1.7 Sentence types

15. Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He hugged his Della. Then he took a package from his pocket and threw it upon the table.

16. “Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he said.” I don’t think there is anything in the way of haircut or a shave that could make me like my girl any less. But, if you unwrap that package you may see why I was so fierce at first.”

17. White fingers tore at the string and paper. Then an ecstatic scream of joy was followed by hysterical tears, for there lay The Combs – the set of combs that Della had worshipped for so long in a shop window. Beautiful, expensive combs that she had longed for. Now they were hers, but the beautiful hair was gone. She hugged them to her. After a while she managed to smile and say, “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”

18. Eagerly she held out his beautiful present on her open palm. “Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it.”

19. Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch, put his hands behind his head and smiled. “Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em awhile. They’re too good to use just at

present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. So…let’s have supper.

( Adapted from “ The Gift of the Magi ” by O Henry .)

Activity 1:

Diction and imagery

[lo 6.5]

We can all learn something from the author of THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT about how to write descriptively. He has chosen specific techniques to create a vivid picture of Della in our imaginations.

DICTION: One of the easiest ways of improving your writing is to choose your words with care. Some words are simply more effective than others as words have different connotations. Let’s take a look at how the author of the story has chosen clever VERBS and ADVERBS to enhance his writing.

• Re-read paragraph 2 and 5. Choose at least three verbs that your feel are effective. Compare them with other verbs that may have the same meaning, but not the same impact. Write down your findings in the following table.

• Now do the same with at least two ADVERBS from paragraph 4

IMAGERY: The author of the story has also employed comparisons to make his writing more colourful. He has used metaphors and similes. Write down a definition of each of these figures of speech:

METAPHOR:

SIMILE:

• Analyse each of the comparisons below. Use the headings as a guide.

Activity 2:

Sentence types

[lo 6.2]

• Scan the text of the THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT and quote one example of each of the following :

• A STATEMENT

• A QUESTION
• AN EXCLAMATION
• A COMMAND

• Write down the characteristics of each of the following sentences in the space provided.