SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

47

It takes very slight examination of the two groups of sentences to discover that thought can be more exactly expressed by the sentences that use clauses. Then, again, in such a sentence as, "If your pumps slip at the heel, just put a strip of adhesive tape across the back to make them stay on," it is impossible to express the idea at all without the use of the subordinate clause introduced by if. Notice your own writing to see when you use subordinate clauses.

The following paragraph is composed of sentences without subordinate clauses. Notice how choppy it sounds:

We went to the zoo. We saw a strange animal. It had long legs and a very long neck. Its head reached up into the lower branches of the trees. It could eat the leaves from the branches. It was a giraffe. It came from Africa. It lives in the jungles.

Rewrite this paragraph, combining some of the short sentences into sentences with subordinate clauses.

Simple and Complex Sentences. A sentence containing a subordinate clause is called a complex sentence. A sentence containing only one subject and one predicate is called a simple sentence.

EXERCISE

Tell whether the following sentences are simple or complex. If complex, point out the subordinate clause and give its subjecí substantive and its predicate verb:

1. Hannibal was a little town which hugged the steamboat landing. 2. If you will go down through the old part of the city now you will find it much as it was in my

childhood.

3. The quaint old weather-beaten houses still remain.

4. Mr. Clemens took me over Stormfield.

5. It must have been a tract of three hundred acres.

6. When Mark Twain was the greatest man in the American world of letters, he was still loyal to the friends of his youth.

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Adjectival and Adverbial Clauses. A subordinate clause may be used as a modiñer either of a noun or of a verb.

If

it modiñes a noun, it is an adjectival clause. If it modifies a verb, it is an adverbial clause. In the sentences on page 47 pick out the adjectival clauses and tell what each modifies. Pick out the adverbial clauses and tell what each modifies.

We shall find later that some clauses are used as nouns, but as such clauses are a little harder to understand, we shall not study them at present.

EXERCISE

Divide the following paragraphs into sentences, placing capitals and periods where they are needed:

1. It is a cozy cottage that serves as a dormitory there is a large classroom where the lectures are given a staff of instructors from wellknown universities teach the everyday processes of managing fields and orchards special lectures are frequently given by experts in the cottage is a big homelike living room where the girls sing and dance in the evening each girl takes care of her own bedroom

2. There are porters in the Pullman service who have ridden with every President of the land then there is the porter who comes to know people by their feet he has a large acquaintance with senators and ambassadors when he is standing at the door of the train under the Pennsylvania Terminal in New York he recognizes the feet as they come poking down the long stairs,

Caution.

Be very careful in your writing not to punctuate a subordinate clause as a complete sentence.

Use of English to Business and Professional People. A large number of business people are engaged in selling things; in fact, salesmanship is probably the most important aspect of business. Have you ever thought how important it is for a salesman to use good English? Not only must he be able to speak correctly, but he must know how to interest his customer. He must plan his talk to fit the needs of the man from whom he wishes to secure an order. He must think up good illustrations; he must be clear; he must always be courteous and pleasant.

The lawyer and the doctor have just as much need of good English as the salesman. We should not like to employ a professional man who habitually said "I seen" and "had went." We expect a man who advises us in the law or in matters of health to speak correctly and with some cultivation of voice. A clergyman, too, must use good English. A very good preacher once lost a call to a church because in his trial sermon he used the singular form of the verb

with a plural subject. We expect a minister not only to be correct in his speech, but to be clear and interesting besides. So you may readily see that the very things that we are trying to develop in students' speech are the qualities that will contribute to their success when they leave school.

Social success, as well as professional advancement, is closely tied up with the ability to speak good English. We do not ask whether or not a new acquaintance can work fractions correctly or calculate the interest on a note, but we do note whether or not he uses the English language correctly and agreeably.

Connection of English with Other School Subjects.— Students sometimes think that it is important to use good English in the English class, but that what they say on the playground or in the geography or history classes makes little difference. This is a very wrong idea. We are made so that habit controls our lives. We acquire the habits of washing our faces and of speaking courteously to others by actually performing those acts; and only by repeated performance do we acquire the habit of speaking and writing correctly. If these acts are restricted to the English class, there is not enough repetition of them to make them into a habit. The boy or the girl who in the English class says “I did my work," but in the geography class or at home says "I done my work," will probably never fix the habit of using the right form of words. For this reason the club work should not be confined to the English class, but should follow its members into other activities of the school and the home.

A Geography Project. Let us see how you may link up your English with your geography. An imaginary trip to some

A GEOGRAPHY PROJECT

51

country you have studied makes an interesting club program, which may require two or more meetings. Suppose, for example, that you plan a trip to California. A club meeting may be needed to sketch out the trip and assign to different members of the club the stages of the journey to be worked up and presented.

Choosing the Route. You must first choose the route after investigating what the different routes have to offer. Railroad or steamship folders will furnish the necessary information. The time of year will help you to decide whether you wish to follow a northern or a southern line. The whole matter of choosing the route may be assigned to a committee of couriers. This committee will have to study the folders and consider the advantages of each route before making its report to the club. The oral report should give all the necessary information about each main line, and then recommend the one to be chosen, with reasons for the recommendation. A short summary of important points should be written and given to the secretary for his records.

EXERCISE

1. Write letters to the main railroads and steamship lines asking for descriptive folders.

2. Write a short report recommending a particular route and giving reasons for this recommendation.

Planning Stages of the Journey.

Having chosen the route to be followed, the club may next consider what stops will be made on both the outgoing and the return trip. This question may also be turned over to a committee for special investigation. The committee should consult geography readers such as Carpenter's Geographical Reader of North America, magazines such as The National Geographic Mag