The Five Brush Strokes

The Five Brush Strokes of Writing

The Participle

What is a participle?A participle is an ing verb tagged on to a sentence. *A participle is a verb acting as an adjective

Example: swimming pool

*There are more verb forms for participles but this is the basic definition that we will be starting with

Mentor TextInitial sentence:The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

After adding participles to make the sentence more interesting:

Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

Copy this sentence down in your writers notebook. Then create your own sentence by mimicking the grammar of the sentence.

Hint: What animal are you going to use? What three ing verbs can you describe this animal with? Where To Put ParticiplesAn exampleConsider the following sentence

The dog approached me.

What are all the ing verbs that a dog could do while approaching ?Where can we place these participles?

More Mentor TextsBarking furiously, Cujo gave chase (King 18).

Cujo trailed at Bretts heels, looking hot and dispirited (King 46).

-Stephen King

What is a participial phrase?We have looked at many examples of participles now.

Make a prediction: what is the difference between a participle and a participial phrase?

Find an example of each in your notes. Write down the two examples and label each as either participle or participial phrase

Participles:

Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

Participial phrase:

Wagging its tail, the dog approached me. Notice the participial phrase includes More Participial PhrasesFlying through the air on the wings of a dream, the Olympic long jumper thrust the weight of his whole body forward. -Cathleen Conry

The clown, appearing bright and cheerful, smiled and did his act with unusual certainty for someone who had just killed a man. -Christi FlickMentor TextMimic the grammar and structure of the following sentence. The only word you may re-use is appearing

The clown, appearing bright and cheerful, smiled and did his act with unusual certainty for someone who had just killed a man.

Hint: Pick a noun, then describe what it could appear to be (participle + adjective), then finish the sentence with the action and what the noun is really likeStudent Error: Dangling ModifiersAvoid doing this:

Rummaging in her giant handbag, the sunglasses escaped detection.

What is wrong with this sentence?

This sentence means that sunglasses are alive and can look through purses!

How would you reword the sentence to fix it?