Transcript Painting with Participles - jaguar-language-arts

Painting with Participles
 Many authors say that writers need to show a story
rather than tell a story—or paint a picture of words,
like creating a literal virtual reality.
 An amateur tells a story, and a pro writer shows a
story.
 The amateur writes: “Bill was nervous.”
 The pro writes: “Bill sat in the dentist’s waiting
room, peeling the skin at the edge of his thumb, until
the raw, red flesh began to show. Biting the torn
cuticle, he ripped it away, and sucked at the warm
sweetness of his own blood.”
 Which one can you picture in your mind?
 No one has to tell the reader that Bill is nervous. The
reader can watch the images unfold and make
conclusions as if he or she can actually see Bill do
those things in the waiting room.
 Just like in painting, it takes technique to truly paint
an image.
 Today, we are going to “paint” with participles.
Painting with Participles
 A participle is a form of a verb that can act
as an adjective—or, more simply, is a verb
with an –ed or –ing ending that describes a
noun or pronoun in the sentence.
 We are focusing on participles that describe the
subject of a sentence.
 Original sentence: The diamond-scaled snakes attacked
their prey.
 Revised sentence with a few participles: Hissing,
slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes
attacked their prey.
 Another revised sentence with participles and modifiers
(further describe subject with nouns): Hissing their
forked red tongues and coiling their cold bodies,
the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.
Participles by Hemingway
 Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and
kneeling carefully, he washed his hand in the ocean
and held it there, submerged, for more than a
minute, watching the blood trail away and the steady
movement of the water against his hand as the boat
moved.—Old Man and the Sea
Participles by Suzanne Collins in The Hunger
Games
 Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out my belly and
slide under a two-foot stretch that’s been loose for years.
 The fireball hits a tree off to my left, engulfing it in flames.
 I know I need to keep moving, but I’m trembling and light-
headed now, gasping for air.
 He leans down and rips the bandage off his leg, eliminating
the final barrier between his blood and the earth.
Participles Painted by Students
 Flying through the air on the wings of a dream, the
Olympic long jumper thrust the weight of his whole body
forward.—Cathleen Conry
 The rhino, caught in the tangled rope, looked for
freedom.—Erika Schreckengost
 Melody froze, dripping with sweat, hoping with all her
might that they wouldn’t hear the noise. –Becky Swab
 The clown, appearing bright and cheerful, smiled and did
his act with unusual certainty for someone who had just
killed a man.—Christi Flick
Participles and participial phrases are “extra”
descriptions.
 The sentence without them must be complete.
 A lot of times they are set off by commas.
 Verbs that end in –ing or –ed (called participles)
only work if they are “extra” descriptions for a noun
or pronoun, not when they are normal verbs.
 They are not adverbs, which are verbs often ending
in ly.
Your Turn
 Choose a suspenseful topic to write about
(ex. Haunted house, the woods at night, etc.)
 Paint your sentences with participles.
 Underline each participle used in your
writing.
 Write at least 3 sentences with
participles.
 You will turn this in.
Examples
Lost and frightened, I searched for any sign of help
in the woods.
I stopped, frozen in time, as I listened to the whisper
of crunching leaves.
My predator, breathing heavily, watching me, was
getting closer.
Resources
 Noden, Harry R. Image Grammar. Portsmouth:
Heinemann, 1999.
Present Participles
 Present participles end in –ing.
 Examples:
Mr. Sanchez rescued three people from the burning
building.
Chasing the cat, the dog ran down the street.
What do the present participles modify?
Past Participles
 Past participles usually end in –d or –ed. Some past
participles are irregular though.
 Examples:
Well trained, the soldier successfully carried out her
mission.
We skated on the frozen pond.
What words do they modify?
 Be careful not to confuse participles used as adjectives
with verbs!
 Adjective: Discouraged, the fans went home.
 Verb: The fans were discouraged by the string of losses.
 Adjective: Singing cheerfully, the birds perched among
the branches of the trees.
 Verb: The birds were singing cheerfully among the
branches of the trees.
The Participial Phrase
 A participial phrase consists of a participle together
with all its modifiers and complements. The entire
phrase is an adjective.
Examples:
 Stretching slowly, the cat jumped down from the
windowsill.
 The tornado predicted by the meteorologist did not
hit our area.
 Reading the assignment, she took notes carefully.
 A participial phrase should be close to the noun it
modifies. Otherwise it might appear to modify
another word in the sentence.
Misplaced: Hopping along the fence, I saw a rabbit.
Corrected: I saw a rabbit hopping along the fence.