PHRASES PART 1:
APPOSITIVES
Appositive phrases
offer ONE way to vary
your syntax.
What is a phrase?
A phrase is a group of related
words that lacks either a
subject or a predicate or both.
•amazing triumphs of technology (lacks a predicate)
•can be found (lacks a subject)
•in ancient civilizations (lacks a subject and predicate)
Amazing triumphs of technology can be found in
ancient civilizations.
Appositive phrases
•An appositive is usually a noun that renames another
noun; it also adds new information about the noun
it follows.
•An appositive phrase also includes modifiers.
•Appositives and appositive phrases sometimes begin with
that is, such as, for example, or in other words.
Examples:
Mrs. Scow and Ms. Stern, my English teachers, are both bibliophiles.
appositive phrase
Books, for example Tortilla Curtain and To Kill a Mockingbird, inspire them.
appositive phrase
Here is a list of sentences, all written by professional
writers, but with some parts deleted.
1. It went away slowly.
2. The land that lay stretched out before him
became of vast significance.
3. However, I looked with a mixture of
admiration and awe at Peter.
4. That night in the south upstairs chamber
Emmett lay in a kind of trance.
1. It went away slowly, the feeling of
disappointment that came sharply after the
thrill that made his shoulders ache.
~Ernest Hemingway, “Big TwoHearted River”
2. The land that lay stretched out before him
became of vast significance, a place peopled
by his fancy with a new race of men sprung
from himself.
~Sherwood Anderson,
Winesburg, Ohio
3. However, I looked with a mixture of
admiration and awe at Peter, a boy who could
and did imitate a police siren every morning
on his way to the showers.
~Robert Russell, To Catch an Angel
4. That night in the south upstairs chamber, a
hot little room where a full-leafed chinaberry
tree shut all the air from the single window,
Emmett lay in a kind of trance.
~Jessamyn West, “A Time of
Learning”
Directions
• Complete Section I on the appositive worksheet
in class (#’s 1-8)
• Homework
– Read Frances FitzGerald’s “Rewriting American
History” (pp. 828-834 –Green Norton, pp. 845-851
-- Brown/purple Norton)
– Select 3 vocabulary words and bring them to class
tomorrow – complete all required elements
EXCEPT for your original sentence