinitives can be Subjects, DOs, or PNs:
To watch a child walk for the first time is
exciting. I want to go to Europe every
summer. My job is to watch the swimmers.
• Adverb infinitives modify adjectives and other
adverbs. I left early to go home.
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
• Participial phrases and infinitive phrases can
be used as modifiers and must be placed close
to the word they modify.
• Misplaced modifier: the verbal phrase must
be moved next to the word it modifies.
• Dangling modifier: DO NOT MOVE the verbal
phrase. The sentence lacks a word to be
modified. Add that word next to the verbal.
Fixing Misplaced and Dangling
Modifiers
Example of a misplaced modifier:
We saw a bear hiking along with our cameras.
Hiking along with our cameras, we saw a bear.
(Move the verbal and punctuate it correctly.)
Example of a dangling modifier:
To enter the contest, a form must be signed.
To enter the contest, you must sign a form.
(Do NOT move the verbal; add a missing word.)