Morning, Or Spring

2

KISS Grammar

Morning, or Spring

by

Maxfield Parrish

(1870-1966)

Analysis Keys and Notes for Teachers

for

A Level 4 Workbook

Free, from the KISS Grammar Web Site

http://KISSGrammar.org

© Ed Vavra

July, 2013

Contents

Introduction for Teachers and Parents 3

Applying KISS to the Students’ Own Reading and Writing 5

Level 4 - Mixed Verbals 5

Notes for Teachers 5

4.1.1. Identification (Mixed Verbals) 8

4.1.2 The Subjects of Verbals 17

4.1.3. Passages for Analysis 19

4.1.4 Style - Free Sentence-Combining 24

4.1.5. Just for Fun 25

Level 4.2 - A Focus on Gerunds 26

Notes for Teachers 26

4.2.1 Identification of Gerunds 27

4.2.2. The Subjects of Gerunds 30

4.2.3 Gerunds as Nouns Used as Adverbs 32

[Ex. 4.2.4 A Treasure Hunt] 33

Level 4.3 - A Focus on Gerundives 33

Notes for Teachers 33

4.3.1 Identification of Gerundives 35

4.3.2 A Passage for Analysis 39

4.3.3 Exploring the Punctuation of Gerundives 40

4.3.4. Style - From Main Clause to Subordinate Clause to Gerundive 42

4.3.5 Style - Rewriting Gerundives as Finite Verbs 44

Notes for Teachers 44

4.3.6 Style - Free Sentence-Combining 49

4.3.7. Just for Fun 51

[4.3.8. A Treasure Hunt for Gerundives] 56

Level 4.4 - A Focus on Infinitives 56

Notes for Teachers 56

4.4.1 Identifying Mixed Infinitives 57

4.4.2 Subjects of Infinitives 61

4.4.3 Infinitives as Subjects or Complements 63

4.4.4. Infinitives as Objects of Prepositions 65

4.4.5 Infinitives as Adjectives or Adverbs (or Interjections) 66

4.4.6 Ellipsed Infinitives 69

4.4.7 Passages for Analysis 73

[4.4.8 A Treasure Hunt for Infinitives] 76

KISS Level 5.8 Noun Absolutes 76

Notes for Teachers 76

5.8.1 Noun Absolutes That Function as Adverbs 80

5.8.2 Style - Rewriting Sentences by Using Noun Absolutes 86

5.8.3 Noun Absolutes That Function as Nouns 87

5.8.4 Passages for Analysis 91

Appendix 94

The KISS Grammar Toolbox 94

Using the KISS Analysis Keys 96

Creating Directions for Your Students 97

Introduction for Teachers and Parents

The study of grammar is a science.

The teaching of grammar is an art.

Welcome back to KISS Grammar. This is the “Teachers” Book” for a KISS Level 4 workbook. It contains suggestions for teaching KISS Level 4, the analysis keys for the exercises, and the relevant explanations from the KISS “Master Books.” The keys in this book have been numbered to match the students’ workbook.

This book assumes that you and your students have already mastered KISS Levels 1, 2, 3.1, and 3.2. It focuses on the last two types of constructions that your students will need to know. Verbals are the focus of KISS Level 4. Having used the previous KISS books, you know that the KISS Grade-Level series of books spreads the KISS Level 5 constructions across the earlier levels. The only remaining Level 5 construction is the Noun Absolute, which is included in this book.

Even if your students are already familiar with it, I strongly suggest you review the KISS Psycholinguistic Model with them. (See the “Printable Books Page.”) The model changes the study of grammar into the study of how the human mind processes language, and it also justifies the rules of punctuation.
If you still feel uncomfortable with your own knowledge of grammar, you might want to read “Teaching Grammar with the KISS Approach: ‘I Don't Know’” in the Background Essays for KISS Grammar.

General Reminders:

1. Although the ability to identify constructions is essential, once students have the ability, such exercises may become boring. You may therefore want to modify some of the directions. For example, punctuation exercises often ask students to identify constructions as well as fix the punctuation. You may want to change these to simply fixing and discussing the punctuation. The same is true for some of the exercises on logic.

2. The instructional material in these “complete” books is the same for every Level 3.2 book, regardless of grade-level of the students for whom they are intended. (Format and graphics may change, and as I receive feedback from teachers, some of the explanations may change.) You should at least browse through the relevant “booklets” for the KISS Levels. They include explanations for the nature and sequencing of exercises, as well as comments unusual cases. (Repeating and updating this material in each of the eight “complete” Level 3.2 books does not make sense.)

3. Emphasize the method.

Applying KISS to the Students’ Own Reading and Writing

The primary objective of KISS is to enable students to intelligently discuss the grammar of anything that they read and especially anything that they write. Those who understand KISS concepts could, theoretically, use the Master Books and then use only the students’ own writing for exercise materials. But particularly in classrooms, this would be impractical.
Imagine the dilemma of a teacher with twenty students in classroom. The students have been given the instructional material on subjects and verbs, and then the students immediately all try to find the subjects and verbs in a short passage that they wrote. The teacher would go nuts trying to check all of this. In other words, it makes much more sense for the students to all do a few of the same exercise, an exercise that can then be reviewed in class. KISS primarily provides the latter type of exercises.
Teachers should regularly supplement these exercises by having students analyze short passages from their own writing. The students can simply apply the directions they have been using to the analysis of their own writing. (In other words, if they are working at KISS Level Three, they would analyze their own writing through clauses.) The students can then work in small groups to check and discuss each others’ work. How often teachers should do this is an aspect of the art of teaching. But the more you do this, the more that you will probably see interested, motivated students.

Level 4 - Mixed Verbals

Notes for Teachers

A verbal is a verb that functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb. In KISS Level Two (S/V/C patterns) students needed to learn how to distinguish finite verbs from non-finite, i.e., from verbals. Theoretically, a detailed study of verbals could immediately follow students’ mastery of S/V/C patterns, but there are two reasons for postponing such instruction. First, clause structure is much more important for an understanding of how sentences work. Second, there is a fair amount of both research and theory that suggests that one verbal (gerundives) is, to use Kellogg Hunt’s label, a “late-blooming” construction. KISS Level Four first appears in the sixth “grade-level” book, but this may be too early for some students.

Teaching Verbals

Like finite verbs, verbals can have complements, are modified by adverbs, and have implied or stated subjects. Verbals are probably best learned if the single page of instructional material on them (“Identifying Verbals”) is simply added to the students’ analytical toolbox. Thus, students should continue to analyze and discuss sentences and passages from real texts—identifying prepositional phrases first, then S/V/C patterns, then clauses, and simply adding the identification of verbals. Such an approach enables students to see how various writers use verbals in a wide range of sentences. If there is time for such instruction, teachers can focus on the sentence-combining and other sentence manipulation exercises.

The exercises on verbals are divided into four sections, comparable to the presentation of subordinate clauses (KISS Level 3.1). In that section, mixed subordinate clauses were introduced first. Thereafter, special focus was put on subordinate clauses as direct objects, then on adverbial clauses, then adjectival, and then on other noun clauses. Some students probably did not need most of the materials in the special focus sections. You may or may not have used the punctuation, stylistic, and/or logic-focused exercises in those special focus sections.

Similarly, some students may easily master all three types of verbals by simply using the section on “Mixed Verbals.” If they have problems, you can use the identification exercises in the three specific sections—gerunds, gerundives, and infinitives. You should, however, take the specific sections in that sequence. Gerunds are relatively easy to identify. With gerunds basically mastered, gerundives are more easily understood. Finally, infinitives are most easily identified by the process of elimination—if a verbal is not a gerund and not a gerundive, it must be an infinitive. Infinitives are the most complex of the verbals, so you may want to at least browse that section before you decide to skip it.

4.1 Mixed Verbals

The three types of verbals can easily be taught simultaneously. Students who have been learning through the KISS Approach will recognize gerunds by their functions, i.e., they will see that they have already been labeling these words as subjects, direct objects, objects of prepositions, etc. Thus gerundives are best learned through the process of elimination—any verbs that end in “-ing,” “-ed,” or a few irregular forms (such as “written”) that are not finite and that do not function as gerunds are almost certainly gerundives. Any verb that is not finite, not a gerund, and not a gerundive, has to be an infinitive. There are no exceptions to this descriptive rule.

You can, if you wish, slow the introduction of new material down by having students first do one or two exercises that focus separately on gerunds, gerundives, and then infinitives. Any randomly selected text will almost certainly contain a variety of clauses, main and subordinate. Verbals, however, are used less frequently. To be sure that there are verbals in the exercise text, you may therefore want to start with some of the exercises in this section.

The Exercises on “Mixed Verbals”

Section One (four exercises) give students sentences with a variety of verbals and ask students to identify the type (gerund, gerundive, or infinitive) of the verbal and any complements. Section Two (one exercise) focuses on the subjects of verbals. The subjects of gerunds are in possessive case:

Tom’s missing the season hurt the team.

The subjects of gerundives are the word or words that the gerundive modifies:

Susan, having hit a home run, was very happy.

The subjects of infinitives are either understood or in the objective case. In Sarah wanted to wash the car. everyone understands that Sarah will be doing the washing. In

Sarah wanted him to wash the car.

everyone knows that someone else (in this case, a male) should be doing the washing. The point here is that the subjects of verbals are not very hard to understand.

Section Three provides two passages for analysis. Section Four (one exercise) focuses on style and asks students to combine sentences using verbals. The Fifth section is a “Just for Fun” analysis exercise.

Suggested General Directions for Analytical Exercises

1. Put parentheses ( ) around each prepositional phrase.

2. Underline subjects once, finite verbs twice, and label complements (“PN,” “PA,” “IO,” “DO”).

3. Place brackets around each subordinate clause. If the clause functions as a noun, label its function (PN, IO, DO, OP) above the opening bracket. If it functions as an adjective or adverb, draw an arrow from the opening bracket to the word that the clause modifies.

4. Put a vertical line at the end of every main clause.

5. Put a box around every gerund and gerundive. If it is a gerund (i.e., it functions as a noun) indicate its function over the box. If it is a gerundive, draw an arrow to the word it modifies.

6. Put an oval around every infinitive and indicate (as in three above) its function.

4.1.1. Identification (Mixed Verbals)

Ex. 1a - From My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales

1. Early next morning [NuA] [ [#1] when the dawn was breaking] she left her father's house (DO), leaving a little note [#2] {behind her} begging him not to be anxious [#3] but *stating* [#3] [DO that she had gone {to the Beast's castle}]. |

2. {For several days} he flew around hoping to catch sight [#4] {of Zélie}, | and {at last}, seated [#5] {by a hermit}, {outside a cave}, he found her (DO). |

3. "Madame Cat [DirA]," [ [#6] replied the Prince], "it is very good (PA) {of you} to receive me [#7] thus, | but you are not an ordinary cat (PN); | being able to speak, and possessing this superb castle [#8] , are proof (PN) {of that}." |

4. {In vain} did his wife plead {with him} to spare her [#9] , kneeling [#10] {before him} {with tears streaming [#11] } {from her eyes}. |

5. Four {of his wicked companions} had tried to partition the Kingdom [#12] {between them}, | but the people would have none (DO) such to rule [#13], | and they had offered the crown (DO) {to the good and wise Suliman}. | Chéri panted {with rage} {on hearing this [#14] }, | and {in the Palace Square} he saw Suliman (DO) {on a superb throne}, and all the people (DO) [Adj. to "people" who shouted {with joy}, and wished him (IO) a long life (DO) to repair the evil [#15] brought about [#16] {by their former sovereign}]. |