Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of we, us or ourselves in the blank spaces:

  1. They are better off than.......
  2. The French as well as......claim a war of defense.
  3. Can you blame......who have always stood by you?
  4. We will do that for.......
  5. Between......comrades there should be no differences.
  6. They gave......men work.
  7. Do not trouble;......will attend to this.......
  8. They sent a special notice to our friends and.......

Exercise 3

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of thou, thee, thy or thyself in the blank spaces:

  1. To......be true, and it follows as the night the day...... canst not then be false to any man.
  2. Paul,......art beside......; much learning hath made ......mad.
  3. ......shalt love......neighbor as.......
  4. Trust....... Every heart vibrates to that iron string.

Exercise 4

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of he, him, or himself in the blank spaces:

  1. ......and John are to blame.
  2. I think it was.......
  3. My friend and......called on you.
  4. He blamed......for the accident.
  5. You are no better than.......
  6. I shall call for you and.......
  7. You and......must come on time.
  8. He found the place.......
  9. There should be no quarrel between you and......who loves you.
  10. If you were......would you go?

Exercise 5

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of she, her, or herself in the blank spaces:

  1. They asked Mary and......to go.
  2. Mary and......went.
  3. May......and I go with you?
  4. Let......and Harry go.
  5. Is that Mary? Yes, it is.......
  6. There are many points of difference between......and me.
  7. You are more beautiful than.......
  8. She brought it to me.......
  9. If......and I join you, will you go?
  10. They must not quarrel over......and me.

Exercise 6

Complete the following sentences using the correct form of they, them, or themselves in the blank spaces:

  1. They gave......up.
  2. ......and I will finish the work.
  3. I found......where......hath thrown......down to rest.
  4. I am sure it was......for I saw......plainly.
  5. The workers enslave......by their lack of solidarity.
  6. ......must learn the lesson.......

Exercise 7

Cross out the wrong word in the following sentences:

  1. Everybody do—does as he pleases—they please.
  2. No one should waste his—their opportunities.
  3. The jury rendered its—their verdict.
  4. If anyone wishes war, let him—them do the fighting.
  5. The audience displayed its—their approval by its—their applause.
  6. The audience remained quietly in its—their seats.
  7. The jury adjourned for its—their dinner.
  8. Nobody willingly gives up his—their rights.
  9. Each one may express his—their opinion.
  10. Every man received his—their wages.

Exercise 8

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of the pronouns who, whose, or whom:

  1. ......do you think I am?
  2. I am the man......you taught yesterday.
  3. With......are you going?
  4. The contract was let to a man......we are sure cannot fulfill it.
  5. The contractor......wishes to bid will come tomorrow.
  6. On......are you depending?
  7. The friends......counsel I took, stood by me.
  8. He is a man......I am sure will succeed.
  9. We tried to talk to those......we thought would understand us.
  10. For......did you work?

Exercise 9

Insert who, whose, whom, which, that or what in the blanks in the following sentences:

  1. Man is the only animal......uses a written speech.
  2. Can you save......you earn?
  3. Ricardo's law was that the workers always receive a wage......permits them to produce and reproduce.
  4. Have you read the book "War, What For"......Kirkpatrick wrote?
  5. Newspapers......distort the news......they print to serve the ruling class are dangerous foes to the workers.
  6. The massacre at Ludlow was an event......aroused the working class.
  7. They......live by the labor of others are drones in society and should be given the fate......they deserve.
  8. The big machine gun......will destroy slavery is the printing press.
  9. The man......leadership we should follow is he......preaches social equality.

Exercise 10

In the following quotations note the use of the pronouns and mark whether they are personal, relative or interrogative, whether they are used in the subject form, possessive form or object form:

  1. "Camerado, I give you my hand,
  2. I give you my love more precious than money,
  3. I give you myself before preaching or law;
  4. Will you give me yourself, will you come travel with me,
  5. Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"
  6. "I think I could turn and live with animals they are so placid and self-contained,
  7. I stand and look at them long and long, they do not sweat and whine about their condition,
  8. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
  9. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
  10. Not one is dis-satisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things.
  11. Not one kneels to another nor to his kind, that lived thousands of years ago,
  12. Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."
  13. —Whitman.

Exercise 11

Note the omission of the antecedent in the first sentence, also the use of the relative what in the last sentence of the first paragraph:

"Whoso would be a man, must be nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which, when quite young, I was prompted to make to a valued adviser who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, "What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" my friend suggested—"But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the devil's child, I will live then from the devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Out upon your guarded lips! Sew them up with pack threads, do. Else, if you would be a man, speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon balls, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though you contradict everything you said today. Ah, then, exclaim the aged ladies, you shall be sure to be misunderstood. Misunderstood! It is a right fool's word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."—Emerson.

SPELLING

LESSON 13

There are a few more rules governing the spelling of derivative words. Words ending in silent e keep the e before the suffix beginning with a consonant. Notice the following words:

exciteexcitement
likelikeness
forceforceful
shameshameless
lonelonesome
livelively

Words ending in silent e drop the e before the suffix beginning with a vowel, as:

exciteexcitable
liveliving
grievegrievous
forceforcible

Some words ending in silent e retain the e before the suffix beginning with a vowel, to prevent a change in the pronunciation or to preserve the identity of the word. Notice the following words:

peacepeaceable
couragecourageous
singesingeing
changechangeable
shoeshoeing
noticenoticeable

These are words ending in the soft sound of c and g, where the e is retained to preserve the correct pronunciation of the c and g, and with some few words like toe, dye, etc., where the dropping of the e would lose the identity of the word.

The e is dropped in a few words before the suffix beginning with a consonant, as in wholly, nursling, judgment, wisdom, lodgment.

Add the suffixes ment and ing to the words in Monday's lesson; the suffix able to the words for Tuesday and Wednesday; the suffixes some and ous to the words for Thursday; the suffixes ly or ness to the words for Friday and Saturday.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 14

Dear Comrade:

You remember our definition of a word; a word is the sign of an idea. In our lessons we have been studying the different kinds of words which we use in the expression of our complete thoughts. Probably the first step in the development of language was to name the objects about us. Then the next logical step would be to invent words which would tell what these objects did. So we have our nouns, which are the names of things; our verbs, which tell what these things do; and in these we have the foundation for spoken and written speech. We soon found, however, that the constant repetition of a name was tiresome and annoying, so we invented words which we could use in place of these nouns; and we have pronouns.

All of the things about us possess certain qualities and our next great need was for words to describe these qualities; so we have adjectives. Each adjective is a sign of an idea. It adds its part to the expression of our complete thought. So we find that each part of speech comes logically in its place to fill a certain need. Without any one of them, we would be crippled in our power of expression. Each different word is the sign of an idea and the combination of these ideas as represented by the various signs gives us the complete expression of our thought.

So primitive man in the development of written speech had signs to express the various things about him. Naturally his first sign was a picture, as nearly as he could draw it, of the object itself. If he wanted to tell you about a tree he drew a picture of the tree; the picture of a man represented a man, and so on. You will notice among children that this is the first development in their endeavor to express their thoughts in writing. They draw pictures. The average small child cannot understand why you read those strange marks on the page. They want you to read the pictures. To their mind that is the only way to communicate ideas.

These early forefathers of ours grew to be very adept at this picture writing. We have examples of this among the Indians of our own country. There is a picture on the face of a big rock on the shores of Lake Superior which records an expedition across the lake led by a noted Indian chief. Canoes are shown in the picture with the crew denoted by a series of upright strokes and there is a picture of the chief on horseback. You or I would have great difficulty in reading this picture writing, but an Indian could read it right off just as we would read a written page. Aids to memory such as knotted strings and tally sticks were the first step toward written speech. This picture writing was the second step toward the development of written speech.

We owe a great deal to the work which these primitive ancestors of ours accomplished. It took them years and years to develop through these different stages and our rapid development of the last few centuries has only been made possible because of this slow and patient building of the foundation. An understanding of this helps us to appreciate the place we occupy in this great struggle of the ages. The power of written speech opens up to us such tremendous possibilities. Let us make the most of them, that we too may hand on worth while things to those who follow us.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.