The Purpose of This Exercise

In order to gain conscious control of language and also to punctuate better, you are learning to recognize the essential parts of every sentence. At the very least, this knowledge will enable you to see where sentences begin and end so you can see and correct fragments and run-ons. In this project, we begin with verbs because every sentence has a verb at its core.       Since verbs are words that change form to signify changes in time, one obvious way of learning to recognize them is to change the time frame of a piece of descriptive writing. An extra advantage of this approach is to increase sensitivity to consistency in verb tense, for writers often do shift carelessly from one time frame to another without any good reason. Sometimes, however, there is a good reason, so slight shifts like the following are to be expected in this exercise:             Rachel is smiling because her baby has survived. This same differentiation between layers of time can be made in a past-time framework as well:             Rachel was smiling because her baby had survived.             Rachel smiled because her baby had survived.       In the left panel is the first half of a story. The verbs are parenthesized for easy recognition, and you are to write in each blank the past tense form of the verb. When finished, read the passage from beginning to end, preferably aloud, substituting your verbs for the originals. This proofreading will teach you more effectively than the writing task itself. Then check your responses with the "check" button.       The story, "Charon," was written by Lord Dunsany in the past tense. It concerns a minor Classical god who ferried dead souls across the River Styx into the afterlife. Charon's name starts with a K-sound and rhymes with Sharon.