PGO M U NN MIT RR AM EA M

I M G G POMGPE CGS AORS S GC PA O MC RG NM SS MR EM CN TAI CSH CS

ES MS A CUS IAOR CMO PE GER ES OGS RCAO MIET ROAM SMIT ASRC MEEG ICES ICTIOO MAAM MGRA HIAC OMNMAAGN
OEC IGTIR ARG SAC NM M EC O G R
GA CIT IR
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M CIH MM IM O OM CHR C M AR
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MHA OA ME GO UES PHO SRI MAMM IOA IOA PMO A PAR NA MEPO AANM CHOANPUO RMMA MMME SNI USA IEC
I
NM EC EM CA ASN AT M N NM SAI NN
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N U PNO N OM UR CHS ICM MN SSI ER CAH C ARG
IC S IC UM GH
S A SS C S R AN GP H G ITICI MIOM ARR UI UMS RIO SUC SITE SMA IAN S CAR PI ATGIO CH RAN S
RA A E OSN N MM CSA AA NMU SOA IC EGC I O OC EN A MICE CO
MH CGOE ITOI AAGR AICMS O
OM S
M I N G OH HEA CS MME SS G NI CS
M
G COU ARU ECEH SG GR ECS M
EAC M G
R P
N E C M MT R
I CA SP S
M C
A CE E M HA E NA G N C
I O
CH IT
P R CS H A
AG HNA APM OUS GR OAMIAOR SM AOS AE NHIC OGM R GEC AGN PGO UNS CRS M AON IO A CO NIC
E INCI OM SITA A R MP NM CMGITEIO CGHE SACN AMP RHAA IEC RSA AIGC ACOM PO ISCS N M MP
S M I E
TI G CSS SAR IGO M EO EUCS O GN A OI MOA NM
I MA N I C C TM S M SIT IT US M O
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N O I N P U IC CMS SRIT SM OM IOA GRA MPO IONN IO AG A S
P
PO U AM MM O RA A AIT IEC OM ASA S P IO A PO RN M ASR U N E R

Sadlier School
O S
SI SAG M OPSOIT N U MMA R MNIICOSNSGCRAOMSEICTH MGMECOM OS N R M SITI U MAR ME SA US GRAM
M TI E A SIO S R M EC C MM IO
I O
AN A PO IT U
G S E N A M CH G A
SA AR ON GRA R NTIUO AG E HA MP ARP NICSU R SITRIOA IO AG CHA US GE EC AN E G GE
G M U MM MEC SNA E G CHNICS OS O SA ME NMU N E G NIC A GR H ICS RA
E
G E G ECH S AR HA G RA A CO ITIO SIT GE CHA MSA US RAM S C GE AM AN CO M
A N R A M OM G M I M
G R AN G M IC E MM N M N U IO GR NIC A
SI RAM AM IC E EC S C GR A IC PO S N AM S C GE GE AR PO RA AR CS PO
T G O R A M
CO IO MA M S C RA H M AM M S C SIT G U MA OM G GR E SIT M ME CO
M R O M
N M A M
Grammar

AN PO M EC O IO E SA R M PO RA AM C IO M CH
PO
S U E R POS MA IC SIT AR HAN MP N U GR GE E SI MM M HA N U AR ANI
NEW EDITION
AR N S M C
E
M ITIO S C M IT R S IO M IC O S A G C TIO
A H I O M S A H A
G
E AR N U G A CHA N EC CO N U EC C SIT G MM RA A N R ME IC AG EC
R M S E N N U HA S
G I S
AN AM EC A R IC CS A NIC P AG AN M N R R A IC A EC AN CO G M H O IO E G A MM N US M CH S E
M H G AM S C
A A O G S O E IC P U A M R S GE HA ICS M
I
G C R N E M C M E O S G SC C O
I S SA M EC ME C G NI C P
for

RA S M IC G A O P G
S T O G
Grade

M R R M O M I R M I T M H CH O R CS O
S
Writing
U M CO EC CO A M RA P O A P I E A AN AN M A C M
SA A M H M M EC PO ITI M O N M OS O GR R IC IC PO M OM
U I N AM M S C S C S M P O
12

H G R M P A PO M HA SI ON M S S M TIO
AN E E O N SI AR NI T U A IT AG A N U MA EC OM O ITI A
M ICS GR CHA SIT IC TIO M CS C ION SA R M IO E G R US SA R M HA PO M ON R
 CONTENTS
COMPOSITION
CHAPTER 1 The Writing Process ..................................................... 8
Lesson 1.1 Prewriting: Gathering Ideas ................................................. 9
Lesson 1.2 Organizing the Ideas and Drafting .................................... 13
Lesson 1.3 Revising ............................................................................. 16
Lesson 1.4 Editing and Proofreading ................................................... 19

CHAPTER 2 Writing Effective Paragraphs and Essays ................... 21

Lesson 2.1 Ideas and Unity ................................................................. 22
Lesson 2.2 Elaborating with Supporting Details ................................. 24
Lesson 2.3 Organization and Coherence ............................................. 27
Lesson 2.4 Types of Paragraphs and Longer Writing .......................... 30
Lesson 2.5 Writing Essays.................................................................... 33

CHAPTER 3 Writing Effective Sentences ...................................... 36

Lesson 3.1 Combining Sentences: Using Conjunctions ...................... 37
* Lesson 3.2 Combining Sentences: Using Subordinate Clauses ........... 39
* Lesson 3.3 Combining Sentences: Inserting Phrases ........................... 41
Lesson 3.4 Varying Sentence Beginnings, Structures, and Lengths..... 43
* Lesson 3.5 Eliminating Short, Choppy Sentences ............................... 45
* Lesson 3.6 Eliminating Wordiness ...................................................... 47
Revising and Editing Worksheets ............................................. 49

CHAPTER 4 Writing Workshops ................................................... 52

Lesson 4.1 Narrative Writing: Autobiographical Incident .................. 53
Lesson 4.2 Narrative Writing: Eyewitness Report................................ 58
Lesson 4.3 Persuasive Writing ............................................................. 63
Lesson 4.4 Expository Writing: Compare and Contrast Essay ............ 69
Lesson 4.5 Expository Writing: Cause-Effect Essay ............................. 76
Lesson 4.6 Expository Writing: Problem-Solution Essay ..................... 82
Lesson 4.7 Writing About Literature: Analyzing a Work .................... 87
Lesson 4.8 Expository Writing: Research Paper................................... 93
Lesson 4.9 Special Writing Tasks: Résumé and Cover Letter ............. 109
* Lesson 4.10 Writing a Timed Essay ....................................................... 115

GRAMMAR
CHAPTER 5 Parts of Speech ........................................................ 119
Lesson 5.1 Nouns .............................................................................. 121
Lesson 5.2 Pronouns ......................................................................... 123
Lesson 5.3 Verbs ................................................................................ 125

* Denotes lessons with skills most commonly assessed on standardized tests.

* Lesson 5.4 Adjectives ......................................................................... 127
* Lesson 5.5 Adverbs ............................................................................ 129
Lesson 5.6 Prepositions ..................................................................... 131
Lesson 5.7 Conjunctions and Interjections....................................... 133
Lesson 5.8 Determining a Word’s Part of Speech .............................. 135
Revising and Editing Worksheet ............................................. 136
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 137

CHAPTER 6 Parts of a Sentence .................................................. 139

* Lesson 6.1 Complete Sentences......................................................... 141
Lesson 6.2 Subject and Predicate ....................................................... 143
Lesson 6.3 Finding the Subject .......................................................... 145
* Lesson 6.4 Correcting Fragments ...................................................... 147
* Lesson 6.5 Correcting Run-on Sentences .......................................... 149
Lesson 6.6 Direct and Indirect Objects.............................................. 151
Lesson 6.7 Predicate Nominatives and Predicate Adjectives ............. 153
Lesson 6.8 Object Complements ....................................................... 155
Revising and Editing Worksheet ............................................. 156
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 157

CHAPTER 7 Phrases ...................................................................... 159

Lesson 7.1 Adjective and Adverb Phrases .......................................... 161
Lesson 7.2 Appositives and Appositive Phrases ................................. 163
Lesson 7.3 Participles and Participial Phrases; Absolute Phrases ....... 165
Lesson 7.4 Gerunds and Gerund Phrases .......................................... 167
Lesson 7.5 Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases..................................... 169
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 171
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 173

CHAPTER 8 Clauses ...................................................................... 175

Lesson 8.1 Independent Clauses and Subordinate Clauses ............... 177
Lesson 8.2 Adjective Clauses ............................................................. 179
Lesson 8.3 Adverb Clauses................................................................. 181
Lesson 8.4 Noun Clauses ................................................................... 183
Lesson 8.5 Four Types of Sentence Structure ................................... 185
* Lesson 8.6 Effective Sentences: Parallel Structure ............................. 187
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 189
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 191
Cumulative Review, Chapters 5–8 ............................................... 193

USAGE
CHAPTER 9 Using Verbs .............................................................. 195
Lesson 9.1 Regular Verbs ................................................................... 197
Lesson 9.2 Irregular Verbs 1 .............................................................. 199
Lesson 9.3 Irregular Verbs 2 .............................................................. 201

* Denotes lessons with skills most commonly assessed on standardized tests.

* Lesson 9.4 Verb Tense ....................................................................... 203
Lesson 9.5 Using the Active Voice .................................................... 205
Lesson 9.6 Mood ............................................................................... 207
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 209
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 211

CHAPTER 10 Subject-Verb Agreement ...................................... 213

* Lesson 10.1 Agreement with Intervening Phrases and Clauses........... 215
* Lesson 10.2 Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns .............................. 217
* Lesson 10.3 Agreement with Compound Subjects .............................. 219
* Lesson 10.4 Agreement with Collective Nouns and
Inverted Subjects .............................................................. 221
* Lesson 10.5 Other Problems in Agreement.......................................... 223
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 225
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 227

CHAPTER 11 Using Pronouns ..................................................... 229

Lesson 11.1 Using Subject Pronouns ................................................... 231
Lesson 11.2 Using Object Pronouns .................................................... 233
* Lesson 11.3 Who or Whom? ................................................................. 235
Lesson 11.4 Pronoun Problems ............................................................ 237
* Lesson 11.5 Agreement with Antecedent ............................................ 239
* Lesson 11.6 Clear Pronoun Reference .................................................. 241
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 243
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 245

CHAPTER 12 Using Modifiers..................................................... 247

Lesson 12.1 Degrees of Comparison .................................................... 249
* Lesson 12.2 Using the Degrees of Comparison.................................... 251
* Lesson 12.3 Double Negatives and Absolute Adjectives ...................... 253
* Lesson 12.4 Misplaced Modifiers ......................................................... 255
* Lesson 12.5 Dangling Modifiers ........................................................... 257
Revising and Editing Worksheets ........................................... 259
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 261
Cumulative Review, Chapters 9–12 ............................................. 263

MECHANICS
CHAPTER 13 Punctuation: End Marks and Commas ................. 265
Lesson 13.1 End Marks and Abbreviations .......................................... 267
Lesson 13.2 Commas in a Series .......................................................... 269
Lesson 13.3 Commas with Compound Sentences and
Introductory Elements ..................................................... 271
* Lesson 13.4 Commas with Sentence Interrupters and
Nonessential Elements ..................................................... 273
Lesson 13.5 Other Comma Uses .......................................................... 275

* Denotes lessons with skills most commonly assessed on standardized tests.

* Lesson 13.6 Correcting Run-on Sentences and
Sentence Fragments .......................................................... 277
Editing and Proofreading Worksheets ................................... 279
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 281

CHAPTER 14 Punctuation: All the Other Marks ........................ 283

Lesson 14.1 Colons............................................................................... 285
Lesson 14.2 Semicolons........................................................................ 287
Lesson 14.3 Underlining (Italics) ......................................................... 289
Lesson 14.4 Quotation Marks .............................................................. 291
Lesson 14.5 More on Quotation Marks................................................ 293
Lesson 14.6 Apostrophes ...................................................................... 295
Lesson 14.7 Hyphens, Dashes, Parentheses, Brackets,
and Ellipsis Points ............................................................ 297
Editing and Proofreading Worksheets ................................... 299
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 301

CHAPTER 15 Capitalization ........................................................ 303

Lesson 15.1 Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives................................ 305
Lesson 15.2 Titles ................................................................................. 307
Lesson 15.3 First Words, Organizations, Religions,
School Subjects ................................................................. 309
Lesson 15.4 I and O; Historical Events, Documents and Periods;
Calendar Items; Brand Names; Awards ............................ 311
Editing and Proofreading Worksheets ................................... 313
Chapter Review.......................................................................................... 315

CHAPTER 16 Spelling ................................................................. 317

Lesson 16.1 Using a Dictionary............................................................ 319
Lesson 16.2 Spelling Rules.................................................................... 321
Lesson 16.3 Prefixes and Suffixes ......................................................... 323
Lesson 16.4 Noun Plurals ..................................................................... 325
Editing and Proofreading Worksheets ................................... 327
Chapter Review....................................................................................... 329
Cumulative Review, Chapters 13–16 ........................................... 331

STANDARDIZED-TEST PRACTICE
Identifying Sentence Errors ....................................................... 334
Improving Sentences .................................................................. 338
Improving Paragraphs ............................................................... 344
Passage Comprehension ............................................................. 347
Practice Test ................................................................................ 353
Commonly Confused Words....................................................... 369
Index ............................................................................................ 373

* Denotes lessons with skills most commonly assessed on standardized tests.

8
1
CHAPTER

COMPOSITION
The Writing Process

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

 LESSON
Prewriting: Gathering Ideas
Prewriting is all the thinking, planning, and organizing you do
1.1
COMPOSITION
before you actually start writing.

Sometimes, you have a burning desire to write, and you know exactly
what you want to say. More often, though, you and other writers need
to take a few steps before writing. Here are five of the many strategies
that writers find helpful during the prewriting stage, when they face a ENRICHING
Your Vocabulary
blank page or screen.
A strategy is a plan for
achieving a particular
Prewriting Strategies goal. The related word,
stratagem, is a trick
1. What if ? questions One way to demonstrate creativity is to
meant to achieve a
imagine what hasn’t happened or what might happen in the future. goal through some
deception. The
You might ask yourself imaginative questions about anything. For stratagem of the
example, “What if I had been born in a different age?” and “What if I Greeks in the war
against Troy was
didn’t live in this country?” Or ask What if ? questions about a broad
to pretend to withdraw,
topic that you need to narrow, or limit. For example, if a teacher assigns leaving behind them
you the general topic, “The Way West,” you might make a list such as the Trojan Horse, a
the following What if ? questions; they can help you focus on a giant wooden horse
that concealed a
challenging but narrower topic. powerful raiding army.

Writing Model
What if gold had not been discovered in 1848 in California?
What if there had been railroads all the way to California in 1848—
or airplanes?
What if the Rocky Mountains had been impassable?

2. Brainstorming Brainstorming is related to What if? questions

because, when you brainstorm, you let your mind roam freely to
create an open-ended list of words and phrases.

Begin by selecting a single word or topic, and write down everything

that comes to mind regarding that word or topic. Focus on each idea
as it comes without going back to fix mistakes or make changes. If
you brainstorm with a group or a partner, make sure one person keeps
the record of everything that is said, and be sure to add everyone’s
contributions to the list. When you run out of thoughts, go through
the list item by item, and circle the entries that most appeal to you as
topics to write about.

Chapter 1 • The Writing Process 9

Prewriting: Gathering Ideas

Writing Model

Assignment: Select an aspect of law in the Old West, and write three
hundred words about it.
Brainstorming List:
Cowboys Ranchers Tombstone & other towns
Famous gunfighters Wyatt Earp Saloons and card games
Stagecoach holdups Nonviolence? Stereotypes of lawmen in movies and TV

3. Freewriting This strategy for finding a topic to write about is similar to

brainstorming but involves nonstop writing.

When you freewrite, let your writing wander. Don’t worry about writing complete
sentences or about grammar or spelling. If you get stuck, just write the same
word over until you get a new thought. Keep moving forward, even if you make
mistakes. Write without stopping for five minutes.

Writing Model

Topic: Cattle drives

When did cattle drives happen? For how long? Where did they start from? Texas?
Where did they end? Why? How many cowboys needed for how many animals? What
were the trails like? Life on the trails, life on the trails, what can I say about that?
How about the dangers and pleasures of life on the trail? Or how about famous
cowboys? Cow towns? Why did cattle drives happen? Huh? That’s a pretty basic
question. Basic is good. OK. That’s what I want to focus on. What the purpose
of the cattle drives was in the first place.

4. Clustering, Mapping, or Webbing If you already know a topic well, this

strategy is helpful for gathering and organizing details or for breaking a large

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

topic into smaller parts.

First, write your topic (or any word or phrase) in the middle of a piece of paper, and
then circle it. Around the circled topic, write subtopics—related words and phrases.
Circle each new word or phrase, and connect it to your original topic by drawing a
line. Each new word or phrase may have subtopics, too. Keep going until you run
out of thoughts. See the example on the following page.

10 Chapter 1 • The Writing Process

 Prewriting: Gathering Ideas

Writing Model

stampedes attacks

dust river
storms crossings

ride swing dangers and new friends

hardships
ride drag ride point money travel to
new towns

jobs rewards
Cattle Drive

5. Writer’s Notebook This prewriting strategy involves keeping a separate

notebook or folder (paper or electronic) in which you jot down experiences
and thoughts about anything that interests you.

Try to jot down thoughts in your writer’s notebook on a regular basis. Then,
when your teacher gives you an assignment to “write about something that
you care about,” you can convert your writer’s notebook notes into effective
paragraphs, essays, and short stories. Include in your notebook any quotations
or thoughts you get from films, interviews, artworks, or even cartoons. Explain
in your notebook why these ideas affected you.

Writing Model
Mon. 5/2.
Home sick; watched hours of TV. Saw movie about lonely, hard but rewarding life
of homesteader in the Old West. Got new appreciation of value of hard work and
perseverance. Life was tough then! Simple pleasures were important—still are,
I think. What must life have been like for my great-grandparents when they first
came to this country and struggled to get a foothold? I wonder. Ought to find
out sometime.

Chapter 1 • The Writing Process 11

Prewriting: Gathering Ideas

ExErcisE 1 Maintaining a Writer’s Notebook

Use a paper notebook or an electronic file to keep a quotation notebook for
three consecutive days. Each day, write down at least one quotation that
caught your interest—something you read or heard. Include a note about
why the quotation got your attention.

ExErcisE 2 Thinking of Topic Ideas Writing HINT

For each of the following numbered items, come up
Some of the prewriting
with two topics that you could write about in a one- to strategies covered in this
three-page paper. Use at least three different prewriting lesson deal with narrowing
strategies to generate writing topics. a topic. Narrowing is a key
to successful writing. How
1. Why a particular celebrity, politician, can you tell if a topic is
or artist is popular too broad, too narrow, or
just right?
2. What makes an object, place, activity, ● If you can break down
or event stand out in your memory your topic into more
3. Something unusual that happened to you and than five subtopics, it
may be too broad.
that you’re willing to share with readers
Consider one of the
4. A school, local, or national issue you care about narrower subtopics to
write about.
● If you cannot break
ExErcisE 3 Narrowing a Topic down your topic
into more than two
Choose two of the broad, general topics below. For each
subtopics, it may be too
one you select, suggest three narrower topics that you narrow already. Think
can cover in a three-page essay. more broadly.
too broad Television
limited The fall’s new sitcoms; Monday night’s
lineup; the best reality show
1. Flowers 3. Civil Rights
2. Sea Travel 4. College

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

ExErcisE 4 Gathering Supporting Details
Choose one of the narrower topics you identified in Exercise 3. Generate
ideas and details about that topic by brainstorming, clustering, or asking

12 Chapter 1 • The Writing Process

 LESSON
Organizing the Ideas and Drafting
Now that you’ve gathered your ideas, decide on the order in
1.2
COMPOSITION
which to present them. Think about whether the best way to
sequence your ideas would be, for example, chronological order,
order of importance, compare and contrast, or cause and effect.

You may want to use your prewriting notes to create an outline.

An outline forces you to make two important decisions about your
prewriting notes: (1) which main ideas and supporting details to use
in your draft and (2) in what order to present them.

The outline at right is rough. You may wish to add details or to

write your outline in full sentences. Either way, your outline
Writing Model
should help guide you as you draft your paragraph or essay.

One of the most important questions to ask yourself before

A Rough Outline:
you write is “What should my style be?” Writing style is
Two Controversial
determined by two things: your audience and your purpose.
Home Run Races
I. The Maris/Ruth
Your audience is the person or persons who will read what controversy
you write. Your purpose may be to describe, to explain, to A. Ruth’s record
tell what happened, to persuade, or to entertain. Or you may B. Maris’s record
have a combination of purposes. Together, the audience and C. Nature of the 1961
the purpose will determine your style—the manner in which controversy
you express your thoughts. II. McGwire/Sosa home
run race
Drafting is the step in the writing process in which you A. State of the
put your thoughts into sentences and paragraphs. national pastime
B. Effects on the
When you have narrowed your topic, generated prewriting game of baseball
notes, laid out an outline, and considered your audience and C. Nature of the 1998
purpose, it’s time to apply the following strategies for writing controversy
your first draft.

Drafting Strategies
1. Write the Big Idea Remember your writing audience and purpose,
and draft a sentence that expresses the main idea of your paragraph
or essay. As some writers do, you may want to begin your draft with
this sentence. Or, as others do, you might simply keep this sentence
in mind as you write.

Chapter 1 • The Writing Process 13

Organizing the Ideas and Drafting

2. Grab Your Reader Begin with a “hook,” or a statement or

As you compose
your draft, make question certain to catch your reader’s attention.
sure to vary the
structures and 3. Stay Flexible Follow the basic direction of your organizational
lengths of your plan, but do make appropriate changes and add or drop details if
sentences. See
necessary. Don’t concern yourself with mistakes when you draft.
Lesson 3.4 for
suggested ways Just focus on getting your ideas down on paper.
to do this.
4. Create an Ending Conclude your writing in your last
paragraph by including one or more sentences that revisit your
main idea. A successful conclusion is one that wraps up your
writing logically and gracefully. It may contain a quote, a call to
action, or a final thought on the subject.

Below is a first draft based on the outline on page 13. The writer’s purpose
was to inform history classmates about two controversial home run races.
Remember, when you’re drafting, let your ideas flow without pausing to fix
mistakes. You’ll have time for that during the next two steps in the writing
process: revising and editing.

Writing Model
What information in In 1961, there was much controversy when Roger Maris broke
the draft is
redundant and can baseball icon Babe Ruth’s longstanding home run record of 60 “round
be deleted? trippers.” The concern was that Maris hit his 61 home runs in a 162-
game season, rather than in the 154-game season of Ruth’s time.
In 1998, when baseball attendance was getting less and less,
Remember, drafting another home run race rejuvenated the sport. It returned to its
is only one part of former status as a national pastime. Baseball was losing fans. That year
the writing process.
just about every at-bat of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa was
covered by the media, as both people tried to beat Maris’s record.
Although both players broke it by a lot, their achievements, like
Does the writer Maris’s, were not without controversy. What was at issue this time

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

include a was not the length of the season, but whether McGwire’s and Sosa’s
memorable ending?
awesome feats were phony. What hurt their achievements was that
both players had used performance enhancers.

14 Chapter 1 • The Writing Process

 Organizing the Ideas and Drafting

Critical Thinking After reading the draft on page 14, Writing HINT
answer the following questions.
Be alert to what is being
1. What sentence in the first paragraph expresses its asked of you for each
main idea? writing assignment. Pay
special attention to the
2. What sentence in the second paragraph expresses its verbs: analyze, judge,
main idea? discuss. Make sure you
know your writing
3. How does the writer sequence her ideas in the draft? purpose.
4. Did the writer follow the general plan of her outline?

ExErcisE 5 Making an Outline

For this assignment, your audience is your language arts class. Your purpose is
to inform. Choose a topic you know something about—a hobby, an interest,
or something you’ve recently studied. Generate prewriting notes, using any
of the strategies from Lesson 1.1. Then write an outline to plan a two- or
three-page paper.

ExErcisE 6 Drafting Part of a Paper

Using your outline from Exercise 5, draft two or three pages. Remember who
your audience is and what your purpose is—to give information.

Working
ExErcisE 7 Outlining and Drafting Another Paper Together
Use the prewriting notes you made for a limited topic in Exercise 4, page 12.
First, choose and describe your audience and purpose for writing. Then create
an outline. Before you begin drafting, meet with a partner or small group to
discuss what you’re planning to write. See if you can clearly summarize your
topic, main idea(s), and supporting details. Use the drafting strategies from
this lesson as you prepare your paper.

Chapter 1 • The Writing Process 15

 LESSON

1.3
COMPOSITION
Revising
When you revise, you shape your draft into its almost-final form.

At this stage in the writing process, you try to make your draft clearer.
Now is the time to add new information, to cut words or sentences, to
change the order in which information appears, and to replace weak
words with more effective ones. Use the revising strategies below to
help you improve your first draft.

Revising Strategies
When you revise, you look for ways to eliminate problems with ideas
and unity, organization and coherence, sentence variety, and word
choice. To revise, try this four-step strategy. Reread your first draft four
separate times, concentrating on only one of the issues below with
each reading.
1. Ideas and Unity Can you summarize your main idea(s) or the
main event of your paper? Do you have enough supporting details?
Do you have too many? Will adding or cutting details improve
your paper? Do you need more background information? Is
everything you’ve written relevant?
2. Organization and Coherence Does the opening sentence grab
the reader’s attention? Can you improve your draft by rearranging
paragraphs or by moving sentences? Do you present your
information in an order that makes sense for your purpose and
audience? Do you need to add any transitions? Do you have an
effective concluding paragraph?
3. Sentence Variety Do your sentences read smoothly? Have you
varied their structures, beginnings, and lengths? Would some
sentences work better combined? In short, are you satifisfied with
how you say what you say?
4. Word Choice Keep an eye out for vague nouns, verbs, and
modifiers that you can replace with more precise words. Look for
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.
clichés or overused words that you can replace with fresh ones to
enliven your descriptions. Is your choice of vocabulary appropriate
for your intended audience? Should you replace any difficult words
with simpler ones? Do you need to define any technical terms
you’ve used?

16 Chapter 1 • The Writing Process

 LESSON
Varying Sentence Beginnings,
Structures, and Lengths 3.4
COMPOSITION
For variety, begin some of your sentences with a subordinate clause.

Subordinate clauses give you a tool for varying sentence beginnings.

Keep clauses and noun clauses in mind as a variety of ways for expressing
an idea. Here is the same idea expressed in several different ways.
original Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885, less than
a month after he completed his memoirs.
prepositional phrase On July 23, 1885, after he completed his
memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant died.
Writing HINT
participial phrase Resting after his work on his memoirs, It never hurts to count
Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885. the words in each
sentence of a paragraph
adverb clause Shortly after he completed his memoirs,
you write. If all the
Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885. sentences are about the
noun clause What Ulysses S. Grant did just before he died same length (say, twenty-
on July 23, 1885, was complete his memoirs. two words), consider
rewriting to create one
When you write a paragraph or longer paper, vary the sentence very short sentence (say,
eight words).
structures and the lengths of sentences.

Varying the sentences helps keep readers engaged in your writing.

Use phrases and clauses in some sentences but not all, and provide
a mix of long and short sentences.

ExErcisE 8 Varying Sentence Beginnings

On a separate piece of paper, rewrite each of the following sentences
to change the structure with which it begins. Be sure to preserve the
meaning of the sentence. ENRICHING
Your Vocabulary
1. Girls officially played Little League baseball, starting in 1975.
The verb amend means
2. President Gerald Ford signed legislation on December 26, 1974, “to correct, change, or
to open the Little League baseball program to girls. alter.” From the same
root, and similar in
3. The Little League charter was amended to replace the word boys meaning, is the verb
with young people. emend. Amend is more
general in usage than
4. Changes in the Little League charter occurred after parents filed emend, which usually
numerous lawsuits to open the leagues to girls. refers to text.

5. About 2 million boys and girls play in the Little League today
in more than 80 countries and in all 50 states.

Chapter 3 • Writing Effective Sentences 43

Varying Sentence Beginnings, Structures, and Lengths

ExErcisE 9 Revising a Report

Work with a partner to revise the following report on the history of
women’s basketball. Write on a separate piece of paper. Your audience is
the readers of your school newspaper. In your revision, try to vary some
sentences’ beginnings and structures. Combine sentences, and find other
ways to eliminate unnecessary repetition and monotony.
1
Women first played basketball at Smith College in 1892. 2Smith College
is in Northampton, Massachusetts. 3Senda Berenson introduced the game.
4
She was the director of physical education at Smith. 5The first women’s
intercollegiate basketball game was between teams from Berkeley and
Stanford. 6It took place on April 4, 1896. 7Male spectators were barred
from the game.
Berenson drew up the first rules for women’s basketball. 9She did so in
8

1899. 10These were the sport’s first official rules. 11According to Berenson’s
basketball rules, players could dribble only three times. 12They could hold
the ball for three seconds or less. 13These rules remained the standard for
nearly three-quarters of a century.

ExErcisE 10 Writing a Paragraph

Use the notes below along with other ideas that you may have to write
a one-paragraph school newspaper article about the opening of a new
school gymnasium. Write your paragraph on a separate piece of paper.
Put the ideas into a sensible order, and try to vary your sentence
beginnings, structures, and lengths.

Seats 1,500 for basketball

Can serve many purposes, some simultaneously
Came in under budget
Money raised by student body and by community efforts
Can seat 2,000 for concerts Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

Has state-of-the-art locker rooms and other facilities

Has state-of-the-art security system
Opening day ceremony: May 25
Former student, now mayor, to speak

44 Chapter 3 • Writing Effective Sentences

 LESSON
Eliminating Short, Choppy
Sentences 3.5
COMPOSITION
Short sentences can be powerful when used occasionally, but when
strung together, they can make your writing sound choppy. Add rhythm
and variety to your writing by varying your sentence lengths. One
way to do so is to combine short sentences.
original The sailboats were in the lagoon. These boats were small.
They rocked. The rocking was dangerous. The water was rough.
It was rising, too.

You can combine these six sentences by inserting key words from
several of them into a base sentence.
combined The small sailboats rocked dangerously in the rough, rising
waters of the lagoon.

The combined sentence sounds more sophisticated because it avoids

both unnecessary repetition and stops and starts. Notice that the key
words inserted into the base sentence work as modifiers—adjectives
and adverbs. Here is another example of combining.
original A restaurant will open in the port. It is new. It will open soon.
combined A new restaurant will soon open in the port.
STEP by STEP
Sometimes the key words change form when you
combine sentences. Combining Sentences
original The restaurant’s walls are decorated with To combine a group of short sentences:
paintings. They are paintings of the region. 1. Find the sentence that gives the
The paintings are of the sea. They were most information.
painted by local artists. 2. In the other sentences, look for
combined The regional seascapes on the restaurant’s single words that can be picked up
walls were painted by local artists. and inserted into the sentence you
chose in Step 1.
original The port is pretty. It stands out among many
3. Insert the single words where they
scenic towns along the coast.
make sense. You may need to slightly
combined The pretty port stands out among the many change the words you’re moving.
scenic coastal towns. 4. Read the combined sentence aloud
to hear if it sounds natural.
ExErcisE 11 Combining Sentences
Combine the groups of sentences on the following page into single
sentences with adjectives and adverbs. Drop some words, and change
the form of others, as needed.

Chapter 3 • Writing Effective Sentences 45

Eliminating Short, Choppy Sentences

example William I was from Normandy. William I led a successful armed

invasion against England in 1066. He was ambitious.
William I was the ambitious Norman invader who conquered
England in 1066.
1. William, known as William the Conqueror, achieved victory in

the invasion. The victory had great importance.

2. William II was William’s son. He was ruthless, too.

3. William’s grandson was Stephen, also a soldier. Stephen was

triumphant as a soldier.

4. In the twelfth century, King Henry II quarreled with the Archbishop

of Canterbury. The quarrel was loud. The quarrel was angry.

5. King Richard I, who reigned in the last decade of the twelfth century,

went on crusades. The crusades were for religion. Richard was gallant.

Working
Together
ExErcisE 12 Revising a Paragraph
With a partner, improve the following paragraphs about the English king
Richard III for a history report. Look for opportunities to combine sentences.
Compare your new paragraphs with those of other pairs of students.

Some people view King Richard III as a monster with ambition. 2They say
1

the ambition was unquenchable. 3They assert that he killed all who stood in

his way. 4They count the princes in the Tower of London among the victims.

The victims were Richard’s nephews. 6The princes were young. 7William
5

Shakespeare saw Richard as evil. 8Shakespeare saw Richard as ruthless.

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

Others hold another view. 10Their view is different. 11They absolve Richard
9

of almost every crime of which he has been accused. 12They claim that

Richard was conscientious. 13They say that he was strong and successful.
14
They assert that he had supporters. 15The supporters were numerous. 16The

supporters were loyal. 17They say it is not certain that Richard had the princes

killed. 18The princes were young.

19
Opinion about Richard III varies. 20That is obvious.

46 Chapter 3 • Writing Effective Sentences

Subject-Verb CHAPTER

Agreement 10
USAGE

213
 ONLINE RESOURCES SadlierConnect.com

STUDENT WRITING
Narrative Essay
My Piano Recital
by Anh Van Vu
high school student, Houston, Texas

The soothing melody of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata soared through my ears.

It was so relaxing, yet my body tensed with anxiety. I stood nervously behind the
dense, maroon curtains and glanced out across the stage. An elegantly dressed
girl about my age sat at a grand piano; I could see her fingertips gliding over the
black and white keys in front of her.
“She makes it seem so easy,” I whispered to myself. “I wonder if I’ll look and
sound that way.”
As the last chords of the music echoed, my body froze. The girl stood up from
the bench and bowed deeply as the audience applauded. It was finally my turn. A
part of me wanted to run home and hide under my bed. I didn’t have to be here,
I didn’t have to come, I didn’t have to say yes, but I knew I had chosen to perform.
Now wasn’t the time to chicken out. As the applause died down, the girl onstage
walked toward me. I could hear my heart drumming loudly, and butterflies began
to rise in my stomach. The girl had a proud smile pasted on her face, and when
she passed me, I heard her say two words of encouragement: “Good luck!”
“Well, here goes nothing,” I said to myself.
I stepped onto the stage and walked slowly toward the piano. My footsteps
echoed softly. The bright lights nearly blinded me, making it difficult to see the
audience. When I reached the piano, I automatically slid onto the bench and into
position. The sounds of whispering and people shuffling around gave way to
complete silence. I stared at my trembling fingers, and, for a moment, my mind
went blank. Finally, I took a deep breath and began to play Chopin’s Nocturne in
E-flat Major. The rich tones of the piano rang out. One by one, each muscle in
my body loosened and relaxed. I sat with ease on the bench, and my fingertips
danced over the row of black and white keys as if they had a mind of their own.
They glided over the keys while my mind drifted into the music.
When I reached the end of the piece, the audience started clapping. I rose from
the bench and gave a deep bow. My mouth curled into a proud smile. Inside, I felt
relieved that it was over and happy I had done so well. As the applause died down,

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

I pivoted and glided to the other side of the stage. I saw a young boy standing
nervously behind the dense, maroon curtains staring fearfully out at the stage.
When I walked by, I passed to him the two words that were given to me for
encouragement: “Good luck!”

Anh Van Vu organizes her narrative essay chronologically. She includes dialogue
to grab the reader’s attention. The sensory details about the audience and about her
nervousness draw the reader into her essay and add suspense.
Because she wrote her essay in the first person, the subject of most of Anh’s
sentences is I. Her verbs are, therefore, first-person singular, agreeing with her subjects.
You will learn more about subject-verb agreement as you do the lessons and exercises
in this chapter. You can also practice using subject-verb agreement in the Portfolio
Project ” Education in the News” on SadlierConnect.com.

214 Chapter 10 • Subject-Verb Agreement

 LESSON
Agreement with Intervening
Phrases and Clauses 10.1 USAGE
In talking about grammar, we say there are three persons. The subjects
I and we are first person. The subject you is second person. A noun
subject or he, she, it, or they is third person.

A third-person singular subject takes a singular verb. A third-person Forms of Be

Singular
plural subject takes a plural verb.
I am late.
I was late.
Subject-Verb Agreement You are late.
TENSE PERSON NUMBER You were late.
He is late.
SINGULAR SUBJECT PLURAL SUBJECT
He was late.
1st
I swim and splash. We swim and splash.
Plural
2nd You swim and splash. You swim and splash.
Present We are late.
3rd She swims and splashes. They swim and splash. We were late.
Henry swims and splashes. The boys swim and splash. You are late.
Present 3rd She has swum. They have swum. You were late.
Perfect They are late.
Present 3rd Henry is swimming. The boys are swimming. They were late.
Progressive Is Henry swimming? Are the boys swimming?

The verb be is more complicated. The verb be must agree with first-,
second-, and third-person subjects not only in the present tense
but also in the past tense.
Editing TIP
A prepositional phrase that comes between the subject and
Many speakers say don’t
verb is called an intervening phrase. The subject of a verb
when standard English
never appears in an intervening phrase. grammar calls for doesn’t.
In school and business,
Make sure the verb (V) agrees with the subject (S), not with the
remember that a third-
object of a preposition. person singular subject,
S PREP. PHRASE V he or she, needs the third-
One of my teachers is leaving this year. person singular form of
the verb do, which is
S PREP. PHRASE V
does + n’t.
The other teachers at the high school are staying. doesn’t
She don’t know a thing
A clause that comes between the subject and verb is called an about cooking.
intervening clause. The subject of a sentence is never within
an intervening clause.
S INTERVENING CLAUSE V
Jawann, who is my teacher and my friend, is the first to arrive.

A negative construction following the subject doesn’t affect

the number of the subject.
S V
This book, not those, is a mystery.
Chapter 10 • Subject-Verb Agreement 215
 ONLINE RESOURCES SadlierConnect.com

ExErcisE 1 Choosing the Correct Verb

Underline the subject of each sentence and the verb in parentheses
that agrees with the subject.
1. Toothbrushes (has, have) a long history.
2. The “chew stick,” which was used by Egyptians more than five
thousand years ago, (is, are) the earliest toothbrush we know about.
3. Some tribes in Africa (uses, use) it even today.
4. Members of a tribe (chooses, choose) their sticks only from
certain trees, known as “toothbrush trees.”
5. The American Dental Association, which studied these ancient
tools still in use, (has found, have found) that these frayed
sticks are used today in parts of the United States, too.
6. People who live in the South (calls, call) them twig brushes.
7. Dentists in the study (says, say) that these twig brushes can be
every bit as effective as modern nylon-bristle brushes.
8. Bristled toothbrushes, like the one in your bathroom,
(has been, have been) around for five hundred years.
9. These, not the chew stick, (traces, trace) their origin to China, where
hog bristles fastened onto bamboo shoots were early tooth-cleaning tools.

ExErcisE 2 Editing a Paragraph

For each mistake in subject-verb agreement in the following paragraph,
cross out the incorrect verb, and write the correct one above it.

Is our high schools adequately preparing students for the work world?
1

2
Opinions on this subject varies. 3Some schools in the nation focuses their

attention on the needs of their college-bound students. 4Those in this camp

Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.

offers enriched programs to prepare graduates for college studies and

professional careers. 5Other schools, on the other hand, emphasizes courses

geared to preparing graduates for the rigorous and ever-changing demands of

jobs in industry. 6But manufacturers who employ these graduates claims that

new workers is unprepared for using the machinery and technology. 7These

supervisors in industry says that a student comes to them not only without the

necessary skills in computing but also without basic writing and math skills.

216 Chapter 10 • Subject-Verb Agreement

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