Graded Lessons in English Part 2

LESSON 4.

Commit to memory all definitions.

+DEFINITION.--A _Sentence_ is the expression of a thought in words+.

Which of the following expressions contain words that have _no connection_, which contain words _merely a.s.sociated_, and which are _sentences_?

1. Flowers bloom.

2. Ice melts.

3. Bloom ice.

4. Gra.s.s grows.

5. Brooks babble.

6. Babbling brooks.

7. Gra.s.s soar.

8. Doors open.

9. Open doors.

10. Cows graze.

11. Curling smoke.

12. Sugar graze.

13. Dew sparkles.

14. Hissing serpents.

15. Smoke curls.

16. Serpents hiss.

17. Smoke curling.

18. Serpents sparkles.

19. Melting babble.

20. Eagles soar.

21. Birds chirping.

22. Birds are chirping.

23. Birds chirp.

24. Gentle cows.

25. Eagles are soaring.

26. Bees ice.

27. Working bees.

28. Bees work.

29. Crawling serpents.

30. Landscape piano.

31. Serpents crawl.

32. Eagles clock.

33. Serpents crawling.

LESSON 5.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

Ill.u.s.trate, by the use of _a_, _b_, and _p_, the difference between the _sounds_ of letters and their _names_. Letters are the signs of what? What is an idea? A _spoken_ word is the sign of what? A _written_ word is the sign of what? How do they differ? To what four different things did we call attention in Lesson 1?

How are _vowel_ sounds made? How are the two kinds of _consonant_ sounds made? What are vowels? Name them. What are consonants? What is artificial language, or language proper? What do you understand by natural language?

What is English grammar?

What three kinds of expressions are spoken of in Lessons 3 and 4? Give examples of each. What is a sentence?

LESSON 6.

a.n.a.lYSIS.

On the following sentences, let the pupils be exercised according to the model.

+Model+.--_Intemperance degrades_. Why is this a _sentence?_ Ans.--Because it expresses a thought. Of what is something thought? Ans.--Intemperance.

Which word tells what is thought? Ans.--_Degrades_.

1. Magnets attract.

2. Horses neigh.

3. Frogs leap.

4. Cold contracts.

5. Sunbeams dance.

6. Heat expands.

7. Sunlight gleams.

8. Banners wave.

9. Gra.s.s withers.

10. Sailors climb.

11. Rabbits burrow.

12. Spring advances.

You see that in these sentences there are two parts. The parts are the _+Subject+_ and the _+Predicate+_.

+DEFINITION.--The _Subject of a sentence_ names that of which something is thought+.

+DEFINITION.--The _Predicate of a sentence_ tells what is thought+.

+DEFINITION.--The _a.n.a.lysis of a sentence_ is the separation of it into its parts+.

a.n.a.lyze, according to the model, the following sentences.

+Model+.--_Stars twinkle_. This is a _sentence_, because it expresses a thought. _Stars_ is the _subject_, because it names that of which something is thought; _twinkle_ is the _predicate_, because it tells what is thought.

+To the Teacher+.--After the pupils become familiar with the definitions, the "Models" may be varied, and some of the reasons maybe made specific; as, "_Plants_ names the things we tell about; _droop_ tells what plants do," etc.

Guard against needless repet.i.tion.

1. Plants droop.

2. Books help.

3. Clouds float.