Plain English

7. We make Gods of the things we fear.

8. I listened to every word he said.

9. I should love the cause you love.

10. The things the people demand are just and right.

Exercise 5

In the following sentences the adjective clauses are all printed in italics. Determine whether they modify the subject or the object, the predicate complement or the object of the preposition.

1. In that moment when he saw the light he joined our cause.

2. Other men are lenses through which we read our own minds.

3. This is perhaps the reason why we are unable to agree.

4. He that loveth maketh his own the grandeur that he loves.

5. The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency.

6. There is a popular fable of a sot who was picked up dead drunk in the street, carried to the Duke's house, washed and dressed and laid in the Duke's bed, and, on his waking, treated with all ceremony like a duke and assured that he had been insane.

7. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness.

8. Superstition, who is the mother of fear and faith, still rules many people.

9. We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable.

10. He who enslaves another cannot be free.

11. He who attacks the right assaults himself.

12. The force that is in every atom and every star, in everything that grows and thinks, that hopes and suffers, is the only possible God.

13. He who adds to the sum of human misery is a blasphemer.

14. The grandest ambition that can enter the soul is the desire to know the truth.

ADVERB CLAUSES

447. The third kind of clause which we may use in a complex sentence is the adverb clause.

An adverb clause is a clause which takes the place of an adverb. It may modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. We studied adverb clauses in lesson 21 and we found eight classes of adverb clauses, expressing time, place, cause or reason, manner, comparison, condition, purpose and result. For example:

1. Adverb clause of time: No man is truly free until all are free.

2. Adverb clause of place: We must live where we can find work.

3. Adverb clause expressing cause or reason: We lost the strike because the men were not class-conscious.

4. Adverb clause of manner: We must work as if the result depended entirely upon us.

5. Adverb clause of comparison: The working class must become more class-conscious than it is today.

6. Adverb clause of condition: We will continue to be exploited if we do not demand our rights.

7. Adverb clause expressing purpose: We must read the labor press in order that we may know the truth concerning conditions.

8. Adverb clause expressing result: The battle raged so furiously that thousands were slain.

ANALYZING COMPLEX SENTENCES

448. To analyze a complex sentence; that is, to break it up into its different parts—treat the sentence first as a whole, then find the simple subject and the simple predicate. If a noun clause is the subject, treat it first as a noun. Treat adjective clauses as adjectives modifying certain words and the adverb clauses as adverbs modifying certain words.

In other words, analyze the sentence first as a simple sentence with dependent clauses considered as modifying words; then analyze each dependent clause as though it were a simple sentence. Make an outline like the following and use it in your analysis of the sentence. Let us take this sentence and analyze it:

Conscious solidarity in the ranks would give the working class of the world, now, in our day, the freedom which they seek.

Simple subject, solidarity.

Simple predicate, would give.

Modifiers of the subject:

Adjective, conscious.

Adjective phrase, in the ranks.

Adjective clause, (none).

Complete subject, Conscious solidarity in the ranks.

Modifiers of the predicate:

Adverb, now.

Adverb phrase, in our day.

Adverb clause, (none).

Direct object, freedom.

Modifiers of direct object:

Adjective, the.

Adjective phrase, (none).

Adjective clause, which they seek,

Indirect object, class.

Modifiers of indirect object:

Adjectives, the, working.

Adjective phrase, of the world.

Adjective clause, (none).

Complete predicate, would give the working class of the world, now, in our day, the freedom which they seek.

Analyze the dependent clause, which they seek, just as a principal clause is analyzed. They is the simple subject, seek is the simple predicate, which is the direct object. The complete predicate is seek which.

449. Notice that the first two sentences given in the exercise below are imperative sentences,—the subject, the pronoun you, being omitted so that the entire sentence is the complete predicate. As for example: Take the place which belongs to you. The omitted subject is the pronoun you. Take the place which belongs to you is the complete predicate, made up of the simple predicate take; its object, the noun place; the adjective the, and the adjective clause, which belongs to you, both of which modify the noun place.

Exercise 6

Using the outline given above, analyze the following complex sentences.

1. Take the place which belongs to you.

2. Let us believe that brave deeds will never die.

3. The orator knows that the greatest ideas should be expressed in the simplest words.

4. Gratitude is the fairest flower that sheds its perfume in the human heart.

5. Children should be taught that it is their duty to think for themselves.

6. We will be slaves as long as we are ignorant.

7. We must teach our fellow men that honor comes from within.

8. Cause and effect cannot be severed for the effect already blooms in the cause.

9. Men measure their esteem of each other by what each has.

10. Our esteem should be measured by what each is.

11. What I must do is all that concerns me.

12. The great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps the independence of solitude.

13. The only right is what is after my constitution.

14. Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist.

15. They who build on ideas build for eternity.

Exercise 7

We have studied all the parts of speech, and now our work is to combine these parts for the expression of thought. It will be good practice and very helpful to us to mark these different parts of speech in our reading. This helps us to grow familiar with their use. It also helps us to add words to our vocabulary and to learn how to use them correctly. In the following quotation, mark underneath each word, the name of every part of speech. Use n. for noun, v. for verb, pro. for pronoun, adv. for adverb, adj. for adjective, p. for preposition and c. for conjunction. Write v. p. under the verb phrases. For example:

Mark in this manner every part of speech in the following quotation:

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guildmaster and journeyman,—in a word, oppressor and oppressed,—stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary re-constitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.

In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the middle ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.

The modern bourgeois society, that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society, has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. —Communist Manifesto.

Exercise 8

In the following quotation, mark all of the clauses and determine whether they are dependent or independent clauses. If they are dependent clauses, determine whether they are noun, adjective or adverb clauses. Mark all the sentences and tell whether they are simple or complex.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me, and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of war, corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people, until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of our country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my forebodings may be groundless. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a refuge from the power of the people. In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit to raise a warning voice against the approach of a returning despotism.... It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow, by the use of it, induces him to labor. Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could not have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. I bid the laboring people beware of surrendering the power which they possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to shut the door of advancement for such as they, and fix new disabilities and burdens upon them until all of liberty shall be lost.

In the early days of our race the Almighty said to the first of mankind, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," and since then, if we except the light and air of Heaven, no good thing has been or can be enjoyed by us without first having cost labor. And inasmuch as most good things have been produced by labor, it follows that all such things belong of right to those whose labor has produced them. But it has so happened, in all ages of the world, that some have labored and others have without labor enjoyed a large portion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of any government.

It seems strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing bread from the sweat of other men's faces.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. —Lincoln.

Exercise 9

In the following poem find all of the assertive, interrogative and imperative sentences. Mark all of the simple sentences and all of the complex sentences. Mark all of the dependent clauses and determine whether each is used as a noun, adjective or adverb clause. The verbs and the verb phrases are in italics.

Shall you complain who feed the world,Who clothe the world,Who house the world?Shall you complain who are the world,Of what the world may do?As from this hour you are the power,The world must follow you.The world's life hangs on your right hand,Your strong right hand,Your skilled right hand;You hold the whole world in your hand;See to it what you do!For dark or light or wrong or right,The world is made by you.Then rise as you never rose before,Nor hoped before,Nor dared before;And show as never was shown beforeThe power that lies in you.Stand all as one; see justice done;Believe and dare and do.—Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

SPELLING

LESSON 26

In our last lesson we had examples of words in which the s had the soft sound, and also of words in which the s had the sound of z. In some English words, it is difficult to determine which sound to use. There are a number of words in English beginning with dis. In a few of the words, the s has the sound of z, and in other words it has the sound of s. There are only a few words which are pronounced with the diz sound. Discern, dismal and dissolve are always pronounced with the diz sound. Disease and disaster are pronounced both ways. Some dictionaries give the diz sound and some give the dis sound.

The spelling lesson for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday contains a number of words beginning with dis. Be sure of the pronunciation. Run through the words in the dictionary beginning with the dis sound and mark those in which the dis has the sound of diz.

We have also a number of words in the English language which end in ise or ize, and we are often confused to know which ending to use. There is a rule, which has very few exceptions, which covers the use of ise and ize. Words should be spelled with the ize ending when the ize can be cut off, and the word that is left can be used alone. For example; author, authorize. In this word you can cut off the ize and the word author can be used alone. But in the word exercise, if you cut off the ise, the remaining portion cannot be used alone.

Recognize and criticise are exceptions to this rule. When used as a suffix added to a noun or adjective to form a verb, ize is the proper ending; as theory, theorize, civil, civilize, etc. Final e or y is dropped before ize, as in the words memorize, sterilize, etc.

The spelling lesson for Thursday, Friday and Saturday contains a number of common words ending with ize or ise. Study carefully this list and add as many words to it as you can.

Monday

Disappear

Distress

Discern

Disburse

Discipline

Tuesday

Discount

Discredit

Distribute

Dismal

Disseminate

Wednesday

Disguise

Distance

Dissolve

Discontent

Disposition

Thursday

Franchise

Civilize

Surprise

Organize

Compromise

Friday

Monopolize

Revise

Legalize

Enterprise

Capitalize

Saturday

Memorize

Advertise

Theorize

Comprise

Systematize

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 27

Dear Comrade:

Ingersoll said: "Words are the garments of thought and the robes of ideas." This is a beautiful and poetic way of expressing the relationship between words and thoughts. Words are really the body which we give to our thoughts. Until they are clothed in words, our thoughts are only ghosts of ideas. Other people cannot see or come into contact with them, and they can have but little influence upon the world.

Without thought, no language is possible. It is equally true that without language, no growth of thought is possible. It is futile to try to determine which is first, language or thought. The two are entirely necessary to each other and make possible social and individual development.

Every time that you add a word to your vocabulary, you have added to your mental equipment. You have also added greatly to your power of enjoyment. Through these words you will come into a new relationship to your fellow men. Each new word enlarges the circle of your acquaintance. A knowledge of language brings us into a circle of wonderful friends. When we have learned to read we need never more be lonely. Some one has written in a book somewhere just the thing we are hungry for at this moment.

In the pages of a book we can meet and talk with the great souls who have written in these pages their life's experience. No matter what mood you are in, you can find a book to suit that mood. No matter what your need, there is a book which meets that need. Form the habit of reading and you will find it a wonderful source of pleasure and of profit.

Nor do we need to be barred because of our lack of educational advantages in our youth. Buckle, the author of the greatest history that has ever been written, left school at the age of fourteen, and it is said that at that age, except a smattering of mathematics, he knew only how to read; but when he died at the age of forty, this man, who did not know his letters when he was eight years old, could read and write seven languages and was familiar with ten or twelve more. He had written a wonderful book and had become a teacher of teachers. Engraven upon his marble altar tomb is the following couplet:

"The written word remains long after the writer.The writer is resting under the earth, but his words endure."

Good books are so cheap nowadays that they are within the reach of every one of us. Let us not be content to live in the narrow world of work and worry. Let us forget the struggle occasionally in the reading of books, and let us prepare ourselves, by reading and studying, for the battle for the emancipation of the workers of the world.

Yours for Education,THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

KINDS OF SENTENCES

450. A simple sentence is a sentence which makes a single assertion, question or command.

The simple sentence contains only words and phrases.

451. A complex sentence is one which contains a principal statement and one or more modifying statements.

The statements made in addition to the principal statement are made in dependent clauses. The complex sentence has only one main clause and one or more dependent clauses.

452. A compound sentence is one which contains two or more independent clauses.

These compound sentences may contain any number of dependent clauses but they must always have at least two independent or principal clauses. These principal clauses are always connected by co-ordinate conjunctions, for the principal clauses in a compound sentence are always of equal rank or order.

Exercise 1

Review the lesson on co-ordinate conjunctions and notice which conjunctions are used to unite principal clauses into single sentences. Use these co-ordinate conjunctions to unite the following pairs of simple sentences into compound sentences. For example:

The sun rises and the day dawns.

The men work but the boys play.

Take the above sentences and use subordinate instead of co-ordinate conjunctions, and make complex sentences instead of compound out of each pair of simple sentences. For example:

When the sun rises, the day dawns.

The men work while the boys play.

KINDS OF COMPOUND SENTENCES

453. Compound sentences may be made up of two simple sentences.

Rewrite the following compound sentences, making of each sentence two simple sentences:

The birds are singing and spring is here.

He believes in war but his brother is against it.

We must arouse ourselves or we shall be involved.

He will not study nor will he allow any one else to study.

454. A compound sentence may be made up of a simple sentence and a complex sentence, joined by a co-ordinate conjunction. For example:

John goes to school, but Mary stays at home in order that she may help her mother.

This compound sentence is made up of the simple sentence, John goes to school, and the complex sentence, Mary stays at home in orderthat she may help her mother.

455. Both parts of the compound sentence may be complex; that is, both principal clauses in a compound sentence may contain dependent clauses. For example:

John goes to school where his brother goes, but Mary stays at home in order that she may help her mother.

This compound sentence is made up of two complex sentences. The sentence, John goes to school where his brother goes, is complex because it contains the dependent clause, where his brother goes; the sentence, Mary stays at home in order that she may help her mother, is complex because it contains the dependent clause, in order that she may help her mother.

Exercise 2

Read carefully the following sentences, determine which are simple sentences, which are complex and which are compound.

1. When the state is corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied.

2. To teach the alphabet is to inaugurate revolution.

3. Freedom degenerates unless it has to struggle in its own defense.

4. The destroyers have always been honored.

5. Liberty of thought is a mockery if liberty of speech is denied.

6. Where slavery is, there liberty cannot be; and where liberty is, there slavery cannot be.

7. All our greatness was born of liberty and we cannot strangle the mother without destroying her children.

8. In the twentieth century, war will be dead, but man will live.

9. The abuse of free speech dies in a day, but the denial entombs the hope of the race.

SENTENCE ANALYSIS

456. There is no more important part of the study of English than the analysis of sentences. The very best result that can come to one from the study of grammar is the logical habit of mind. The effort to analyze a difficult passage gives us a fuller appreciation of its meaning. This cultivates in us accuracy, both of thought and of expression. So, spend as much time as you can on the analysis of sentences.

The subject and the predicate are the very body of the sentence, upon which all the rest of the sentence is hung. The other parts of the sentence are but the drapery and the garments which clothe the body of the sentence. Hence, the most important thing in sentence analysis is to be able to discover the subject and predicate.

In the expression of a thought, there are always two important essentials, that about which something is said,—which constitutes the subject,—and that which is said about the subject, which constitutes the predicate.

There may be a number of modifying words, phrases or subordinate clauses, but there is always a main clause which contains a simple subject and a simple predicate. Find these first, and you can then fit the modifying words and phrases and clauses into their proper places.