Transcript On the first part of the journey, I was looking at all the life

(On the first part) (of the
journey), I was looking (at all the
life)
Prepositional phrases tell us where, when and
what. It would be BORRRIIINNNNG without
this information
There were plants and birds and rocks
and things
There was sand and hills and rings
There are no
prepositional phrases
here.
Borrrrrinnng…….
The first thing I met was a fly (with a
buzz)
And the sky (with no clouds)
The prepositional phrases here give us details about the
fly and the sky. On its own, ‘the first thing I met was a fly
And the sky’ would be….
borrrrrinnnng
The heat was hot and the ground was
dry
But the air was full (of sound)
Here, but is not a preposition; it can be interchanged with ‘and’ (a
conjunction). Of sound more fully describes the air, giving it detail.
It is not……
borrrrinnng!!
I've been (through the desert) (on a
horse) (with no name)
The prepositional phases here tell us where and what
These details keep it from being….
borrrrinnnng
It felt good to be out (of the rain)
You’re probably thinking ‘to be out’ is a prepositional phrase,
but is ‘out’ a noun?
Of the rain tells us Where
la… la… la la la la… la la la la… la… la…
la… la… la la la la… la la la la… la… la…
(After two days) (in the desert sun)
my skin began to turn red
‘To turn red’ is not a prepositional phrase- red
is an adjective.
(After three days) (in the desert fun)
I was looking (at a river bed)
These prepositional phrases tell us when, where and what.
They give us great detail, and tell us much more about the sentence
I was looking, which, on its own, is very….., here it comes,
borrrinnng!
And the story it told (of a river) that
flowed
Made me sad, (to think) it was dead
THINK, IN THIS CASE,
IS ONE OF THOSE CONCEPTS
OR IDEAS WE TALKED
ABOUT , AND IS A NOUN
HERE
You see, I've been (through the desert)
(on a horse) (with no name)
It felt good to be out (of the rain)
(In the desert), you can remember
your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to
give you no pain
Here, for is a redundant word,
and give is a verb. No prepositional
phrase here.
la… la… la la la la… la la la la… la… la…
la… la… la la la la… la la la la… la… la…
(After nine days), I let the horse run
free
'Cause the desert had turned (to sea )
The prepositional phrases here tell us When and What.
The desert had turned can stand by itself, but it is very…. Borrrrrinnng…….
There were plants and birds and rocks
and things
There was sand and hills and rings
There are no prepositional
phrases here.
Borrrrrinnng…….
EXIT SLIPS!!!
The ocean is a desert with its life
underground
And a perfect disguise above
(Under the cities) lies a heart made (of
ground)
(But the humans) will give no love
This is probably the trickiest lyric. Remember, in the end, song is poetry, and
doesn’t always follow the conventions of writing. That tends to make what we
have done difficult. When we take out all of the prepositional phrases here,
we are left with Lies a heart made will give no love, which of course, makes no
sense. But in particular, is difficult, because we do not know the writer’s intent;
is but a conjunction, or does it mean except? In most sentences, you will be
able to tell.
For example,
All of the children, but Billy, wished to have vanilla ice cream.
Clearly, you can substitute ‘except’ in for ‘but’. A conjunction, such as
‘and’ will not work. That is when you will know that ‘but’ is
a preposition.
I do hope that this little exercise helps you identify prepositional
phrases. This will help you in identifying subject, verb and object and
other parts of grammar as we go through the year. More
importantly, I hope you have seen that using prepositions and
prepositional phrases will Keep your writing interesting and keep it
from becoming……
BORRRINNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Based on an idea from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWrChdOE
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