Since this is the last part of speech to be studied the children are now able to recognize all the different parts of speech and it is no longer necessary to make sentences containing only parts of speech which the children know. Therefore in our Italian lessons we choose henceforth sentences from the classic authors (mostly from Manzoni). Since the interjection is really a thought expressed in an abbreviated form it lends itself readily to dramatic interpretation. With the same sentence the children accordingly can now perform the two-fold exercise of general analysis and "interpretative reading." They now recite sentences which they have picked out and studied instead of the commands. At this time also they are given a chart containing the complete classification of interjections. The children read them, interpreting each as they go along by voice and gesture. This is the first table of classification to be presented. Later on all the parts of speech will be given on charts with their definitions and classification.
Analyses
Material: The grammar box is complete. It now has nine separate compartments for the colored cards, article (tan), noun (black), adjective (brown), verb (red), preposition (violet), adverb (pink), pronoun (green), conjunction (yellow), and interjection (blue). In the compartment for the sentence slips are groups of cards which correspond exactly to the number of the words contained in the sentences.
(Per amor del cielo! oibò! addio! ehm! misericordia! ah!)
Please! Don't make so much noise!
(Eh via! bravo! bene! ehi! poh! per carità! oh!)
(Ohè! ih! toh! poveretto! ahi! ohi! eh! animo! uh! ton!)
CHART OF CLASSIFIED INTERJECTIONS
Italian Interjections:
English Interjections:
(In general the use of interjections, especially of capricious character, is much more characteristic of the best Italian writing and speech than it is of English.)
XII
I
Simple Sentences
The material for logical analysis consists of little rolls of fairly stiff paper, on which are printed simple, compound and complex sentences, in carefully prepared series.
There is also a chart, divided into two columns of rectangular spaces, with the name of one sentence element printed in each space. The sentence read on the roll can be torn off part by part, and each of these parts is placed in one of the rectangles, according to the name printed on it. This is another application of the compartment box method used to analyze first the alphabet, then the sounds which go to make up the word, finally the words as parts of speech. Here, the compartments are reduced to a simple design.
The charts for logical analysis are on colored paper and are artistically drawn and decorated. We have charts of four different kinds as regards ornament and color, for such details exert a considerable influence upon the work of the children. On the following page is a sample of the charts with its "sections."
Chart A
| VERB (The verbal or nominal predicate.) |
Who is it that? What is it that? SUBJECT |
| Who? What? (Direct object.) |
To whom? To what? (Indirect object.) |
| By Whom? By What (Agent.) |
Of whom? Of what? (Possessive, material.) |
| When? (Time.) |
Where? (Place.) |
| Whence? (Source.) |
How? (Manner.) |
| Why? (Cause.) |
What for? (Purpose.) |
| By means of whom? By means of what? (Instrument.) |
With whom? With what? (Accompaniment.) |
| (Attributive (phrases).) | (Vocative.) |
The two spaces at the top, subject and predicate, are somewhat larger and are more conspicuously decorated than the other rectangles below. The words subject and verb are printed entirely in large capitals. The other spaces, however, are much more simply decorated and the words are in small letters. This helps to distinguish the principal from the secondary elements in the sentences. The names of the parts of speech, and the questions which bring out the meaning of these names, are in different colors: for instance, the names may be black and the questions red, or the names may be in red and the questions in green. And the letters of the questions are larger than the letters of the names, except in the two upper spaces, where the words subject and verb are in the largest type.
The child begins to see what a sentence is: that is, he begins to concentrate on this particular question. How many times he has read sentences, pronounced sentences, composed sentences! But now he is examining them in detail, studying them. The simple sentence is a short proposition, with completed meaning, which expresses an action or a situation, organizing its different parts around a verb.
The first exercise for the child must be to find the verb, a task not very difficult after the preceding exercises on the parts of speech have been performed. When he has found the verb, it becomes essential for him to find the subject. The subject may be found by asking the question: Who is it that—? For example:
The word reads is the verb. The section of the roll where the word reads appears is torn off and placed in the space marked Verb. Then ask: "Who is it that reads?" The answer is, "The child reads." The section containing the word the child is torn off and placed in the space marked Subject.
Another sentence: on the roll the child finds written:
The teacher can briefly explain that the verb taken by itself, has no special meaning. Is means nothing! "Is? Is what?" Some attribute must be added: "Is broken!" Here we get a nominal predicate. When the verb contains some definite meaning in terms of action, for instance reads, we get a verbal predicate. The section of the roll containing is broken is torn off, accordingly, and placed in the space of the verb. But what is broken? The glass! The section containing the words the glass is placed in the space of the subject. All of this can be copied off by the child by hand, as follows:
The child: Subject.
Reads: Predicate (verbal).
(Simple Sentences)
The first roll contains the following simple sentences without modifiers of any kind:
—The glass is broken.
—Charles is tall.
—The trees are blossoming.
—The blackboard is clean.
—Who has come?
—The pencil is broken.
—The sky is blue.
—I am reading.
—I am studying.
—The children are playing.
—Time flies.
—The teacher sings.
(Simple Sentences, containing a few modifiers)
The roll contains the following sentences, written one after another:
—Johnny brought his teacher a rose.
—You may keep the book for some days, Louis.
—Mary, give the poor man a penny.
—Where have you been, Mary?
—I will do it, mother.
—Little Harry, only three years old, has cleaned the whole blackboard.
—Who drew the pretty picture?
—Last night I showed the letter to father.
—In the yard a red white and blue flag is waving.
—Did you go to the theater last night?
—The rain was beating against the window panes.
—The dog is barking at the cat.
—The poor deaf-mutes talk with their hands.
Example of application: The section containing the first sentence,
Now the child can copy off these analyses immediately or make others, as he thinks best. The copy may be as follows:
The mother: Subject.
Loves: Predicate (verbal).
Her child: Direct object.
Dearly: Adverb, manner.
In classifying the vocatives and attributives, a little help from the teacher may be required. Example:
The word Louis can be dramatized somewhat into a kind of invocation, as—O Louis, you may keep the book and so on. Vocatives can almost always be identified by trying the exclamatory O before them.
In the sentence,
(Simple sentences with two or more modifiers of the same kind)
The roll contains the following sentences in sections which may be read and torn off one after the other as the child unrolls the strip:
—Everybody likes fruit and flowers.
—He took paper, pen and ink to write to his friends.
—Charles opened and closed the book.
—The doctor and the father left the sick child's room.
—The women recommended calmness, patience and prudence.
—In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
—He will always have money and friends.
—In the street we could see crowds of men and a few women.
(Elliptical sentences with subject understood)
[This situation does not however arise in English, which, save in the imperative, always requires at least a pronominal subject for the verb.]
Here, the child interprets the sentence, completing it and finding the element that is lacking.
—Verrete? (Will you come?)
—Sono stanco (I am tired).
—Non mi sento bene oggi (I don't feel well to-day).
—Com'è andata? (How did it turn out?)
—Dico la verità (I will tell you all about it).
—Siamo contentissimi (We are delighted).
—Vi saluto (I bid you good-by).
—Vado a casa (I am going home).
—Lampeggia (It is lightening).
—M'impose silenzio (He told me to say nothing).
—Ascolto (I am listening).
(Elliptical sentences where the predicate is understood)
—Why all this noise?
—After me, the deluge!
—The sooner the better!
—Good luck to you, sir!
—What nasty weather!
—What an attractive school!
—O for a calm, a thankful heart!
—A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!
—Away with him!
—Fire! Fire!
—Here, here, quick!
—Honor to the brave!
(Elliptical sentences where the direct object is understood: incomplete predication)
—He spends like a millionaire.
—He drinks like a fish.
—The farmer's boy had just milked.
—Do you understand?
—The cavalry spurred across the field at full speed.
—Did you see?
—The child did not hear.
(Sentences with numerous modifiers and of increased difficulty)
—Ethel hurried home as fast as possible.
—We heard the clatter of horse's hoofs on the pavement.
—And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm.
—The beautiful child with the black hair is here on the lawn.
—And yet through the gloom and the night
The fate of a nation was riding that night.
—The woman walked along in front of me with the child in her arms.
—The girl's voice sounded distinctly above all the others.
—To-morrow I shall come to town on foot.
—He spent the summer every year with his parents in their old home on the mountain side.
—That evening the old house was more lonely than ever.
—They are very busy this morning.
—I never did such a thing in my life!
—Every now and then a group of people hurriedly crossed the street.
—The doctor whispered something into the Mayor's ear.
—Just then some one knocked at the door.
—Here I am back again at my work.
—Mary had a little lamb
With fleece as white as snow.
The Order of Elements in the Sentence: Permutations
The English (the Italian) language tends to follow the direct order in prose, inversion being very rare.
In poetry, inversion is very common.
The direct order consists in placing: first, the subject, then the predicate, then the objects, direct and indirect; then the modifiers follow according to the importance they derive from the meaning of the sentence.
These ideas are after all so simple and clear that the child rarely has any difficulty in understanding them. Nevertheless, it is much easier to give the child a vivid impression of them by the permutation of parts than by explanation. This permutation is made very convenient by the sentences being printed in sections which may be moved about and combined at will. Just as the sequence of the various parts of speech was made clear by transposing the parts, here the same result can be accomplished by transposing the sections of the printed slip. Example:
| We | heard | the clatter | of the horse's hoofs |
| (subject) | (predicate) | (direct object) | (attribute) |
| on the pavement. | |||
| (place: adverb) | |||
The following combinations are possible results of permutation:
We—heard—the clatter—of the horse's hoofs—on the pavement.
We—the clatter—heard—on the pavement—of the horse's hoofs.
We—of the horse's hoofs—on the pavement—the clatter—heard.
Of the horse's hoofs—on the pavement—heard—the clatter—we, etc., etc.
(The inverted order)
The effect of direct and inverted order can be shown in every sentence. But it is better to try examples of inversion from poetic language. In this series, all the sentences show inversion of one type or another:
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
—Upon the roof we sat that night!
The noise of bells went sweeping by;
Awesome bells they were to me.
—Still sits the school-house by the road.
—Before them under the garden-wall
Forward and back
Went drearily singing the chore-girl small.
—And day by day more holy grew
Each spot of the sacred ground.
—There thronged the citizens with terror dumb.
Exercises on the putting together of sentence elements can lead to practise in the identification and use of grammatical forms as parts of speech, which the study of single words would not at first permit; as for instance, forms of the verbs used as nouns (infinitive and gerund as subject and object), the difference between personal pronouns used as direct or indirect objects, and so on.
(The forms of the verb)
The roll contains the two forms of the verb, active and passive, in sections. The analysis is conducted on the chart for the simple sentence:
(Use of the personal pronoun)
The sentences previously given for analysis in teaching the personal pronouns can be used over again at this point for analysis on the sentence-chart.
The children wrote her a letter
They wrote it to her
—They gave their mother a surprise
They gave her a surprise
—I told father all about it
I told him all about it
—Charles soothed his sister with a kiss
He soothed her with a kiss
—Will you give your drawing to the teacher?
Will you give her your drawing?
Will you give it to her?
—Don't think badly of your schoolmates
Don't think badly of them
—Show those dirty hands to the teacher
Show her those dirty hands
Show them to her
—Tell the story to the children in the other room
Tell it to the children in the other room
Tell it to them there
The exercise in permutation brings out the relative positions of the direct and indirect objects; as also the conditions under which the preposition to is required before the indirect object.
II
Compound and Complex Sentences
Here we are dealing with a number of propositions (clauses) which combine into one complete meaning. The clauses fit together in the sentences just as did the various elements in the simple sentence. The material for the analysis is therefore analogous to that used in the analysis of the simple sentence: strips of paper in rolls on which are written the sentences to be analyzed, and a chart with spaces where the detached pieces may be placed, according to the designation of these spaces.
The principal space on the chart is reserved for the main clause, around which the other clauses are arranged, as coordinate or subordinate.
Since the work of logical analysis of the complex sentence is sufficiently interesting to attract the attention of the child to various forms of study, the material contains in addition to the rolls and the chart, a number of test-cards where the analysis is completed and logically demonstrated. These cards serve as tests of the accuracy of the work done by the children, and as actual charts for analytical study. Of course, when the child is doing his exercise with the strips of paper and the chart, he does not have these test-cards before him. He should, however, always have free access to them. His interest in the game is to succeed by himself in placing the different propositions where they belong.
| PRINCIPAL CLAUSE | |
| Incidental Clauses (Parenthetical clauses) | |
| SUBORDINATE ATTRIBUTIVE CLAUSE (Adjective or Relative clauses) | |
| who is it that...? subordinate subject clause (subject clause) |
whom...? what...? subordinate object clause (object clause) |
| when...? subordinate clause of time (temporal clause) |
where...? subordinate clause of place (locative clause) |
| for what purpose...? subordinate clause of purpose (purpose clause) |
why...? for what cause? subordinate clause of cause (causal clause) |
| how...? than what? subordinate clause of manner or comparison (modal clauses) |
on what condition...? subordinate clause of condition (conditional clause) |
| in spite of what...? subordinate clause of concession (concessive clause) |
with what result...? subordinate clause of result (result clause) |
(Compound Sentences)
The clauses are independent of each other. Each contains a complete meaning, and each therefore could stand alone. It is a question of simple sentences coordinated with each other.
—She started in fear, lifted her face and shaded it from the strong sun.
—The bees hummed in the warm sunshine and the cat sat purring at her side.
—She dropped her sewing and went to the door.
—The girl covered her eyes with her hands and wept.
—They looked into each other's faces: each of them had a question to ask and neither dared to speak.
—I am a lowly peasant and you are a gallant knight.
—They all looked at the speaker, and crowded round him and waited for his next word to attack him.
—Then he began to weep and he tore his hair in anguish.
—Louis clapped his hands for joy and began to dance around the room.
—He looked into the mirror, straightened his tie, smoothed his hair and went out to greet his two friends.
—She went to the window and looked out over the stormy sea.
The child divides these sentences into clauses, analyzing each separately. Then, placing one under the other, he is impressed by the fact that each has a complete meaning and can stand by itself; save that in English the subject of the first clause is often carried over to the second:
And at last I found it.
I am a lowly peasant.
And you are a gallant knight.
Louis clapped his hands for joy.
began to dance around the room.
He looked into the mirror.
straightened his tie.
smoothed his hair.
and went out to meet his two friends.
The bees hummed in the warm sunshine.
And the cat sat purring at her side.
Then he began to weep.
And he tore his hair in anguish.
The girl covered her face with her hands.
and wept.
They looked at the speaker.
crowded around him.
and waited for his next word to attack him.
(The Complex Sentence)
Here only the main clause has a complete meaning. The other clauses make sense only when they are united with the main clause. On this roll, the subordinate clauses are attributes of one of the elements of the main clause (relative clauses).
—The man who brought me to school this morning was my uncle.
—He was educated by his sister who taught him many beautiful things.
—The colors which Aunt Anna gave me Christmas are very good.
—A little girl who was at a party sat looking with longing eyes at a plate of sandwiches.
—The knife with which you sharpened my pencil was very dull.
—Bees don't care about the snow!
I can tell you why it's so:
Once I caught a little bee
Who was much too warm for me.—(F. D. Sherman)
—We have at home the prettiest cat you ever saw.
—Here are the pennies my mother gave me.
—The children I play with did not come to school to-day.
—The house we live in is beautiful and airy.
—Stars are the little daisies white
That dot the meadow of the night.—(Sherman)
| Principal Clause | Attributive Subordinate Clause |
| (The words modified by the relative clause are in italics). |
(Relative or Adjective Clauses) (The clause has no meaning until united with some noun in the main clause). |
| The gold ring belongs to mother | which you found on the stairs yesterday |
| The man was my uncle | who brought me to school this morning |
| He was educated by his sister | who taught him many beautiful things |
| The colors are very good | which Aunt Anna gave me Christmas |
A little girl sat looking with longing eyes at a plate of sandwiches |
who was at a party |
| Once I caught a little bee | who was much too warm for me |
| Stars are the little daisies white | that dot the meadow of the night |
| What word is omitted? | |
| Here are the pennies | —my mother gave me |
| The children did not come to school to-day | with—I play |
| The house is beautiful and airy | in—we live |
In the preceding roll, the subordinate clauses completed the meaning and constituted an attribute of one word of the principal clause. Here, however, the subordinate clauses refer to the whole content of the main clause and complete the whole thought of the main clause. They have, therefore, a logical dependence on the main clause. The child will be guided in finding the place of the different subordinate clauses and in classifying them according to the designations of the spaces by the questions which appear in the analytical chart. It is presupposed that he can readily identify the main clause itself.
The following sentences come one after the other on the rolled strip of paper:
—Will you play with me when you have finished your work?
—When the sun is low our shadows are longer.
—I hope that you will write me a long letter as soon as you arrive in Europe.
—The little girl stood on tiptoe so that she could see the queen as the procession went by.
—Brer Rabbit thought it was the worst time he had had in all his life.
—All is well that ends well, says the proverb.
—The people mourned when the good President died.
—It is not right that the big boys should have all the candy.
—As she sat there reading, a beautiful red bird flew in through the window.
—They could not play in the yard because the ground was too wet.
—Remember that you must thank the lady who gave you the book.
| Principal and Incidental Clauses | Question | Subordinate and Attributive Clauses |
| Do not forget | what? | that your objects are not in their places. |
| Will you play with me | when? | when you have finished your work? |
| Our shadows are longer | when? | when the sun is low. |
| I hope | what? | that you will write me a long letter. |
| when? | as soon as you arrive in Europe. | |
| The little girl stood on tip-toe | why? | so that she could see the queen |
| when? | as the procession went by. | |
| Brer Rabbit thought | what? | (that) it was the worst time he had had in all his life (attributive, relative pronoun omitted). |
| All is well says the proverb (incidental clause) | that ends well (attributive). | |
| The people mourned | when? | the good President died. |
| It is not right | what? | that the big boys should have all the candy. |
| A beautiful red bird flew in through the window | when? | as she sat there reading. |
| They could not play in the yard | why? | because the ground was too wet. |
| Remember | what? | that you must thank the lady who gave you the book (attributive). |
Here we have sentences both compound and complex, containing both coordinate and subordinate clauses.
—The two friends shook hands and said they would always be faithful to each other.
—When the wolf came out, Brer Rabbit threw the stone on him and laughed.
—When the lady knocked on the door, a smiling old man appeared and asked what he might do for her.
—The children walked along in the forest and became very hungry because they had had nothing to eat since morning.
—The king's face grew very red and he angrily ordered that the deceitful general be put to death.
—Since the wind was blowing hard, the captain told the children to keep off the deck and a sailor carried them to their state-rooms.
—The dogs began to bark and the people all ran out into the streets as the uproar of the combat increased.
—Where that tree now stands, there was once a beautiful house and a fine road led up to it.
—He had left the village and mounted the steep,
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.