12 Basic Rules of Grammar

Education | K-12
By Nadia Archuleta
Grammar is a topic people either love or hate. Those who love
grammar usually appreciate the logic of its rules; those who hate it
often get frustrated by the constant exceptions to the rules.
However, 12 basic rules serve as the foundation of English
grammar. The topics of these rules are nouns and pronouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs, and punctuation.
Nouns and Pronouns
The first noun rule relates to the spelling changes in plural forms:
consonant –y changes to consonant –ies as in "skies," and nouns
ending in glottal sounds such as "sh" take –es. Pronouns, which
take the place of nouns, comprise the second rule: pronouns must
refer clearly to an antecedent. For example, in the sentence "Liz
drove her car and parked it in the lot," the pronoun "it" clearly refers
to the antecedent "car." The third rule relates to a common pronoun
mistake: "who" vs. "whom." "Whom" is correct when it is replacing
the object of a sentence. To determine the correct pronoun, replace
it with "he" or "him." For instance, "For whom should I vote?" is
correct because "Should I vote for him?" is correct, not " Should I
vote for he?"
Verbs
The first verbs rule is very basic: every sentence must contain a
verb, or action word. The second verbs rule is that the tense of the
sentence comes from the verb itself. For example, the present-tense
construction "is blowing" indicates an action happening right now --
the wind is blowing this minute. Conversely, the past tense "blew"
indicates the wind blew in the past sometime, while "will blow"
specifies a future action. The third verbs rule states that the verb
and subject must agree, meaning a singular subject such as "wind"
takes a singular form of the verb -- "blows" instead of the plural
"blow."
Adjectives and Adverbs
First, adjectives describe nouns or pronouns while adverbs modify
verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. One common mistake relates
to using adjectives instead of adverbs. Because adverbs modify
other adverbs, a correct phrase is "She sings really well" instead of
"real well," because "really" is modifying the adverb "well." Likewise,
"She sings good" is incorrect because "good" is an adjective being
used to modify a verb: how she sings. The third rule states that the
–ly of adverbs never gets dropped in the comparison form. "She
talks more quietly" is correct, and "She talks quieter" is not; "quieter"
is the comparison form of the adjective "quiet."

Punctuation
With punctuation, the first grammar rule is that commas come in
specific places; for example, between two complete sentences
joined by a conjunction such as "and" or "but." Second, commas
also separate nonessential descriptive phrases. For example, the
phrase in the following statement describing the cat is
nonessential: "The cat, who has six toes, belongs to my neighbor." In
that sentence, removing the phrase does not significantly impact
the meaning as it would in the following: "Cats who have six toes
are Hemingway cats." For the third punctuation rule, apostrophes
indicate contractions, as in "don't," and possession, as in "Bob's hat."
However, apostrophes do not indicate possession in pronouns,
which is why "it's" always means "it is," not possession.
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Help on the Parts of Speech
for 5th Grade
By Rae Harris
There are eight parts of speech in the English language. The most
basic parts include nouns, pronouns and verbs. By fifth grade,
students are old enough to understand and identify even the more
complex parts of speech, including adjectives, adverbs,
conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. These basic facts will
help fifth grade students deepen their understanding of the basic
parts of speech and will help them learn the fundamentals of the
more complex parts.
Nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing, animal, or idea. It is one of the most
basic parts of speech, and fifth grade students should be able to
clearly understand and identify nouns. Nouns can take on different
roles in a sentence, such as a subject or an object. In this sentence,
"Karen likes to eat candy," there are two nouns. "Karen" is the
subject of the sentence, and "candy" is an object. Nouns can be
classified into proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are
always capitalized, but common nouns are not.

Pronouns
A pronoun takes the place of a noun in a sentence. There are
subject pronouns and object pronouns. The subject pronouns are "I,"
"we," "he," "she," "it," "they," and "you." The object pronouns are "me,"
"us," "him," "her," "it," "them," and "you."
Verbs
A verb is another basic part of speech that fifth graders should be
very familiar with. Verbs can be action verbs, linking verbs or
helping verbs. Action verbs express actions, like "run," "eat" and
"ask.” Linking verbs express states of being. For example, "Mary is
happy." In this sentence, "is" is a linking verb that links the noun,
"Mary" to a state, "happy." A helping verb can combine with another
verb to change the tense of a sentence. In the sentence, "He will
watch the show tomorrow," the helping verb "will" combines with the
main verb "watch" to change the sentence to the future verb tense.

Adjectives
Adjectives are descriptive words that modify nouns or pronouns.
They tell what kind of noun it is, which noun it is or how many nouns
there are. Fifth graders are often more familiar with adjectives that
tell what kind of noun it is. These include adjectives such as,
“pretty” “fast” and “soft.” With practice, students can learn to
identify other kinds of adjectives, like in the sentence, "I want this
dog." “This" is an adjective that tells which dog. Here is another
example: "I ate two cookies." In this sentence, "two" is an adjective
that tells how many cookies.

Adverbs
An adverb can modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. They tell
how, where or when something is done. For example, "John ran
quickly to the door." In this sentence, "quickly" tells how John ran.
Another example is found in the sentence, "They went to a party
yesterday." The word "yesterday" is an adverb telling when they
went.

Prepositions
A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to the rest of the
sentence and explains the relationship between this object and the
rest of the sentence. For example, “I found my shoes under my bed.”
In this sentence, the preposition “under” connects the object “bed”
to the rest of the sentence and explains how it is related. Identifying
prepositions can be challenging for fifth graders, so it is helpful to
study and memorize some common prepositions in order to
recognize them more easily.

Conjunctions
A conjunction links words or phrases together. Simple conjunctions
include "and," "or" and "but." In the sentence, "I like strawberries and
grapes," the conjunction "and" connects the two nouns.
Conjunctions can also connect phrases or clauses in a sentence.
For example, "We went to the swimming pool after school was over."
In this sentence, "after" is a conjunction that connects the two parts
of the sentence.

Interjections
An interjection is a word in a sentence that is used to express
emotion. It is not related grammatically to the rest of the sentence.
Consider the example, "Wow, that's really fast!" In this sentence,
"wow" is an interjection used to show the emotion of the speaker.
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How to Teach Irregular Verb
Tenses to Kids in English
By Ivan Kenneally
The verbal system in English is not infamously complex because it's
so vast or rigidly rule bound, but rather because there are so many
exceptions to those rules. It’s considerably easier to master a verbal
system that generally operates within the confines of its own rules;
that makes it predictable. Teaching irregular verbs to young
students can be difficult precisely because these verbs seem to
compel students to unlearn the system they have been memorizing.
Explain Verb Conjugation
Verbs in the English language are conjugated, which means that a
verb can change its tense by changing its ending. For example, the
present tense verb “love” becomes "loved” in the past tense.
Besides context, the addition of the “d” clues the reader in to the
verb’s new tense. Every verb has a root that can be variously used
by changing its ending. Explain to your student that those endings
are the key to understanding the role of the verb in the sentence and
the tense it is meant to capture.

Explain What an Irregular Verb Is

There are many different ways a verb can function irregularly, so it’s
best to first explain to a student what generally counts as verbal
irregularity. Regular verbs follow predictable conjugation patterns.
Irregular verbs, however, deviate from these rule-governed patterns.
Irregularity is really an indication of verbal uniqueness; most verbs
in English express the past tense in the same way, but irregular
verbs have their own peculiar way of shifting from one tense to
another. According "The Chicago Manual of Style," “There are no
modern rules on how an irregular verb forms the past tense and
past participle.”
Instances of Verbal irregularity
The best way to teach irregular verbs to students is by producing
some illustrative examples. Make a list of a dozen commonly used
irregular verbs so your students can identify them and become
comfortable with them. Unlike the bulk of English verbs that follow
predictable patterns, there's no alternative to simply memorizing
verbs that conjugate idiosyncratically. Take each irregular verb from
your list and write the proper conjugation on one side of an index
card with each tense of the verb used in an sentence on the other
side. These cards can be used as drilling tools.

There’s Always a Dictionary

The obvious problem with teaching irregular verbs is that there are
no predictable patterns to guide word formation; that’s why they’re
irregular in the first place. Explain to your students that the only
authoritative guide is a good dictionary, kept at the ready.
Encourage your students to consult a dictionary for an reliable
account of a verb’s conjugation whenever they're in doubt. Since
most younger students will have only limited experience with a
dictionary, look up the dozen irregular verbs you picked with them,
explaining the way information is gathered in each dictionary entry.
The verbs may be irregular, but the principles of presentation for
dictionary entries are mercifully patterned.
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Grammar Exercises for the

GMAT
By Michael Stratford
The Graduate Management Admission Test assesses your writing
abilities as you seek to enter Master of Business Administration
programs. It assumes that you are familiar with basic grammar
usages; however, a review of specific rules in syntax, agreement and
parallelism will be useful. Remember that the GMAT will have
lengthy examples, far more complex than the basic exercises here.
Syntax Rules
Syntax is sentence structure; exercises include two common
syntactical errors. One is fragments: "Although he was sleeping" or
"If I am correct"; are they correct or do they need revision?
Removing "although" and "if" is correct; adding an independent
clause gives sentence flow: "Although he was sleeping, he was
restless." Too much flow causes the second error, run-on sentences:
"He was an impressive man his speaking skill was greatly admired."
How is it corrected? A semicolon between "man" and "his" fixes the
error, or the independent clauses can be separate sentences.

Parallelism
Parallelism uses similar phrases for emphasis; errors occur with
inconsistent verb use. "He was not only trying to win, but also
wanted to humiliate us." Is it correct, or does it need revision? The
verbs "trying" and "wanted" are dissimilar; to make clauses parallel,
verbs should be "trying/wanting" or "tried/wanted." The use of an
infinitive -- the verb plus "to" -- complicates matters: "he was running
hard; to win was his goal." Correct or not? No; the sentence only
becomes parallel if you change "to win" to "winning."
Agreement
A challenging area of GMAT grammar is agreement of subject and
verb. "The student are puzzled" is obviously incorrect; it simply
sounds wrong. However, suppose dependent or modifying clauses
come between the subject and verb; is it correct then? "The student,
like many others among his classmates, are inquisitive." No, the
sentence is still wrong: "others" and "classmates" are both plural,
and the ear tends to indicate the closer noun as agreeing with the
verb. However, added clauses do not change agreement; the correct
verb remains "is."

A Sample Exercise
Try an exercise now: "This legacy, comprised of several volumes of
memoirs from leading figures, are finally available." You will be
asked to correct the question or label it "correct as is." If you studied
your rule of subject and verb agreement, you'll readily see that the
correct verb should be "is," to agree with the singular noun "legacy."
Review basic grammar to strengthen your GMAT preparation.
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Tricks to Answering SAT

Identifying Sentence Errors
By Elissa Hansen
Although the SAT includes only about 18 questions that ask you to
identify sentence errors, they’re a key component of your score.
These questions often use variations on a few kinds of errors to
trick students. By keeping these errors in mind, you'll increase your
chances of nailing this section.
Comparative Constructions
When you see the comparative adjectives “more,” “greater,” “less” or
“fewer,” check to see if the sentence includes a “than” to complete
the comparison. For example, a sentence with a faulty comparison
might read, “The research showed that more Louisiana residents
hold President Obama responsible for the federal government’s
response to Hurricane Katrina and don’t blame ex-President Bush.”
This sentence doesn’t answer the question, “More than what?” By
substituting the word “than” for the words “and don’t,” you complete
the comparison by answering, “More than blame ex-President
Bush.”

Pronoun Agreement
In everyday speech, English speakers often use the plural pronoun
“their” to refer to a singular noun. You might say, for instance,
“Everyone took out their notebook when class started.” Although
listeners would understand you, the sentence should properly read,
“Everyone took out his or her notebook when class started,” since
“everyone” is a singular noun. When you see singular nouns that
often get used as plurals, such as “committee,” “government,”
“team,” “family,” “couple” and “group,” check to see whether the
sentence uses “their” or “they” instead of “its” or “it.” For example,
the sentence “The team celebrated their victory” should read, “The
team celebrated its victory.”
Idiomatic Usage
The SAT commonly tests your knowledge of which preposition to
use in an idiom. English pairs prepositions such as “for,” “to,”
“against,” “over” and “off” with verbs to create expressions such as
“protest against,” “vote for,” “try to” and “worry about.” When you see
a verb plus a preposition on the SAT, ask yourself whether that
preposition is the right one. For example, An erroneous sentence on
the test might read, “Her daughter was no longer capable at taking
care of her aging mother.” This sentence includes two prepositional
idioms: “capable at” and “taking care of.” But a dictionary will tell
you that the verb “capable” is always paired with the preposition
“of,” so that’s the one to correct.

Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement might seem like a basic idea, but the SAT
disguises its use of plural verbs with singular subjects by sticking a
plural noun between the two. For each sentence, take a moment to
identify the subject and main verb and see whether they agree. For
example, in the sentence “The goal of the protests were to change
public opinion,” the subject “goal” is singular and the verb “were” is
plural. But because the phrase “of the protests” is between them,
and “protests” and “were” are both plural, it’s harder to notice the
disagreement.
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What Are the Functions of an

Article in English Grammar?
By Steve Foster
Articles in English grammar are the words "a," "an" and "the." Articles
belong to a larger category of words called "determiners," which
also includes words such as "this," "some," "my" and "any." Articles
and determiners appear before nouns and serve the function of
making nouns more specific. Articles are used to signify levels of
definiteness or knownness.
Indefinite Articles
The indefinite articles in English, "a" and "an," signify that the nouns
they are attached to are countable -- you can't refer to "a cats" -- and
unknown. Nouns can be unknown by being either non-specific or
new information. For example, you might call "a taxi" when it doesn't
matter which specific yellow car arrives to pick you up, and you
might refer to "a mysterious dog" in the yard upon first mentioning
such a dog.

The Definite Article

Once something becomes known information, it becomes a specific
thing. The definite article, "the," is used to refer to specific things.
After you call for "a taxi," it becomes "the taxi" you called for,
because it might not matter which one shows up, but only one
shows up. After you notice "a mysterious dog," it becomes "the dog"
in the yard.
A Note on Definiteness
Definiteness is not a measure of absolute uniqueness, it is a
measure of uniqueness within the minds of whoever is speaking
and whoever is listening -- or writing and reading. A husband can tell
his wife he is going to "the store" and not "a store," even if more than
one store exists, because if he goes to the same store every time,
and if they both know this, then for their purposes he could only be
going to one specific store: "the store."
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"Divine Sonnet X" Analysis
By Ginger O'Donnell
"Divine Sonnet X," or "Death Be Not Proud," is one of 19 poems that
form the "Divine Meditations," otherwise known as the "Holy
Sonnets," written by English poet John Donne in the early 1600s.
Donne is among the artists known as metaphysical poets, because
of his exploration of spiritual themes using both an emotional and
intellectual perspective. A devout Catholic turned Anglican preacher,
Donne wrote the "Holy Sonnets" during a personally tumultuous
time.
Tone and Personification
The speaker in "Divine Sonnet X" directly addresses a personified
figure of death, repeatedly using imperative verbs to put death in its
place, so to speak. Repeated commands such as "death, be not
proud" and "death, thou canst kill me" convey a stern, resolved tone
and a determined speaker. The line "thou canst kill me" seems to
explain the speaker's resolve, as if the speaker himself is facing
death, and therefore warding off his own fears by reminding death
of its powerlessness over him.

Sonnet Form
"Divine Sonnet X," like many of Donne's poems, utilizes a version of
the Petrarchan Sonnet: it contains 14 lines divided into three, four-
line stanzas and one ending couplet, with a rhyme scheme of
"abbaabbacddcaa." There is a pattern of enjambment, in which the
speaker's sentences continually spill over one line to the next, rather
than ending neatly with each line break. This has the effect of
enhancing the speaker's authority over the figure of death, since the
enjambments force the listener to pay closer attention.
Rhyme and Sound, Beginning
The frequent use of enjambments gives "Divine Sonnet X"
considerable rhythmic variation and slightly mutes the rhyme
scheme of a traditional Petrarchan Sonnet. The first stanza is
halting and heavily punctuated, with many stops and starts. This
corresponds to the speaker's attempt to set limits with death on
what it can and cannot do. The second stanza uses more fluid
syntax. in accordance with the speaker's more hopeful thoughts on
what happens to the "best men" when they die.
Rhyme and Sound, Ending
In the third stanza, the speaker falls into a rhythm as he gains
confidence in his ability to surmount death, listing the whims that
death is a "slave" to as well as the negative circumstances within
which death "dwells." The middle of the last line contains an abrupt
break, then ends with one final, monosyllabic phrase, "Death, thou
shalt die." This rhythmic switch has the effect of emphasizing the
sentiment that, when a man enters eternal life, death is the one that
truly dies. The poem asserts that death was in fact the instrument
of its own defeat, and emphasizes that death, itself, will die eternally
after the Christian resurrection.
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Kid-Friendly Definition of an
Iambic Pentameter Poem
By Elissa Hansen
People who write poetry often want it to sound like normal speech
when they read it out loud. Some writers a long time ago thought
that the best way to make poetry sound natural was to make rules
about what kinds of sounds it used in each line. One of the sound
combinations they used is called iambic pentameter.
Five "Balloons" to a Line
Think about the word “balloon.” If you wanted to tell your friend,
“Hey, look at that balloon!” you’d divide the word into two parts,
called syllables. The first one, “bal,” would be quieter than the
second one, “loon”: “bal-LOON!” You wouldn’t say, “Hey, look at that
BAL-loon.” In iambic pentameter, writers use a pattern of quieter
and louder syllables. First they use a quiet one, then a loud one, and
they repeat that pattern five times in each line of their poem. That
means iambic pentameter lines have a sing-songy rhythm like this:
“da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.”

Another Example
For instance, in the song “We’re Off to See the Wizard” from the
movie “The Wizard of Oz,” the characters sing that they’re seeking
the wizard “Because, because, because, because, because . . .
because of the wonderful things he does!” The line “Because,
because, because, because, because” is in perfect iambic
pentameter. “Because,” like “balloon,” has a louder second syllable,
and its quiet-then-loud syllable combination gets repeated five
times here.
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How to Write a Complaint
Letter Against an Instructor
By Michael Stratford
Instructors at any level can be intimidating, but their position does
not give them the right to abuse power. If a teacher uses
inappropriate language or exhibits unacceptable behavior, students
have the right to object by submitting a letter of complaint to the
instructor’s supervisor. To ensure that a grievance is taken seriously,
spend some time writing a clear, professional letter.
Stay Detached
Keep the tone of your letter aloof and straightforward. Avoid angry,
abusive or critical tones, and stick to your specific set of
complaints. Resist the temptation to make blanket statements
about apathetic teachers, the poor quality of education or other
gripes that are not directly related to the problem. Using
generalizations can water down your argument.

Present Background Information

Begin your letter with a background sentence such as, "I am writing
to you because of an unfortunate situation that has developed in
Mr. Johnson’s third-period advanced English class." If you have an
ongoing problem with Mr. Johnson, state that the issue is
persistent. For example, "He consistently makes offensive racial
slurs, berates me for what he deems to be inattention and is often
rude to female students." All of these background situations will
require precise explanations.
State the Facts
If you have only one problem or one incident with the instructor,
confine your explanation to that incident. If the problem is ongoing,
you must list as many incidents as you can recall. In either case, the
letter must be as specific as possible. A complaint about
inappropriate language can state, "On September 4, 2013, he
referred to me by the following name," or "At least once a week, at
the beginning of each Thursday grade check, he makes sarcastic
remarks about my poor grades." Follow this up by describing the
effect a negative behavior has on you. For example, "This has
resulted in making me feel inadequate as a student."

Request a Solution
End with a respectful request for a solution such as, "I would like to
meet with you and Mr. Johnson to further discuss this issue." If you
feel that the problem cannot be solved with a conversation, request
that disciplinary measures be taken. Keep the letter formal, serious
and readable (using a standard font such as Times New Roman),
and include a salutation and closing. If you do not hear back from
someone within two weeks, follow up with another letter, or
approach the supervisor directly.
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Games to Make & Play With
Irregular Verbs for the Fifth
Grade
By Suzy Kerr
Many elementary school grammar lessons focus on the easily
remembered rules like tense changes in regular verbs and the
difference between proper and common nouns. However, fifth-grade
teachers have the opportunity to challenge their students with
curriculum covering irregular verbs like “break,” “freeze” and “be.”
Without familiar rules, irregular verbs are difficult for some
students, especially those who struggle with memorization.
However, competition can encourage even the most standoffish of
students to engage in class discussion.
Regular or Irregular
This game is a fun way to introduce students to the concept of
irregular verbs. While fifth graders are aware that verbs are action
words, they may not realize that some tenses differ greatly from
what they’ve experienced so far in elementary grammar lessons.
Project a series of present tense sentences on the board, using both
regular and irregular verbs. Without explaining how an irregular verb
differs from a regular verb, ask your students to write the same
sentence, but this time, in the past tense. Students who use the
rules of regular verb tense changes will notice that new sentences
using irregular verbs sound wrong. This is an effective way to
illustrate your class’ familiarity with irregular verb tenses, even
before they’ve learned the official rules.

The Synonym Game

This game requires a projector and a page from a chapter book
projected onto the board. Each of your students should be able to
identify a regular verb on the page. After each student has identified
a regular verb, ask them to replace their original word with an
irregular verb that has a similar meaning. Read the passage out
loud a second time using their replacements, and give extra points
to the students contributing the most interesting or apt word
exchanges.
Tense Drills
When studying irregular verb tenses, split your class in two, forming
lines on either side of the room, facing one another. The drill starts
when you write an irregular verb’s root form on the board. The first
students in the line race to shout out the irregular verb’s past tense,
but they have to answer correctly or risk giving up the point to their
opponent. After the first drill, write a new verb root on the board,
and repeat the drill with the second pair of students, then third, and
so on. This game can be repeated with other irregular verb tenses
for a tougher challenge.

Brainstorm
After introducing your class to the concept of irregular verbs, this
game can be an effective way to enforce the difference between
regular and irregular verbs, outside of those you’ve already
explained. Ask your students to take out a sheet of paper and a
pencil. Using a timer, give your class a set window in which each
child is required to list as many irregular verbs as they can think of.
When time is up, choose a few students to read their lists aloud.
Any word read by more than one student should be crossed out.
The student with the longest list of unique irregular verbs wins.
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Examples of a Rhyme
Scheme in "Romeo & Juliet"
By Flora Richards-Gustafson
While William Shakespeare is known for his sonnets, his play
“Romeo and Juliet” uses a variety of poetic forms and rhyme
schemes. Throughout the play, he bases the rhyme scheme and
language on the characters, the situation and emotions. For
example, Romeo may speak with a specific foot and meter, but a
servant may speak in a manner resembling colloquial speech.
Iambic Pentameter
Shakespeare wrote the majority of “Romeo and Juliet” in iambic
pentameter. In poetry, iambic pentameter refers to the type of foot
in a line of poetry and the meter, which is the number of feet in a
line. An iamb foot consists of a syllable that’s not accented,
followed a syllable that does have an accent. A line with iambic
pentameter has 10 syllables with five iamb feet. Shakespeare wrote
the opening prologue of “Romeo and Juliet” using this foot and
meter: “Two households, both alike in dignity.” When he used this
poetic style, the lines didn’t always rhyme.

Blank Verse and Couplets

When a poem contains blank verse, the lines use iambic
pentameter, but don’t always rhyme. The characters in higher social
classes, including Romeo, Juliet and Lady Capulet, speak in verse.
However, Shakespeare used rhyming couplets or quatrains when a
character spoke in blank verse, to signify an important action or the
end of a scene. In a rhyming couplet, the words at the end of two
lines rhyme in an AA style. A rhyming quatrain is when the words at
the end of four lines rhyme in an AAAA or ABAB style.
Sonnet Form
A sonnet is a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter. The first
12 lines of the poem contain three sets of rhyming quatrains and
the last two lines are rhyming couplets. The rhyme scheme for a
sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The prologues to the first and
second acts of “Romeo and Juliet” are sonnets. Shakespeare also
used sonnets as part of the dialogue in the play, such as Act I,
Scene 5, when Romeo and Juliet talk about hands, saints and
pilgrims.
Speaking in Prose
In “Romeo and Juliet,” the characters sometimes speak in prose
instead of verse. Like conversations, lines of prose don’t rhyme, nor
do they have a metric scheme. Shakespeare had his characters
speak in prose if they came from a lower social class, like servants,
or if they knew one another. The nurse, for example, speaks in prose
when she rants. As a more comedic character, Mercutio speaks in
prose when he is with Romeo or his friends, because they are
informal with each other. After Mercutio dies, the characters speak
in blank verse, indicating a more serious mood.
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What Are the Main Features
of the Petrarchan Sonnet?
By Maria Magher
There are three sonnet types: the English -- or Shakespearean --
sonnet, the Spenserian sonnet and the Italian sonnet, which is also
known as the Petrarchan sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet is so
named for Francesco Petrarca, who popularized the form through
366 sonnets that he wrote about his love for a woman named Laura,
who never returned his love. The Petrarchan sonnet is most well-
known for its subject matter of ideal love, but it also has a specific
form and other features.
High Praise
A key characteristic of Petrarchan sonnets is the blason, which can
be either elaborate praise for the subject or excessive blame or
scorn. In most cases, it is the former. The poem achieves the blason
detail by detail. For example, it would not be enough for the narrator
to express his love or to say that the woman in the sonnet was
beautiful. Instead, her beauty would be presented in detail, such as
the brightness of her eyes, the smoothness of her skin and the
fullness of her hair.

Extended Use of Metaphor

In describing the subject's beauty or the narrator's feelings,
Petrarchan sonnets make extended use of metaphor and simile. For
example, in Petrarch's Poem 292, he says that Laura's smile would
"make a paradise on earth" and he calls her "the light I loved so
much." Metaphor is also used to describe how he feels after her
passing, as "In a great storm on an unprotected raft." Metaphor and
simile are heavily used in the blason, but they can be used anywhere
throughout the sonnet.
Rhyme and Structure
Petrarchan sonnets have their own rhyme scheme and structure.
They include two stanzas: an octave, or eight lines, and a sestet, or
six lines. They can alternatively be written in three stanzas with two
quatrains, or four lines each, and a sestet. Petrarchan sonnets are
always 14 lines total, and they are written in iambic pentameter,
which features lines of alternating stressed and unstressed
syllables. The rhyme scheme is typically abba abba cdecde. The
rhyme scheme for the sestet can vary, including cdd cee, cdcdcd
and cdd cdd.

The Turn
Typically, the octave of a Petrarchan sonnet sets up a question and
the sestet attempts to answer it. This shift in the subject matter is
called the volta, and it is a key characteristic of Petrarchan sonnets.
Sometimes, the volta can be a simple change in thought, such as
when Petrarch moves from thinking about Laura's beauty in Poem
292 to then thinking about his grief over her death. Other times, the
volta can be a change in subject matter.
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Steps for Identifying the
Types of Meter in Poetry
By Flora Richards-Gustafson
The meter in a poem describes the number of feet in a line and its
rhythmic structure. A single group of syllables in a poem is the foot.
To identify the type of meter in a poem, you need to identify the
number and type of syllables in a line, as well as their stresses. By
identifying the type of meter in a poem, you can determine the type
of poem, like a ballad, sonnet or Sapphic poem.
1
Read the poem out loud so you can hear the rhythm of the words.
When an individual writes a poem using a specific meter, the rhythm
of the words will produce a pattern that you can hear. William
Shakespeare’s sonnets, for example, have a different rhythm than a
poem like “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman.

2
Listen to the syllables that you hear when you read the poem out
loud. A syllable is the natural division of a word when you say it out
loud. Each syllable has at least one vowel sound in it. The word
“student,” for example, has two syllables: stu-dent.
3
Break down the words into syllables. Use the sound patterns that
you hear when you read a poem to break down the words into
syllables, using a dash to divide the syllables in each word. If you
were analyzing the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,”
you’d divide the syllables in the first line in this manner: “Twin-kle,
twin-kle, lit-tle star.”
4
Identify the syllables as stressed or unstressed. Use the slash
symbol “/” above stressed syllables and the letter X above
unstressed syllables. In the nursery rhyme, the first syllable in the
word “twinkle” is accented, but the second is not, you’d use the
symbols "/ X" above the word.

5
Determine the type of foot in a poem’s meter using the pattern of
accented and unaccented syllables in a line. Most poems have the
same foot pattern throughout the piece.

6
Count the number of feet in each line. To name the meter, identify
the type of foot and the number of times it repeats in a poem’s line.
Sonnets, for example, use iambic pentameter as the iambic foot
appears five times in each line. An example of this is Shakespeare’s
“Sonnet 18,” which begins: “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
/ Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
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Examples of Antithesis in
Poetry
By Flora Richards-Gustafson
In poetry, an antithesis is two terms, phrases or ideas that contrast
or have opposite meanings. Love, for example, is the antithesis of
hate. Young is the antithesis of old. Poets use antithesis to create
figurative language that adorns, embellishes and adds imagery to
their works, or to juxtapose ideas that contrast in a balanced
manner.
"The Hind and the Panther"
“The Hind and the Panther” by John Dryden is a three-part poem
about the Roman Catholic Church, the Hind, and British Anglican
Church in England, the Panther, seeking the affection of the Lyon,
King James II, according to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University. In the first part of the poem, Dryden writes, “Too black for
heaven, and yet too white for hell.” This line has two examples of
antithesis: heaven and hell and the colors black and white. The
colors in the line represent sin and goodness. In the line, “To heav'n
above, and to their Prince below,” the antithesis is “above” and
“below.” The third part of the poem has the line, “E'en Atheists out of
envy own a God.” The antithesis is in the words “Atheists” and “God,”
as atheists reject the idea that a god exists.
"The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"
In 1599, Christopher Marlowe wrote “The Passionate Shepherd to
His Love.” In response, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote “The Nymph’s Reply
to the Shepherd” the following year. An example of antithesis shows
up in the first line of Raleigh's poem, “If all the world and love were
young,” as the world, in reality, is old. Raleigh writes in the third
stanza, “A honey tongue, a heart of gall, / Is fancy's spring, but
sorrow's fall.” The two lines each have two examples of antithesis:
honey and gall, tongue and heart, spring and fall, and fancy and
sorrow. In the fourth stanza, the line “In folly ripe, in reason rotten”
has two example of antithesis: folly and reason, and ripe and rotten.
"An Essay on Man"
Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Man” is four books divided into
epistles. He wrote the essay using rhyming couplets. In the first
epistle, Pope writes in the third section: “Oh blindness to the future!
kindly giv'n, / That each may fill the circle mark'd by Heav'n: / Who
sees with equal eye, as God of all, / A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,
/ Atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd, / And now a bubble burst, and
now a world.” Pope uses antithesis in these lines when he mentions
blindness and seeing, a hero and an insignificant sparrow and small
atoms turning into a large world. In the sixth section, Pope uses
antithesis in the following lines: “What would this man? Now
upward will he soar, / And little less than angel, would be more; /
Now looking downwards, just as griev'd appears /… Each beast,
each insect, happy in its own.” In these lines, Pope talks about
soaring upward and looking down, men and angels, as well as large
beasts and small insects.

"The Clod and the Pebble"

“The Clod and the Pebble” by William Blake is a poem about love.
The first example of antithesis is in the name of the poem as a clod
of clay is soft and a pebble is hard. The lines in the first and third
stanzas also contrast. For example, the first line of the first stanza
states, “Love seeketh not itself to please,” while the first line in the
third stanza says, “Love seeketh only self to please.” The first
stanza talks about love putting others first. The third stanza talks
about love being selfish. The last lines of the first and third stanza
have the antithesis of heaven and hell: “And builds a Heaven in
Hell's despair. /… And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite."
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Fifth Grade Writing Ideas:
Creative Ways to Begin
Sentences
By Emily Layfield
Writing creative sentences begins with varying the traditional
sentence structure. Most sentences are written following the simple
sentence pattern: the subject followed by the verb. However,
reading one simple sentence after another can be quite boring and
monotonous. By fifth grade most writers have mastered simple
sentences and are ready to create more varied sentences. By using
modifiers, phrases and clauses as tools, fifth graders can craft
more interesting sentence beginnings.
Adding Adjectives and Adverbs
Modifiers – such as adjective and adverbs – are excellent sentence
openers. The sentence, “Gina backed up slowly after hearing an odd
hissing sound,” could be re-written as “Slowly, Gina backed up after
hearing an odd hissing sound.” Shifting the adverb “slowly” to the
beginning of the sentence changes how you read the sentence and
provides a clearer mental image. Similarly, if you added the
adjective “frightened” to the beginning of the sentence, you would
change the mood -- or overall feeling -- of the sentence. For
example: "Frightened, Gina slowly backed up after hearing an odd
hissing sound."
Captivating Clauses
Clauses -- a group of related words that includes a subject and a
verb -- are also effective tools used to construct creative sentences.
Subordinate, or dependent , clauses are often used at the beginning
of sentences to add information. If we used the previous example,
but rewrite it to include a subordinate clause, it might read,
“Because Gina heard an odd hissing sound, she slowly backed up.”
Subordinate clauses often begin with words like "because," "since,"
"although," "while," "when" and "that." Other signal words that
introduce adjective -- or descriptive -- subordinate clauses include
"who," "whom," "whose" and "which."
Preparing with Phrases
Like clauses, adding phrases -- groups of related words that don’t
necessarily contain both a subject and a verb -- to the beginning of
sentences is one of the easiest and most effective ways to
construct interesting sentences, especially when working with
young writers. Developing writers find starting sentences with
phrases an attainable task. For example, you might ask your
students to open a sentence with an –ing [participial] phrase or with
“to” followed by a verb for an infinitive phrase. For example,
“Backing up slowly, Gina was frightened by an odd hissing sound.”
Or “To avoid danger, Gina backed up slowly after hearing an odd
hissing sound.”

Innovating Imagery
Prepositional phrases can also start sentences by referencing time,
location or descriptions. For example: "Near the shed by the woods,
Gina slowly backed up after hearing an odd hissing sound." The two
prepositional phrases describe where Gina was when she heard the
noise. You can use one prepositional phrase to introduce the
subject of your sentence, or you can group multiple prepositional
phrases together to add extra detail and imagery.
REFERENCES RESOURCES WRITER BIO

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How to Fix Fragments in an

Essay
By Kate Beck
Sentence fragments are common errors for beginning and
intermediate writers, and these mistakes can result in a difficult-to-
read essay. Fragments have missing pieces -- a subject, verb or both
-- which makes the sentence incomplete. Often, fragments appear
after a complete sentence, and sometimes you can simply connect
the two. To end up with a solid and effective essay, you need to take
time to revise your work -- and fix those fragments.
Locate Possible Fragments
During your revision process, highlight lines that you identify as
possible sentence fragments. Highlighting helps isolate the phrase
so you focus on that sentence in particular, making your evaluation
easier. Reasons to highlight might include recognizing the
incomplete sentence or difficulty understanding the line. As well,
the sentence may simply sound odd or out of place. Even if you
highlight a non-fragment sentence, when you go back to evaluate
the sentence you can work on clarifying meaning and making it
stronger.

Identify Missing Parts

To check if what you highlighted is a fragment, first look for a verb,
the action word. You might have highlighted the sentence “Looking
out the window.” In this example, “looking” is the verb, the action
taking place. Next, locate the subject, the person, object, idea or
place performing the action. In this example, you do not know who
is looking out the window. You have found a fragment. As another
example, you could also have this sentence: “Such as birds, flowers
and trees.” This fragment does not contain a verb or a subject,
making this another fragment.
Rewrite the Sentence
After you identify a fragment, you need to rewrite this as a complete
sentence. In the sample fragment “Looking out the window,” you
need to consider who performed the action. Your correction might
look like this: “John is looking out the window.” However, if the
action happened in the past, you might have “John looked out the
window.”
For the example “Such as birds, flowers and trees,” look at the
sentence that comes before the fragment. In many cases, this type
of fragment belongs with the preceding line, and you will need to
connect the two. Your fix may look like this: “John looked out the
window and saw many things, such as birds, flowers and trees.”

Evaluate New Sentence

Once you think you have fixed the fragment, you need to review the
sentence to see if it contains a subject and a verb. If your sentences
look complete, read through your essay. Again, if you spot possible
fragments, highlight them and follow the steps to make them
complete. Repeat the process until you read through your essay
without highlighting phrases that need fixing.
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Are End Rhyme & External

Rhyme the Same Thing?
By Maria Magher

Not all poems have to rhyme, but many do. Some rhymes take place
within the lines, which is called internal rhyme, and some rhymes
take place at the end of the lines, which is called external rhyme.
The term "end rhyme" can be used interchangeably with "external
rhyme." They both refer to rhyming words that come at the end of
sentences, though the rhyming pattern can vary.
Identifying External Rhyme
External rhyme is perhaps the easiest type of rhyme in poetry to
identify, since it comes at the end of a line. External rhyme can also
include one of many other types of rhymes. For example, external
rhyme can include assonance, which involves two words with
similar vowel sounds, such as "dip" and "limp." External rhyme also
fits a pattern. The easiest pattern to identify is the rhyming couplet,
in which each pair of lines rhymes. To identify a rhyme pattern, a
letter is given to each line, based on its end rhyme. For example, in
Robert Frost's lines "Whose woods these are I think I know. / His
house is in the village though; / He will not see me stopping here /
To watch his woods fill up with snow," the rhyme scheme is AABA.
Each of the lines ends with the same rhyme except the third line.
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Examples of Allusions in the

Poem "Next to of Course God
America I"
By Michael Stratford
The allusions in e.e. cummings’ 1926 satirical sonnet “next to of
course god america i” are rooted not so much in specific literature
as in the catch-phrases and political rhetoric of cummings’ day. It’s
also the rhetoric of our day: It has not changed a particle in intent.
The work's declamatory references use mixed metaphors, political
rhetoric and hyperbole, while some clever word juggling on the
poet’s part creates a crazed jumble resembling Orwellian newspeak,
20 years before Orwell created it in "1984."
Deceitful Patriotic Allusions
The opening allusions in lines 1 through 3, from "The Star-Spangled
Banner” (1814) and “America/My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1831), are
also used in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech of 1963.
The whole cloth of cummings’ text, written nearly a century after the
patriotic hymns, weaves deliberate deceit, however; it is far from a
dreamer’s vision. The orator speaks of the passage of centuries in
line 5, adding “we should worry,” but his warning is lost in the flood
of his political rhetoric. We should indeed worry if politicians like
cummings' speaker retain their powers of persuasion.

Deaf and Dumb Listening, Speaking

Cummings' speaker uses an amusing contradiction that alludes to
senseless babbling in line 6, as he speaks of “every language even
deafanddumb.” He then proceeds in line 8 to hyperbolically allude to
common folk/salt-of-the-earth clichés, sprinkled in his text like field
fertilizer; “by jingo by gee by gosh by gum” is his attempt to find the
right metaphor for his plain, simple audience, the more easily to
appeal to them as a man of the people. His previous allusion
contradicts him, however: The speaker, deaf to his audience, speaks
to the dumb who cannot reply.
Keats, Lions and Lambs
In line 9, the speaker asks rhetorically, “Why talk of beauty?” an
allusion to Keats’ “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” as he drums up
false sentiment for war, alluding hypocritically to the honor of
casualties: “what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy
dead” who, in a mixed metaphor, rush like “lions to the slaughter”
rather than lambs. The allusion to the alleged biblical verse of lion
lying with lamb -- a phrase that occurs nowhere in Scripture -- has
happened already to these warriors; they are lambs to a slaughter
the speaker urges upon them.

Should Liberty Be Mute?

Cummings’ final allusion in line 13, “should the voice of liberty be
mute?” is also a rhetorical question, alluding to the “Voice of
Liberty” broadcasts of FDR’s fireside chats before World War II; in
truth, the voice of the speaker who feigns a love of liberty probably
should be mute. His speech, overstuffed with meaningless verbiage,
prompts no thirst for liberty, freedom or the fight for it -- only for a
rapidly consumed glass of water.
REFERENCES RESOURCES WRITER BIO

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Tips and Tricks

A Couplet That Uses

Alliteration
By Cara Batema
Sound devices are the most important tools in a poet’s arsenal.
Since most poems are meant to be read aloud, the way words and
phrases sound reinforces the imagery, expression or meaning of a
poem. Poets are not limited to one sound device per poem, but
rather they can combine these instruments to achieve particular
effects. A couplet that uses alliteration includes the popular tool of
rhyme and the accent of repeated consonants.
Rhyming Pairs
Couplets are pairs of end-rhymed lines that can make up an entire
poem or be used as a sub-unit of a poem. In the English language,
the most common form of couplet is the heroic couplet, or two lines
of rhymed iambic pentameter, famously used by Shakespeare at the
end of his sonnets or acts of his plays. The French alexandrine
lends itself to couplets in lines of 12 syllables, and the lesser-known
split couplet employs one line of iambic pentameter followed by a
line in iambic dimeter.
Recurring Consonants
Couplets rely on rhyme as their major sound device, but alliteration
is another tool for repetition of sounds. Alliteration, which might
also be referred to as head or initial rhyme, is the repetition of initial
and stressed consonants within a phrase or line of a poem. “The
Grammarian’s Funeral” by Robert Browning is one poem heavy with
alliteration, which seems as important as the poem’s rhyme
scheme. The "c" sound is particularly emphasized in the first stanza,
found in lines such as, "Let us begin and carry up this corpse,"
"Cared-for till cock-crow" and "Crowded with culture."
Putting the Two Together
Alliteration is not a requirement of the couplet form, but some
poems do use both sound devices. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “On
Donne’s Poetry” is just one quatrain long, consisting of two couplets
with alliteration. The end result is a humorous poem, especially for
readers who don’t particularly like John Donne, with a disparaging
tone. For John Donne fans, “The Bait” is a poem composed of
quatrains that can be seen as two-couplet stanzas that also use
alliteration. You can hear the "p" sound in the line, "And we will some
new pleasures prove," and the evocative "s" sound in the phrase,
"With strangling snare," the sound of which calls to mind something
that is trapped and choked.

Purpose of Sound Devices

A poet might write a couplet that also uses alliteration because
these two devices perform different functions. According to Damon
McLaughlin, English instructor for the University of Northern Iowa,
couplets often pack a punch with a limited number of words, and
they contain emotional or powerful statements. While alliteration
also serves to accentuate key words or phrases, it typically does so
in a much more subtle way. Poets use various consonants
methodically; because some consonants have a harsher sound than
others, poets might choose alliterative consonants carefully to
achieve a particular sonic palette.
REFERENCES WRITER BIO
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