CORRECTING DICTATION "I" is a capital letter because 81 There is an apostrophe between n and t in the word "don't " because a letter (o) has been omitted. There are quotation marks around because There is an exclamation mark at the end of because There is a period at the end of because because because III. MAKING PARAGRAPH SENTENCES Try to write in one short sentence what each paragraph tells. For the first paragraph you might write: A hunter asked a woodcutter if the woodcutter had seen any lion tracks. IV. WRITING A STORY FROM DICTATION1 Your teacher will dictate the story, The Hunter and the Lion, exactly as it is given in your book. Try to write it without one mistake. V. CORRECTING DICTATION1 Open your book to the story, The Hunter and the Lion (p. 77). 1 Note to the teacher: Consult your Manual, page 82, directions for dictating and for correcting dictation. for Beside your book, place your paper containing the story as you wrote it from dictation. THE TITLE Read your title. Is every word spelled correctly? Have you used capital letters to begin the first word and the important words? Correct any errors you may have made. THE PARAGRAPHS Paragraph I: Have you indented your paragraph? Does "Have" begin with a capital letter? Have you a question mark after the hunter's words? Have you quotation marks around the words of the hunter? Is the question mark inside the quotation marks? Have you a period at the end of the sentence? Do you know why every one of these capitals and marks of punctuation has been used? If not, ask your teacher. Correct any errors you have made in the first paragraph. Paragraph II: Have you indented the word "The"? Have you written "The" with a capital letter? Have you separated your quotation from the rest of the sentence by a comma? A WRITTEN TEST 83 Have you used a capital letter at the beginning of the quotation? Have you a period after each sentence? Have you quotation marks around every word the woodcutter said? Correct any errors you may have made in this paragraph. Examine the third and fourth paragraphs just as carefully as you examined the first and second paragraphs. Correct any mistakes you made and tell yourself as you make your corrections just why you are doing so. VI. A WRITTEN TEST This test calls upon you to do only things that you have studied. You should be able to write it without help. The Wonderful Professor "That smaller child should go to bed at once," said the professor. "Why at once?" asked the professor. "Because he can't go at twice," said the professor. The other professor gently clapped his hands. "Isn't he wonderful!" he cried. "Nobody else could quick. Of course he have thought of the reason so can't go at twice! It would hurt him to be divided." LEWIS CARROLL 1. Copy all the words in the title and in the first paragraph that begin with capital letters, and after each tell why a capital is used. This is the way you should do it: "The "begins with a capital because "Wonderful" and "Professor" begin with capitals because "That "begins with a . 2. Tell why the commas are used in the first and third paragraphs, like this: Paragraph I: The comma is used to separate the quotation from the rest of the sentence. Paragraph III: The comma ——— 3. Where are quotation marks used in the first and second paragraphs, and why? Paragraph I: There are quotation marks around "That smaller child should go to bed at once," because these are the exact words of the professor. Paragraph II: There are quotation marks around 4. Why is the question mark used in the second paragraph? There is a question mark after "Why at once" because 5. Copy one exclamatory sentence from the fourth paragraph. Copy one statement from the fourth paragraph. SPEAKING WORDS CORRECTLY 85 6. "Can't" is a contraction of cannot. Why is the apostrophe used in "can't"? "Isn't" is a contraction of is not. Why is the apostrophe used in "isn't"? If you cannot answer these questions, look back to the study of the fourth paragraph of the story, The Hunter and the Lion (pp. 80, 81). VII. SPEAKING WORDS CORRECTLY In the story, The Wonderful Professor, we find two very common words that are sometimes mispronounced. They are "once" and "twice." Have you ever heard anyone add the sound of t to the end of these words? Do not do it. There is another very common word that is spelled with a t, but the t should be silent. That word is "often." Do not sound the t; say of'en. Below is a list of common words sometimes mispronounced. Read them clearly and distinctly. Your teacher will tell you if you mispronounce any. If you do, remember your American "I can and I will," and correct your error today. |