Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
Grammar Blitz: Grammar Villains (The appositive phrase)
Ursula, the appositive phrase witch.
Her crime: Adding information about nouns or pronouns without commas.
How do we know if we have an appositive phrase?
Ursula the evil sea witch wished to rule Atlantica.
This sentence is incorrect because “the evil sea witch” is a phrase giving more
information about the subject Ursula.
Question: How do we stop Ursula, the appositive phrase witch?
When you read sentences, try to be aware of the subject of the sentence. The
subject of the sentence tells who or what the sentence is about.
Flounder knows there are three types of appositive phrases: intro, interrupting,
and concluding.
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
1. The appositive phrase can start the sentence: Intro.
Ursula’s Sentence
Flounder’s Sentence
Ursula’s evil henchmen Flotsam and
Jetsam will stop Prince Eric.
Ursula’s evil henchmen, Flotsam and
Jetsam don’t stand a chance!
Explanation: “Ursula’s evil henchmen” is an appositive phrase giving more information about
the compound subjects Flotsam and Jetsam. Flounder corrects the sentence by adding a
comma after the appositive phrase.
Practice: Help Flounder fix the following sentences by underling the appositive phrase and
adding a comma before the subject of the sentence.
1. The self-proclaimed know-it-all Scuttle tells Ariel about the snarfblat.
2. The court composer of Atlantica Sebastian lies to the King.
3. The villain of the story Ursula dreams of revenge.
4. The beautiful mermaid Ariel rescues Prince Eric.
5. Mesmerized by Ariel’s voice Eric is determined to find her.
That old bully, Ursula
doesn’t stand a chance if
you stay focused!
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
2. The appositive phrase can end a sentence: Concluding
Ursula’s sentence
Flounder’s Sentence
I need the triton the key to the ocean’s Ursula must not get the triton, the key to
power.
the ocean’s power.
Explanation: “the key to the ocean’s power” is an appositive phrase giving more information
about the subject triton. Flounder corrects the sentence by adding a comma before the
appositive phrase.
Practice: Help Flounder fix the following sentences by underling the appositive phrase and
adding a comma after the subject of the sentence.
1. “Ariel, your place is down here under the sea,” said Sebastian.
2. Eric and Ariel must share a kiss true love’s kiss.
3. Eric falls in love with Ariel a head-strong teenage mermaid.
4. Ursula will stop at nothing to claim the throne of Atlantica the kingdom of the mermaids.
5. Ariel’s best friend is me a guppy.
Hey, who wrote
this? I’m not a
guppy!
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
3. The appositive phrase can interrupt the sentence.
Ursula’s Sentence
Flounder’s Sentence
My garden made of lost souls is always Ursula’s garden, made of lost souls, is a
fun to weed.
scary place.
Explanation: “made of lost souls” is an appositive phrase giving more information about the
subject garden. Flounder corrects the sentence by adding commas before and after the
appositive phrase.
Practice: Help Flounder fix the following sentences by underling the appositive phrase and
adding commas before and after the appositive phrase of the sentence.
1. Ariel’s grotto the place where she keeps all of her human treasures is a place she likes to visit.
2. King Triton enraged by the thought of his daughter with a human destroys Ariel’s treasures.
3. Ursula the sea witch has great powers.
4. Sebastian and flounder Ariel’s best friends try to save her.
5. Ursula part octopus and part human crushes sea creatures to make her lipstick.
Everyone has
their beauty
secrets.
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
Practice makes better. Not perfect but better.
The appositive phrase can start the sentence: Intro.
Directions: Underline the appositive phrase, and put a comma after it.
1. The daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain Catharine married Henry.
2. A shrewd ruler Henry is famous for having six wives.
3. A frail boy Edward VI ruled for only five years.
4. Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Mary was the queen for a short time.
5. A woman of twenty-five Elizabeth became queen next.
6. The fragmented nation England was united by Elizabeth.
7. Elizabeth’s cousin Mary ruled in Scotland.
8. A favorite of her enemies and eventually had her executed Queen Marry was feared by
Elizabeth.
9. A poet and writer Elizabeth presided over a lively and exciting court.
10. A world power before Elizabeth’s time England became even stronger under her reign.
Did you check
your commas?
You can never be
too careful!
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
Practice makes better. Not perfect but better.
The appositive phrase can end the sentence: Conclusion.
Directions: Underline the appositive phrase, and put a comma after it.
11. I saw a ship a ghost ship!
12. The ship was crewed by Captain Barbosa the captain of the damned.
13. He’s helped by pirates a group who became too greedy and paid the ultimate price.
14. In the moonlight, they show their true form decayed and rotting.
15. Barbosa has a monkey a demonic pet.
16. Beware the Kraken a creature of monstrous size.
17. It is said the Kraken sleeps in the deep a place void of light.
18. The Kraken has an owner Davy Jones.
19. Known as the destroyer of ships, the Kraken ushers people to the place of the dead Davy
Jone’s Locker.
20. Davy Jone’s Locker is like Hades the Greek equivalent of modern day afterlife.
The Kraken sounds
like my kind of
man!
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
Practice makes better- not perfect, but better.
Appositive Phrase Review
Directions: Rewrite the sentences below, adding an interrupting appositive to the bold noun.
1. “My squid is delicious,” said Ursula.
______________________________________________________________________________
2. The jellyfish was kind to Flounder.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. The seahorse raced down the mud path.
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. The eel slithered through the seaweed.
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Flounder splashed about.
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Ariel tried to stop the wedding between Eric and Vanessa, the sea witch in disguise.
______________________________________________________________________________
7. The ship rusted in the dark waters.
______________________________________________________________________________
Did you
double check
your work?
Name: _________________________
8th grade Writing/ Mr. G.
Writing is Jawsome!
Date: ____________
A Grammar Battle with Ursula, the appositive phrase witch.
Directions: Stop Ursula, the appositive phrase witch, by underlining the appositve phrases
in the battle and punctuating them correctly. Double check your work!
“It’s done,” Ursula cried. She picked up King Triton’s trident the key to the sea’s power
and placed his crown on her head. A wave of power washed over her as her tentacles lively and
deadly swished about the water. She let out a laugh evil and triumphant as the trident began to
glow in her grasp.
“Now to deal with you loverboy,” Ursula said as she took aim at Eric the prince. Seeing
this, Ariel swam with all her might to grab the trident from Ursula. Fortunately for her, just as
Ursula was about to incinerate Eric, Ariel’s struggle caused Ursula to hit Flotsam and Jetsam
Ursula’s henchmen.
Her poopsies a pet name given to her henchmen were reduced to dust as they slowly
drifted to the bottom of the ocean. “You’ll pay for that,” Ursula now infuriated bellowed.
The dark blue waters of the ocean rapidly changed to an inky black. Eric and Ariel swam
to the surface. Their breath of relief was short lived, when the tip of Ursula’s crown once
belonging to King Triton shot up between the two of them. Realizing they were ontop of Ursula
now of monstrous size they jumped into the water.
Ursula rose out of the sea, causing massive tidal waves and lightning as she waved about
her trident. “The seas belong to me. The waves obey my every whim,” she howled.
Taking the trident now the lenghth of five ships Ursula drew a circle in the water around
her. This created a tidal pool, forcing ships previously sunken to resurface. Ship after rotted
ship encircled the large giant, giving Eric the soon-to-be-hero of our story an idea.
Eric grabbed onto one of the sunken ship’s ladders and climbed up the the bow. He raced
to the helm a nautical term for steering wheel and took hold of the wheel. Timing it just right,
Eric spun the wheel so that the ship was on a collision course for Ursula.
While this was going on, un-beknownst to Ursula, Ursula was trying to fry Ariel the little
mermaid who’d proven to be more trouble than she was worth. “You poor, pitiful fool.
Thinking you could defeat me.” She brought the trident overhead, took aim at the memaid, and
felt a puncture in her stomach just as she was about to fire.
Eric who’d comandeered a vessle had steered the ship into Ursula, causing her to scream,
explode, and dissapear in the water. The last that was seen of Ursula was her tetacles, wrestling
to stay above the surface.
Parent Signature: ________________________
Total: _______/41