Setting Up the Palette
by
Carole Greene
De Anza College Cupertino, California
Manuscript Preparation: D’Artagnan Greene
Cover Photo: Hotel Johannes Vermeer Restaurant, Delft, Holland © 2002 by Bill Greene ii
Copyright © 2002 by Carole Greene
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FOREWORD ix
CHAPTER 1- Mastering the Tools 1
An Overview 3
The Clause 15
The Simple Sentence 17
The Verb Check 21
Items in a Series 23
Inverted Clauses and Questions 29
Analyzing a Question 33 Exercise 1: Locate Subjects and Verbs in Questions 35 Exercise 2: Locate Verbs in Simple Sentences 37 Exercise 3: Locate Subjects in Simple Sentences 47
Exercise 4: Locate Subjects and Verbs in Simple Sentences 55 iv
The Need to Change Reading Habits 69
The Phrase 71
A Phrase Versus a Clause 73
Prepositional Phrases 75
Common Single Word Prepositions 77
Group Prepositions 78
Developing a Memory System 79
Memory Facts 81
Analyzing the Function of Prepositional Phrases 83
Exercise 5: Locating Prepositional Phrases 89
More Practice on Identifying Prepositional Phrases and Their Function 97
The Complex Sentence 101
Subordinate Connectives 102
Recognizing, Eliminating, or Correcting the Dependent Clause Fragment 103
A Subordinate Connective Versus a Preposition 105
Punctuating the Complex Sentence 109
Complex Sentence Variations 125 v
A Supplementary Punctuation Rule for the Complex Sentence 133
Exercise 6: Locating Subjects and Verbs in Complex Sentences 135
Fragment Errors 143
Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases 147
Variant Functions of the Infinitive Phrase 149
Participles and Participle Phrases 151
Flip-Flop Patterns in Prepositional and Verbal Phrases 161
Exercise 7: Making a Verb Chart 163
The Compound Sentence 165
The Semicolon 167
The Colon 169
Coordinate Connectives 173
Secondary Functions 175
Run-On Sentences 179
A Table of Sound Values 182
Speaker Clauses 183 vi
Exercise 8: Joining Main Clauses in Compound Sentences 189
The Compound-Complex Sentence 195
Exercise 9: Punctuating Compound-Complex Sentences 197
Logical Connectives 205
How Versus However 211
Than Versus Then 213
A Supplementary Rule 215
CHAPTER 2 - Writing a Paragraph 217
Focusing on the Topic Sentence 219
A Fact Versus an Opinion 221
The Deductive Paragraph 223
The Inductive Paragraph 229
The Empty Paragraph 235
The Controlling Idea 239
The Dead End Fact 247
The Future-Based Statement 249
The Rhetorical Question 251 vii
A Summary of Important Paragraph Concepts 253 Exercise 1: Distinguish Between a Fact and an Opinion 255
Exercise 2: Recognize Topic Sentence Parts 271
Main Clause Unity 275
CHAPTER 3 - Producing an Essay 287
Structural Similarities in a Sentence, a Paragraph, and an Essay 289
The Topic Sentence Versus a Thesis Statement 291
A Single Paragraph Versus an Introductory Paragraph 293
A Summary of Essay Writing Concepts 297
An Essay for Analysis 299
Creating an Outline 315
GLOSSARY 319
BIBLIOGRAPHY 337 viii ix
FOREWORD
Dear Student:
Congratulations!!! If you are reading this preface, you are in all probability a student of the inimitable Mrs. Carole Greene. Carole is a superb teacher, and I congratulate her on this latest series of texts which have as subject matter the great Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). You will learn many lessons from Carole Greene that are analogous to the lessons that Vermeer teaches us. As Vermeer used light through a window to illuminate many of his subjects, Carole Greene's teaching will illuminate your learning , particularly your understanding of grammar and rhetoric. As Vermeer worked very hard and very precisely to cre- ate the detail in his thirty-five paintings, you will need to work very hard and pay attention to detail in order to be successful in this course.
So you can expect this course to be difficult and to require a great deal of effort on your part. The requirements of the course are, in fact, what make it worthwhile, and what you will gain from. Expect to have second thoughts; expect to need assistance from tutors, from your peers, and from your teacher!!! But if these are the demands, what will be the rewards? In 1986, Masako Pedigo took Carole's course, full of some of the same trepidation you may be feeling. She was from Japan, had married a Navy officer, and felt very uncomfortable with her very limited English. Carole "corrected my syntax and grammar; she was very helpful. She helped me to go on to English 1A and be very successful. But above all, she gave me confidence in myself which I had not had before. This confidence made it possible for me to become a teacher myself and to teach other teachers." So while much will be expected of you, you will gain much in return. x
Another thing I find so exciting is Carole's teaching of a master artist. In my own writing courses, I have used the great French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, and I have found that students not only learn to write but also receive as a bonus an education in art—and in living—that can be the basis for continued lifelong interest and study. There is another lesson here that Carole teaches by example: the need to combine your passions and your work. In order to write this text, Carole took a journey to Delft and Amsterdam over a Spring Break in order to capture many of the photographs you will see in this course. Teaching what you love is a lesson that good teachers follow; as students, you will catch the enthusiasm that your teacher has for Johannes Vermeer.
Carole Greene is a great, but tough teacher. If you apply yourself to the material in this course, you will gain a mastery of writing that can be the basis for your future success in college writing and in life. You will share in Masako's confidence, but this time, it will be your own. Again, I congratulate you on your selection of Carole Greene's course; this will be a lot of work, but you can do it. May Carole and Vermeer inspire you to achieve your true, higher potential.
JOHN K. SWENSSON Dean, Language Arts Division De Anza College. 1
Chapter 1
Mastering the Tools 2 3
An Overview
If you were to take a close look at the history of words and how they entered the English language, one of the things you would discover is that there is a close link between the words text and textile. For example, Webster’s New World Dictionary tells the reader that the word text comes from the Latin word textus meaning fabric, structure, and text and from the past participle texere which means to weave. In English, text means the actual structure of words in a piece of writing which is sometimes referred to as the wording that is used; it also refers to the actual or original words used by an author.
text (tekst)
a noun: from Latin textus, fabric, structure, and text
and from the past participle of texere, to weave
1. the actual structure of words in a piece of writing; wording
2. the actual or original words used by an author 4
This course is about words built up from letters.
It is about sentences built up from words.
And it is about paragraphs built up from carefully controlled sentence types.
The dictionary also tells the reader that the word textile comes from the Latin words textilis and texere. In English, textile means having to do with weaving or with woven fabrics. It also refers to a fabric made by weaving.
textile (teks-til)
a noun: from Latin textilis and textus
1. having to do with weaving or with woven fabrics
2. a fabric made by weaving
This is also a course about textiles.
The subject matter of this book focuses on the life and work of the Dutch master painter, Johannes Vermeer.
A textile is built up from a series of interlaced threads.
A canvas is built up from those threads.
It becomes the ground sheet for a painted surface. 5
Johannes Vermeer’s canvases are built up from carefully
controlled layers of paint. They tell stories that in the words of
the art historian, Johan Huizinga, portray figures whose ‘actions
are steeped in mystery...where words have no sound and thoughts
no form.’
The content of this book makes use of text and textiles.
The course will take you, the writer, on a word-filled journey where words become sentences and sentences become paragraphs created with control and skill.
That writing skill will make readers want to give you a hearing just as selected viewers of Vermeer’s artwork wanted to
give voice to wordless canvases that added richness to the artist’s
unspoken thoughts. 6
The Clause
A clause is a group of words that contains a complete subject and a complete verb.
The subject is what the sentence is about.
The verb, which may be an action or a state of being, makes a statement about the subject.
All sentences are determined by the number and type of clauses they contain.
There are 4 main sentence types in the English language: Simple, Complex, Compound, and Compound-Complex. 7
The Simple Sentence
The Simple Sentence contains 1 main or independent clause that stands alone.
Example:
1. I look at paintings by Johannes Vermeer.
There is just 1 subject and 1 verb.
It looks like this. ______
It may be helpful to remember that the usual word order, or syn- tax, in English is subject-verb-object.
Note: While you are learning The Simple Sentence, track each clause as it occurs.
After tracking your clause, do a clause tabulation for each sen- tence to make sure that you have the right number and type of clause to form a Simple Sentence. [SS]
1 mc = SS 8
The Simple Sentence may be written in command form.
Example:
2. Look at the facts about the artist’s life.
Example:
3. Look.
In the preceding examples, the verb is______.
Since these sentences are written in command form, the subject is an implied (you).
They look like this. ______
Remember:
In command form, the subject will be a stated or an under- stood (you).
You cannot imply I, he, she, it, we, or they. 9
Example:
4. A birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a death certificate, and stories about his family and his debts give the reader a fleeting glimpse of the man, breathe life into his ghostlike presence, and fill in gaps left blank by art historical accounts.
In this sentence, there is more than 1 subject and more than 1 verb.
It looks like this. ______
Variation 1:
There is more than 1 subject and only 1 verb.
A birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a death certificate, and stories about his family and his debts give the reader a fleeting glimpse of the man.
It looks like this. ______10
Variation 2:
There is only 1 subject and more than 1 verb.
Stories about his family and his debts give the reader a fleeting glimpse of the man, breathe life into his ghostlike presence, and fill in gaps left blank by art historical accounts.
It looks like this. ______11
Inverted Clauses and Questions
Example:
5. Here is a series of fragmented stories about paintings lost, paintings found, and unpaid debts.
Example:
6. There are no written accounts by the artist to give the reader accurate knowledge about his feelings or his thoughts.
In the inverted clauses, the verb comes before the subject.
They look like this. ______
All inverted clauses can be flipped around to reveal normal word order.
A series is here of fragmented stories about paintings lost, paintings found, and unpaid debts.
No written accounts are there by the artist to give the reader accurate knowledge about his feelings or his thoughts.
They look like this. ______12
There and here do not always trigger an inversion.
Here you have some facts. Johannes Vermeer was baptized on October 31, 1632 in New Church in the Dutch town of Delft.
There you may visit his remains. He was entombed in Delft’s Old Church on December 16, 1675.
In these two examples, the subject comes before the verb.
They look like this. ______
Some inverted clauses have verbs that consist of more than 1 word.
Here are some paintings to be closely observed: The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, Girl with a Red Hat, and A Lady Writing.
There are books written by current novelists on these particular works of art.
When an inverted clause has a verb that contains more than one word, the verb will divide around the subject.
It will look like this. ______13
When these sentences are flipped around to normal word order, they will look like this. ______
Some paintings are to be observed closely here: The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, Girl with a Red Hat, and A Lady Writing.
Books are written there by current novelists on these particular works of art.
The same rules often apply to questions.
Inverted word order:
Would you like to feed your imagination by stepping into the world of a painted canvas?
Have you ever tried to unravel a mystery by letting painted images on a canvas tell you their story? 14
Normal word order:
You would like to feed your imagination by stepping into the world of a painted canvas.
You have tried to unravel a mystery by letting painted images on a canvas tell you their story ever.
Simple Sentence Variations:
S V
(S) V
SSSS VVV
SSSS V
S VVV
V S 15
The Clause
Highlight:
A clause is a group of words that contains a complete subject and a complete verb.
All sentences are determined by the number and type of clauses they contain.
The subject is what the sentence is about.
Example:
Before stepping into the present, we must turn back the
pages leading into the past.
The verb makes a statement about the subject.
Example:
We can begin by looking at Vermeer’s town of Delft and the
people living there in the 1650’s. 16 17
The Simple Sentence Highlight:
The Simple Sentence contains 1 main or independent clause
that stands alone.
Example:
Carriage wheels and wheelbarrows are heard clattering and
rumbling over uneven stones and brick-paved streets.
Remember:
The usual word order, or syntax, is subject-verb-object.
The Simple Sentence may consist of only 1 word.
Example:
Stop!
It may also be somewhat longer.
Example:
Listen to the weavers of silks and satins create rhythmic
sounds at their clicking and clacking looms. 18
Remember:
In command form, the subject is a stated or implied (you). You cannot imply I, he, she, it, we, or they.
The Simple Sentence may have just 1 subject and just 1 verb.
Example:
Unlike the noisy weavers at their looms, painters using
canvas, boards, or porcelain tiles to paint on make almost no
sound at all.
The Simple Sentence may have just 1 subject and more than
1 verb.
Example:
Paintings by prominent artists are sold in shops, at inns, and
in the marketplace and are often traded for wine or bread from
a local merchant. 19
The Simple Sentence may have more than 1 subject and just
1 verb.
Example:
To sell their wares in Delft, master painters like Johannes
Vermeer, embroiderers, and makers of porcelain tiles must serve
an apprenticeship in their chosen field for six years before joining
the Guild of St. Luke.
The Simple Sentence may also have more than 1 subject and more than 1 verb.
Example:
Reynier Vermeer, his wife Digna, and their two children,
Gertruy and Johannes, lived in The Flying Fox Inn and were
supported by Reynier’s weaving of silk caffa cloth and his role as
an innkeeper and an art-dealer for paintings made by local artists. 20 21
The Verb Check
To see if a word can be used as a verb, try running it through a verb check which looks like this.
I we you (singular) you (plural) he, she, it they
For example, in the sentence—She is asleep—suppose that I want to test whether or not the word [is] can be used as a verb.
When I run it through the verb check, I get:
I is No! we you (singular) is No! you (plural) he, she, it is Yes! they
So I know that [is] checks out as a verb. If I took a second step and looked up the word [is] in the dictionary, I would find out that it is the third person singular form of the irregular verb [to be]. 22
In the same sentence—She is asleep—I may be wondering if
the word [asleep] can be used as a verb. This time, when I run it
through the verb check, I get:
I asleep No! we asleep No!
you (singular) asleep No! you (plural) asleep No!
he, she, it asleep No! they asleep No!
Therefore, I know that the word [asleep] is not a verb. If I
want to know what part of speech it is, my next step will be to look up the word in the dictionary which tells me that [asleep] is
sometimes an adjective [a noun modifier] and sometimes an adverb
[a verb modifier]. 23
Items in a Series
Highlight:
There are 3 acceptable ways to join items in a series.
The coordinate connective [and], which links equals, may be used to separate related objects in a series.
Example:
Like other Dutch boys, Johannes Vermeer might have left
out a wooden shoe stuffed with hay and carrots on December
5th, the Eve of Saint Nicholas, in hopes of having it filled with
sweets and marbles and perhaps a drum the following morning. 24
If the objects in the series are short, simple words or phrases, only commas, or pauses, and a connecting word are needed to
separate them.
Example:
A month later on January 6th, or Twelfth Night, he most
likely carried paper stars through the streets of Delft, knocked on
doors, and received his share of small coins, cakes, and other
special treats.
Note: there is always a comma before the last item in a series.
Although a series of related objects may also be spliced with only commas or pauses, this method is rarely used.
Example:
Vermeer’s everyday activities would probably call for a
supply of kolf sticks for hitting stones, small pieces of wood to
float in the canal, fishing rods to catch fresh water river-fish
with. 25
The same rules apply to a series of subject words or phrases.
The subject words may be separated by the coordinate
connective [and].
Example:
Housing and food and drink and lessons in drawing and
painting were provided for young artists such as Vermeer during
the time of their apprenticeship to a master painter.
The subject words may be separated by a combination of
commas [pauses] and the coordinate connective [and].
Example:
The preparation of colors, the stretching of canvases for the
master, and a willingness to be hard working and obedient were
the obligations placed upon the shoulders of young indentured
artists. 26
And although the subject words may be separated only by commas or pauses, this method is rarely used.
Example:
Lessons in sketching and shading, instructions on how to
copy plaster casts of eyes and noses and mouths and ears,
emphasis on a need to be neat and to maintain a clean palette
and clean brushes were put forth by the master painter.
The same rules also apply to a series of verb words or phrases.
The verb words or phrases may be separated by the coordinate connective [and].
Example:
In 1653, Johannes Vermeer became a master painter and paid
one fourth of the required six guilders to join the Guild of St. Luke
and was registered as member number 78 in the Guild’s master
book and earned the right to sign and sell his paintings. 27
Or the verb words may be separated by a combination of commas
[pauses] and the coordinate connective [and].
Example:
With a professional career spanning a period of twenty two
years, Vermeer worked alone without the aid of apprentices, created
several single figure compositions selling for less money, produced
only thirty five known paintings, and could not settle his debts.
The verb words or phrases may also be separated only by commas or pauses, but this method is rarely used.
Example:
In choosing to marry Catharina Bolnes, a devout Catholic,
he became a Catholic instead of a Protestant, moved out of the
Mechelin Inn owned by his widowed mother, was now part of the
household on the Oude Langendijck run by his mother-in-law,
Maria Thins. 28 29
Inverted Clauses and Questions
Highlight:
The words there or here used at the beginning of a clause will
often invert the normal word order.
So when a clause begins with there or here, locate the verb
first. And then, look for the subject.
Inverted word order:
Example:
At the time of the artist’s death in 1675, there were
eleven children living in the Vermeer household with no money
to pay for their bread.
Regular word order:
Example:
The baker, Hendrick van Buyten, was owed 726 guilders for unpaid loaves of bread. 30
Inverted word order:
Example:
Here was a man already in possession of one of
Vermeer’s paintings.
Regular word order
Example:
He was now given two more of the master’s paintings to add to
his collection by Vermeer’s widow Catharina to pay for the 8,000
loaves of white bread consumed by Vermeer’s household during
the last three years of the artist’s life.
There and here do not always trigger an inversion.
Examples:
Here you have the basic facts regarding Vermeer’s life.
There in Delft, a man lived and died following his passion for creating art without having a spare guilder to his name. 31
Note:
With an inverted clause, if the verb consists of more than 1 word, it will circle [or divide] around the subject.
Example:
In the last few years, there have been four intriguing books
written by novelists feeling a need to step into Vermeer’s world to
flesh out the inner lives of the powerful figures trapped inside of
those layers of paint.
When the clause is rewritten in normal word order, it will read as
follows.
Example:
In the last few years, four intriguing books have been written
by novelists feeling a need to step into Vermeer’s world to flesh out
the inner lives of the powerful figures trapped inside of those layers
of paint there. 32 33
Analyzing a Question
Note:
Questions are often inverted clauses. If the verb consists of
more than 1 word, it will divide around the subject.
Analyzing a question is a 2-step process.
First, turn the question into a statement.
Do not add, subtract, or change the words.
You simply rearrange them.
Second, look for the subject and verb words.
They will now be in normal word order. 34
The Question:
Example:
Are you ready to join hands with those authors and to step
into their Vermeer inspired worlds behind those layers of paint?
The Statement:
Example:
You are now ready to join hands with those authors and to
step into their Vermeer inspired worlds behind those layers of paint.
If the verb consists of more than 1 word, it will divide around the subject when the sentence is written as a question.
Not all questions are turned into a statement.
Sometimes, a question word acts as the subject.
Examples:
What will be found inside of those books?
Who will be there? 35
Exercise 1: Locate Subjects and Verbs in Questions
To analyze a question in terms of structural qualities:
Read the question.
Turn it into a statement.
Do not add, subtract, or change words.
Just rearrange words.
Then, locate the subject and the verb.
Go back to the question format.
And mark the subject and verb parts.
Reminders:
If the verb consists of more than 1 word, it will divide
around the subject when the sentence is written as a
question. 36
Not all questions are turned into a statement.
Sometimes, a question word acts as the subject.
Examples:
What took place in the book called Girl with a Pearl Earring?
Who was there to write about?
See Laying Out the Text for a supplementary exercise. 37
Exercise 2: Locate Verbs in Simple Sentences
Directions:
In each example, the subject of the main clause has been underlined once.
Put two lines under the verb.
Write the verb word or words in the blank space to the right.
Writing out the verb words will reinforce your awareness of what a verb is.
Example:
The novel, Girl with a Peal Earring, written by Tracy Chevalier,
is based on a series of imagined incidents laced with historical facts
about a young lady named Griet, a town called Delft, and the
master painter, Johannes Vermeer.
Verb 38
1. The year is 1664.
Verb
2. A tile painter living in Delft has been blinded by an exploding kiln.
Verb
3. The skin surrounding his eye sockets has been permanently sewn shut by a surgeon.
Verb
4. He can no longer earn money to provide for his wife, his ten-
year-old daughter Agnes, or his sixteen-year-old daughter Griet.
Verb
5. Money set aside for his thirteen-year-old son has made it possible for Frans to begin a labor-intensive apprenticeship consisting of making tiles at the Delft pottery factory.
Verb 39
6. The story opens with Griet chopping up vegetables for the soup pot and placing them in neat pie-shaped wedges with a round slice from a carrot forming the center of this circular profusion of color.
Verb
7. A man with soft grey eyes and his wife with blonde curls and a harsh brittle voice enter the kitchen and ask the tilemaker’s wife about Griet’s ability to live in their home, to do the laundry, to help care for their children, and to clean the man’s studio on a daily basis.
Verb
8. The man, not recognized by Griet, takes a closer look at the
vegetable wheel and asks about the two different shades of white in
the turnips placed next to the onions and the red cabbage strips
intentionally set apart from the wedge of sliced orange carrots.
Verb 40
9. Griet has separated the red vegetable slices from the orange
ones by placing a pie-shaped wedge of chopped leeks between them
to prevent the colors from fighting with each other.
Verb
10. The husband and his wife leave Griet’s home after having been assured of her strength and her capacity to put in long hours on heavy work filled days.
Verb
11. Jan, Griet’s father, reveals the identity of the man with the
grey eyes.
Verb
12. He is the master painter, Johannes Vermeer, the headman of
the Guild of St. Luke, the husband of Catharina Bolnes, and the
father of their five children.
Verb 41
13. Griet will now leave her home to work for Vermeer’s family and will live in the Vermeer household headed by Maria Thins, the artist’s mother-in-law.
Verb
14. As a child, Griet enjoyed playing with Frans and Agnes at the
site of the eight-pointed star placed inside of a circle laid out with
stones to mark the entrance to Market Square.
Verb
15. The children took turns picking out a point on the star and
calling out the name of a bird or a church or a special kind of flower
and then raced along the path indicated by the star point in order to
be the first one to spot that item.
Verb
16. However, no one had ever chosen the point of the star leading
to Papist’s Corner or the Catholic section of the city.
Verb 42
17. Since the time of William of Orange’s defeat of Phillip II, a
Catholic ruler from Spain almost a century earlier, Griet’s family members, like most of the other inhabitants of Delft, were dyed- in-the-wool Protestants.
Verb
18. And now due to economic hardships, Griet must live in a
Catholic household on Oude Langendjick and sleep in a cellar across from an image of the Crucifixion painted by master Vermeer, a
Protestant converted to Catholicism because of his decision to marry into a Catholic family.
Verb
19. Almost immediately, Griet is shown how to do several household chores by a twenty-eight-year-old servant called Tanneke.
Verb 43
20. Her first chore involves walking down a flight of stairs, filling a
large pot with canal water, hauling it back to the washing kitchen,
heating it over a fire, adding laundry to it, and soaking it for a day
before scrubbing it with soap, rinsing it, and hanging it outdoors to
be bleached by the midday sun.
Verb
21. After folding the dried garments and the household linens, she
must scrub the underside of a flatiron with coarse salt to prevent it
from scorching and burning before heating it over an open fire and
ironing various items of clothing.
Verb
22. When asked to do so, Griet must buy herring from the fish stalls or raw meat such as stewing beef, sausages, chops, tongues, and pigs’ feet at the Meat Hall in Market Square from a butcher with blood-stained hands and a bloody apron.
Verb 44
23. On the birthday feast after the birth of the sixth child, Griet
must wash clothes, napkins, and tablecloths, polish silverware, help
with the ordering of rabbits, oysters, lobsters, and a whole pig, and
serve spiced wine to guests like van Ruijven, a wealthy purchaser of
Vermeer’s paintings, while dodging his groping hands and his roving
eye for the “wide eyed maid.”
Verb
24. But Griet’s most important job is to clean the master’s studio
on a daily basis without disturbing items like a draped piece of blue
cloth or a love letter selected for a painting.
Verb
25. The painting of van Ruijvin’s wife showing her wearing a yellow
satin fur trimmed mantle and gazing at herself in a mirror while
fastening a pearl necklace around her throat is a case in point.
Verb 45
26. Griet’s ability to rest an elbow on the table while placing her thumb and another finger on an area earmarked for a letter and then lifting the piece of paper and dusting under it with her other hand before placing it back in exactly the same spot requires skill and patience.
Verb
27. Vermeer’s wife, Catharina, is not allowed to set foot in her
husband’s studio.
Verb
28. She once knocked over and broke a wooden box with a lens
called a camera obscura owned by van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor
of the microscope, and used by Vermeer with a robe draped over his
head to get a sharp almost photographic view of a scene being
painted with saturated jewel-like colors.
Verb 46
29. With the passage of time, Catharina grows increasingly jealous of her husband’s fondness for Griet and his habit of sending her on special errands to the apothecary’s shop to purchase precious pigments and oils to be ground and mixed for the rendering of his paintings.
Verb
30. Tanneke, Vermeer’s model for an earlier painting about a
milkmaid, also becomes envious of the master’s affection for Griet
and his habit of asking her to help grind paints in the attic above the
studio in place of spending more hours on chores such as mopping
floors, washing clothes, and caring for the children.
Verb 47
Exercise 3: Locate Subjects in Simple Sentences
Directions:
In each example, the verb of the main clause has been underlined twice.
Put one line under the subject.
And write the subject word or words in the blank space to the right.
Writing out the subject words will reinforce your awareness of what a subject is and how it functions in a sentence.
Example:
In a very short amount of time, Griet’s life becomes more
complicated.
Subject 48
1. Without any warning, there is an announcement of a quarantine in the part of Delft inhabited by Griet’s family preventing anyone from visiting the plague infested part of the town for more than ten days.
Subject
2. Griet's Sunday visits to see her family are brought to an abrupt
halt.
Subject
3. At the end of that period of time, Griet is told of the death of
her ten-year-old sister Agnes.
Subject
4. At the same time, Griet is drawn closer to the world of painting
embraced by Master Vermeer.
Subject 49
5. She is allowed to look at the setting for the painting of van
Ruijven's wife by placing her master's robe over her head and peering
into the lens of the camera obscura.
Subject
6. It is a tool to enable the painter to see the scene being painted
with greater clarity.
Subject
7. According to Vermeer, "The camera obscura helps me to see
in a different way."
Subject
8. After the completion of the painting, the powder-brush, a black pewter pot, the letter, and the blue cloth drapery are removed from the table and put away in the storeroom.
Subject 50
9. Prior to the painting's being taken away and brought to its new home, the van Ruijvens come to give their final approval for the work of art and are served wine by Griet.
Subject
10. Woman with a Pearl Necklace took five months to complete.
Subject
11. There is now a feeling of sadness in the empty studio.
Subject
12. Standing on top of the empty table, Griet brings sunshine and
pure light flooding into the studio by washing the windowpanes of
the shuttered window with hot water and clean soapy rags.
Subject
13. The master walks in and orders her to stop her activity,
freezing her in her tracks.
Subject 51
14. "Look over your shoulder at me."
Subject
15. Her master's long and thoughtful gaze will usher in the start of a new work of art.
Subject
16. At home on a Sunday visit, Griet tries to describe the new
painting of the baker's daughter to her blind father.
Subject
17. In the painting called Young Woman with a Jug, the model holds a pitcher of water and is about to pour its contents out of the window and onto the ground.
Subject
18. The whiteness of the pointed cap, worn by the model, is of
particular interest to Griet.
Subject 52
19. It gives the impression of being a white cap but is actually painted with a combination of blue, violet, and yellow brushstrokes.
Subject
20. Since January of 1665, Griet has gradually become an assistant
to Johannes Vermeer.
Subject
21. It started with a request on the master's part to have Griet carry a pouch to the local apothecary with instructions for purchasing a new supply of bone black and ocher to be ground into pigments for the artist's paints.
Subject
22. Up until that time, only the master had gone to the doctor of
medicine to buy raw materials for his artwork.
Subject 53
23. Griet will soon be asked to buy linseed oil from the
apothecary as well as pig bladders from the butcher to keep valuable
colors of mixed paints from drying out.
Subject
24. She learns to lay out the master's paints each day and to
observe the hole punched in each bladder enabling the artist to
squeeze out small amounts of paint when needed while using a nail
to keep it shut when not in use.
Subject
25. She will soon be able to recognize and to refer to colors by
their proper names such as rich dark ultramarine blue, bright red
vermilion, and earth colors like brown and yellow ocher.
Subject 54
26. From time to time, she will be asked to stand in for the baker's daughter to enable Master Vermeer to check on the progress of his current painting.
Subject
27. While looking out of the studio window at clouds coloring the sky, Griet is taught to develop a keen sense of color.
Subject
28. She is asked to remember the wheel of vegetables cut up for the evening soup in her mother's kitchen so long ago.
Subject
29. "Your turnips and your onions—are they the same white?"
Subject
30. Remembering the hint of green in the turnips and the yellow in the onions, Griet looks out of the window with a thrill of excitement and sees blue, yellow, and green tints in ordinary everyday clouds.
Subject 55
Exercise 4: Locate Subjects and Verbs in Simple Sentences
Directions:
In the sentences that follow, underline the subject in each main clause.
Underline the verb twice.
Write the subject word or words in the first blank space and
the verb word or words in the second blank space.
Example:
In March of 1665, Griet turns seventeen.
Subject Verb 56
1. She finds herself drawn like a magnet to Vermeer's compelling personality.
Subject Verb
2. She now understands his initial use of "false colors" of a red- brownish sort to rough out unpainted sections of a canvas such as a basin and a pitcher before painting over them in hues of yellow, green, blue, and brown to make them look like silver lit up by the sun.
Subject Verb
3. The colors "reflected the pattern of the rug, the girl's bodice, the blue cloth draped over the chair—everything but their true silver color."
Subject Verb 57
4. Johannes Vermeer also has his eyes riveted on Griet's every move and on the attention paid to her by Pieter, the butcher's handsome young son, and by van Ruijven, the lecherous patron of his art.
Subject Verb
5. When showing Griet how to grind a charred stick of ivory into a fine powder by using a smooth stone and the pressure of her wrist to blend the black pigment with a gummy substance, she drops the grinding device on the floor at the touch of his hand upon hers.
Subject Verb
6. Added time spent in the attic above the studio leads to time being taken away from Griet's daily chores involving washing and ironing clothes for the family under the watchful eye of Vermeer's wife, Catharina.
Subject Verb 58
7. And with the wet nurse hired to feed the new baby, Franciscus,
snoring loudly in the bedroom shared with the other maid, there is a need to change Tanneke's sleeping quarters.
Subject Verb
8. Following Vermeer's suggestion of giving Tanneke the cellar storeroom to use as her bedroom, Griet is asked to move out of the cellar and into the attic above the studio making it possible for her
to grind more pigments without being noticed by other members of the household.
Subject Verb
9. Side by side, the artist and his only assistant stand close together grinding pigments, washing colors, and pouring water from a pitcher over each other's hands before scrubbing themselves clean.
Subject Verb 59
10. The warmth of the master's body warms Griet's heart and takes away the chill of cold winter days.
Subject Verb
11. In July, van Ruijven commissions a new painting from Vermeer with his wife looking out toward the painter.
Subject Verb
12. Griet is told about an earlier painting with van Ruijven and one of his kitchen maids, dressed in a red gown belonging to his wife, drinking wine from a perpetually filled wine glass.
Subject Verb
13. The end result was the maid becoming pregnant, losing her job, and having the disgrace and a possible need to care for a newborn child born out of wedlock.
Subject Verb 60
14. Johannes Vermeer tells Griet about the spiritual quality of paintings like his honoring simple everyday things such as a table or a chair, a bowl and a pitcher, or a soldier and a maid.
Subject Verb
15. "...are they not celebrating God's creation as well?"
Subject Verb
16. In October, van Ruijven is ready to commission still another painting from Vermeer this time with Griet, "the wide-eyed maid," included in the portrait together with him posed as a musician playing a lute.
Subject Verb
17. The women selling apples at Market Square begin to spread rumors initiated by van Ruijven's cook about Griet and van Ruijven being the proposed subjects of Master Vermeer's newest painting.
Subject Verb 61
18. But the painting of The Concert has already been started with van Ruijven, his seventeen-year-old daughter, and his sister being portrayed as a trio of musical performers.
Subject Verb
19. Vermeer is able to prevent Griet from being in that setting by promising van Ruijven to paint her portrait for him as a separate commission.
Subject Verb
20. Asking her to sit in a chair and look out of the window before turning to look at him, Vermeer makes his intention of painting Griet crystal clear to her.
Subject Verb
21. On a cold day in January of 1666, Vermeer is ready to begin painting in earnest.
Subject Verb 62
22. Griet is asked to come up to the studio to try out various poses and activities in order for the master to select the most suitable one.
Subject Verb
23. Will she be painted doing a maid's usual activities such as hauling water from the canal, repairing worn clothing, cleaning and polishing windowpanes, or standing up and holding a mop in her hand?
Subject Verb
24. "I will not paint you with a mop in your hand."
Subject Verb
25. She is finally asked to sit in a chair with her body turned in the direction of the window and her head facing him with light from the sun falling on her face.
Subject Verb 63
26. Gazing into Vermeer's soft grey eyes for long periods of time causes her to feel a ripple of heat passing through her body.
Subject Verb
27. Rejecting satins and furs as the type of clothing worn by a lady, Griet is persuaded to remove her white cap and to wrap a narrow band of blue cloth around her head, hiding her hair but revealing the line of her check and one exposed earlobe.
Subject Verb
28. A yellow cloth with a blue border is then wrapped around the crown of her head with its end coming apart quite by accident and hanging gracefully below her left shoulder.
Subject Verb
29. The portrait of Griet is painted against a flat black background with no distracting elements such as a strand of pearls, a lady's face-powder brush, or a pearl encrusted jewelry box.
Subject Verb 64
30. And yet a spot of bright light like that reflected in the pearl earrings worn by Vermeer's wife is needed to catch the eye of the viewer.
Subject Verb
31. Vermeer asks Griet to wet her lips and part them slightly and to make an arrangement to pierce her own ear.
Subject Verb
32. She buys a small bottle of imported clove oil from the apothecary to dull the pain and with a sewing needle pierces her left ear bringing about a throbbing pain and a red, swollen, and infected ear.
Subject Verb
33. On the afternoon of Griet’s eighteenth birthday, Maria Thin,
Vermeer's mother-in-law, places Catharina's two silvery grey pearl earrings shaped like teardrops in one of her hands before sending her up to the studio for the final sitting.
Subject Verb 65
34. At Griet's request, Vermeer himself guides the earring through her swollen earlobe and with his fingers gently caresses her neck and the side of her face before wiping the tears from her eyes and running his thumb across her tear stained lower lip.
Subject Verb
35. After piercing the other ear right then and there with a dab of clove oil to dull the pain, Griet is asked to put on the earring for the other ear.
Subject Verb
36. And in that one final sitting, the painting is finished and ready to be delivered to van Ruijven’s household perhaps on that very day.
Subject Verb 66
37. Quite unexpectedly, the artist's daughter Cornelia, no friend to
Griet, persuades Catharina, now eight months pregnant with her seventh child, to climb the stairs in order to enter her father's studio.
Subject Verb
38. Shrieking with rage at the sight of her pearl earring worn by
Griet in the finished portrait, Catharina accuses her of theft and grabbing a palette knife makes an unsuccessful effort to stab the canvas and destroy the artwork.
Subject Verb
39. Griet leaves the Vermeer household and goes to stand in the center of the eight-pointed star at the entrance to Market Square before walking along the edge of one of its points and resigning herself to become the wife of Pieter, the butcher's son.
Subject Verb 67
40. Ten years later, she is asked to return to Maria Thins' home for
one last time to receive a gift willed to her at the time of the artist's death two months earlier.
Subject Verb
41. Vermeer's son, Franciscus, recognizes Griet from his father's painting borrowed from van Ruijvin's daughter at the artist's request for him to look at with thoughts known best to himself just prior to his death.
Subject Verb
42. The smooth silver-grey pearl earrings with their bright points of white light are placed in her hands by a reluctant widow, Catharina
Vermeer.
Subject Verb
43. "He asked that you have these."
Subject Verb 68
44. Griet takes the earrings to a pawn shop, receives twenty guilders for them, and gives fifteen of them to her husband Pieter to settle a long overdue debt for meat purchased by the Vermeer family more than a decade ago.
Subject Verb
45. With Vermeer's death, there is an end to thoughts about fur trimmed satin mantles and earrings worn by ladies as well as the desire to look at paintings of beautiful women trapped in the artist's world.
Subject Verb
46. And with five guilders hidden away never to be seen or spent are memories of grinding colored pigments, feeling the warmth of
Master Vermeer's body while working at his side, and gazing into his soft grey eyes ignited by an unspoken passion preserved forever in his painting called Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Subject Verb 69
The Need to Change Reading Habits
Do not subscribe to the “close your eyes” method.
Do not buy the “If I don’t know what it means, it must not
be important” method.
The Beginning of a Lifelong Habit That Works:
Circle any word you cannot accurately define.
Arrow it to the margin.
Look in the glossary in the back of the book.
Read the definition the first time to get a basic understanding of what the word means.
Read it again.
Try to condense a short but accurate definition.
Write the condensed definition alongside of the circled word.
Reread the sentence again before you go to the next example. 70 71
The Phrase
A phrase differs from a clause.
It does not contain a complete subject and a complete verb.
1. It may have a complete subject and no verb.
Example:
In Vermeer's painting of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, a young
girl on the verge of womanhood.
2. It may have no subject and a complete verb.
Example:
Is seen with a white collar on top of her light brown jacket, a
blue headwrap and a yellow turban with a blue border at its
hemline on top of her head. 72
3. It may have a complete subject and a half verb.
Example:
And her lips slightly parted. 1/2
4. It may have no subject and a half verb.
Example:
Hinting at a possible desire on her part to tell the world. 1/2 1/2
5. It may have no subject and no verb.
Example:
About her unspoken love for the artist. 73
A Phrase Versus a Clause
A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a complete subject and a complete verb.
To see the difference between a clause of any kind and a phrase of any kind, look at the following diagrams.
A clause always has a complete subject and a complete verb.
S V 1 subject and 1 verb
(S) V an implied subject (command form) and 1 verb
SSS VVV more than 1 subject and more than 1 verb
SSS V more than 1 subject and only 1 verb
S VVV only 1 subject and more than 1 verb
V S 1 verb (an inversion) and 1 subject
A phrase is always missing something.
S — a complete subject and no verb
— V no subject and a complete verb
S 1/2 a complete subject and a half verb
— 1/2 no subject and a half verb
— — no subject and no verb 74
A fragment is less than 1 main clause.
The 5 preceding examples contain 5 fragments.
This problem can be eliminated by combining them into one unit
and revising the punctuation.
Example:
In Vermeer's painting of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, a
young girl on the verge of womanhood is seen with a white collar
on top of her light brown jacket, a blue headwrap and a yellow
turban with a blue border at its hemline on top of her head, and
her lips slightly parted, hinting at a possible desire on her part to
tell the world about her unspoken love for the artist.
In the revised example:
The subject is .
The verb is .
How many clauses are there? .
You have what type of a sentence? .
A reminder: All sentences are determined by the number and
type of clauses they contain. 75
Prepositional Phrases
Definition:
Prepositional phrases
- begin with a preposition
- end with a noun or pronoun object
Function:
Prepositional phrases are modifiers.
They provide extra information in a sentence.
They answer the questions:
who, how, when, where, why, and what.
Consider the following sentence.
Example:
Johannes Vermeer painted.
There is a complete subject and a complete verb.
It is a main clause.
It forms a Simple Sentence. 76
An easy way to tell you more about how Vermeer painted is to add prepositional phrases that answer a wide variety of questions.
Example:
(Due to the artist's desire) (for very realistic detail) (in his art-
work), Johannes Vermeer painted images (with the aid) (of a de-
vice) called a camera obscura to look closely (at the exact tex-
ture) (of an ordinary item) (like a partially eaten bread roll) left
over (from a recent meal).
Remember:
A sentence is determined by the number and type of clauses it contains. 1 main clause + 9 prepositional phrases add up
to just 1 Simple Sentence. 77
Common Single Word Prepositions
Here is a partial list of common prepositions that will be useful to you in identifying common modifying phrases.
about but onto above by outside across despite over after down past against during since along except through among for throughout around from to as in towards at inside under before into until behind like up below near upon beneath of with beside off within between on without beyond 78
Group Prepositions
Here is a partial list of group prepositions that will also
function in modifying phrases.
according to due to inside of ahead of except for in spite of as for exclusive of instead of as to for the sake of on account of as well as in accordance with out of aside from in addition to rather than because of in favor of together with by means of in front of with reference to by way of in place of with the exception of contrary to 79
Developing a Memory System
Option A:
Consider an actor's secret.
1. Make a cue card or a "cheat sheet."
2. Head a 3” x 5" card with the word, Prepositions, on 1 side
and the words, Group Prepositions on the other side.
3. The prepositions are arranged alphabetically from A to W.
4. Make vertical columns for each letter that contains
prepositions.
5. Go back to A.
Count the number of prepositions that begin with A.
Then, do the same for the letter B.
6. Read the words on the single word preposition list in
5 minute pockets of time that you have during the day.
7. Before you go to sleep at night, read the list of single
word prepositions over several times before you go to sleep.
8. Your mind will process the prepositions for you while you are
sleeping. 80
9. The next morning, close your book, and work with the
"cheat sheet."
10. Write out all of the prepositions that you can think of that
begin with the letter A.
Then, go on to the letter B.
11. Do not do this!
about, across,...up,...along,...with.
12. When you run out of A's that you can remember, keep
yourself in an alphabetical processing mode.
Go on to the letter B.
13. Repeat the same process when you start to memorize
group prepositions. 81
Memory Facts
Many people forget up to 86% of what they have learned
in two weeks' time if newly processed material is not
constantly reinforced.
Option B:
1. Read all of the new information including the definition of
a phrase versus a clause, the definition and function of a
prepositional phrase, the single word prepositions, and the
group prepositions into a tape recorder.
2. Then, listen to your grammar cassette review tape on a very
regular basis for the duration of the term. 82 83
Analyzing the Function of Prepositional Phrases
Examine the following sentence.
Example:
The stark black background (behind the young woman)
pushes her forward (into the viewer's space) (with the whites)
(of her eyes), the white collar (around her neck), and the even
brighter reflected white light (from the pearl earring) serving to
pull the viewer (into Vermeer's composition) to make her seem
larger than life.
The subject is .
The verb is .
What kind of clause do you see? .
What type of sentence is this? . 84
A sentence can end with a preposition.
Sometimes, it has to in order to make sense.
Example:
Until the last decade of the past century, many of the
admirers of this particular artwork did not have the opportunity to
take a trip to Holland to see the original painting and had only the
version put out in art books to rely on.
Note: In the preceding example, to take is not identified as a preposition.
To—plus a noun or pronoun creates a prepositional phrase.
Example: [a prepositional phrase]
(to Holland)
To—directly followed by a verb plus a noun or pronoun object creates a verb or (infinitive) phrase.
Example: [verb phrases]
(to take a trip)
(to see the original painting) 85
You can also have an implied preposition.
It will be the word—of.
Example:
Before the painting was restored in 1994, all the color
reproductions of it show the pearl earring with not one but
two reflective spots of white light with the second one
appearing under the larger one over to the right.
The subject is .
The verb is .
What kind of clause do you see? .
What type of sentence is this? .
The implied prepositional phrase is
. 86
A prepositional phrase can begin with a group preposition which has more than 1 word acting as a preposition.
Example:
(According to Martin Bailey), (in spite of the inaccurate
second highlight) appearing as a result of the restoration in 1882
(because of a flake) of paint coming loose from the earring and
becoming reattached to the lower part of it quite by chance, (due
to its identification) as a genuine Vermeer, the painting was sold
at an auction for two and a half guilders, an amount of money
worth a little more than one dollar in today's currency.
There are also prepositional phrases in this sentence that begin with single word prepositions.
Some examples are:
______
______
______87
A prepositional phrase is usually not the subject of a
sentence.
Here is a somewhat "rare" exception that breaks that rule.
Example:
"(Because of the essence) (of love) trapped (inside of
Griet's eyes) (for all eternity)" was heard by one viewer at a
recent exhibition with regard to a comment made about the
timeless quality of this image brought forth from layers of paint
by the hands of a master artist.
The subject is .
The verb is .
What kind of clause do you see? .
What type of sentence is this? .
In this case, the prepositional phrases (Because of the essence) (of love) (inside of Griet's eyes) and (for all eternity) make up the comment overheard by the viewer at an art exhibition.
They function as the subject of the sentence. 88
To review:
To—plus a noun or pronoun creates a prepositional phrase.
Examples:
(to the lower part)
(with regard to a comment)
To—directly followed by a verb plus a noun or pronoun object creates a verb or (infinitive) phrase.
Examples:
(to pull the viewer)
(to make her seem larger than life)
Note: You can also have an implied preposition.
It will be the word—of.
Example:
...all (the color reproductions) of this painting show the pearl
earring...
...all (of the color reproductions) of this painting show the pearl
earring... 89
Exercise 5: Locating Prepositional Phrases
Directions:
Underline the subject and verb of each main clause.
Put parentheses around each prepositional phrase.
On the lines that follow, write each one out.
In the space to the right, indicate which question it answers.
Example:
One (of the paintings) mentioned (in Tracy Chevalier's novel)
is called The Milkmaid.
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
Note:
In 16 sentences, I am expecting you to find 59 prepositional
phrases. 90
1. The family's maid, Tanneke Everpoel, is shown wearing a white milkmaid's cap on her head and a blue apron tucked into the waistband of her red skirt.
2. One of her household tasks is to pour a steady stream of thick rich milk from a ceramic pitcher into a two-handled earthenware bowl.
3. On a table in front of the bowl, the viewer sees a basket containing a loaf or two of freshly baked unsliced bread.
4. Next to a blue tablecloth hanging in casual folds at the edge of the table, there are crisp and enticing realistically textured bread rolls.
5. But their appearance is deceptively simple.
Note:
If a word acts as the subject of a clause, it will not be the
object of a prepositional phrase. 91
6. For those particular bread rolls are rendered with three distinct layers of paint.
7. A recent X-ray analysis of Vermeer's painting shows a thick layer of lead white paint used for the underpainting of the canvas.
8. The next layer of paint reveals a coat of a thin reddish glaze, referred to by Griet as 'false colors,' allowing particles of the original white paint to poke through to the surface at various intervals.
9. On the top layer, highlights of white and yellow paint have been added by the artist to give those bread rolls a mouthwatering appearance.
10. At the base of Vermeer's painting and off to one side, there is a wooden box with holes on the top side of it.
11. But it is not an ordinary box.
12. Inside of it, there is a small bowl.
13. On a cold winter's day, hot coals from the fireplace will be placed inside the bowl to send heat through the surface of the
wooden hole-covered box lid. 92
14. The box will then be placed on the floor under someone's feet to serve as a foot warmer.
15. Next to the baseboard above the kitchen floor, the artist painted a series of blue and white Delft tiles showing individual figures carrying the tools of their trade and honoring the tilemakers engaged in the production of one of Holland's most cherished products.
16. In 1975, continuing the tradition of one artist paying tribute
to another artist's work, Wim T. Schippers carved a three- dimensional life-sized version of The Milkmaid out of wood for the city of Delft to mark the three hundredth anniversary of
Vermeer's death.
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. 93
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22. 94
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39. 95
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56. 96
Prepositional Phrases Question Answered
57.
58.
59. 97
More Practice on Identifying Prepositional Phrases and Their Function
Excerpts: “Tracy Chevalier: Interview.” by Gavin J. Grant.
...I'm sitting in my office, and [Vermeer's painting, Girl
with a Pearl Earring] is hanging right in front of me. My sister had a poster of the painting. When I was 19, I visited her in Boston, and I saw it and loved it so much. I'd never seen it before, so I went out and got one for myself. I've carried it with me wherever
I go. It's always hung wherever I've lived, usually in the bedroom, but now, she's in the office.... It's the same poster; it's
really faded and old.
There was an exhibition of Vermeer in 1995-1996 in The
Hague, and I thought, "Maybe now's the time to renew the poster." So I got a new one. I put it up, but it just looked so clean and dark and spanking new. I couldn't do it. I took it down and put the old one back up. I like the old fadedness of it. It's not framed nicely; it's in those white plastic things that you push along the edges [with] a string to hang it. Maybe I ought to do 98 something in honor of it, but maybe that would kind of ruin it if I had it nicely framed.
...I started researching by reading all of the catalog for the
1996 Exhibition at The Hague. When I research a historical novel, it's a combination of research and writing at the same time because sometimes, you don't really know what your questions are until you've started writing a bit. So I researched a bit; then,
I wrote a bit. Then, I researched a lot, and that's when I went to
Delft.
I spent four days in Delft, a couple of days in Amsterdam, and also The Hague where the painting [that inspired the novel] is in a museum. There are a lot of 17th-century buildings still left in Delft, and the structure of the town is still 17th-century based.
It's built around a market square, the canal system, and bridges.
There are a lot of 17th-century houses around, but there's a lot of the 20th century there: a lot of cars and signs and stuff. You really have to squint to get past that, but you do get a sense of
[the older city] by being there. You pick up a lot when you go to a 99 place. For instance, in Girl with a Pearl Earring, I didn't know that
there was that eight-pointed star in the middle of the market square,
and I saw it when I was walking around and thought,
"That's interesting," but [I] didn't think much more [about] it.
Later on, it wove its way into the novel. Things like that you don't
really know until you get there. I'm not one of these people
[who] plots every single detail out beforehand. It's a combination
of knowing where I'm going, knowing what the big moments are,
but also the spontaneity of the daily writing. 100 101
The Complex Sentence
Definition:
A Complex Sentence contains 1 main or independent clause and at least 1 subordinate or dependent clause.
A dependent clause contains:
a complete subject
a complete verb
a subordinate connective
Note:
A dependent clause is preceded by a subordinate connective
100% of the time.
Function:
A dependent clause presents secondary less important
information.
It controls reader focus. 102
Subordinate Connectives
Here is a list of subordinate connectives which must be memorized.
A after, although, as, as if
B because, before
H how
I if, in order that
L like
S since, so that
T than, that
U unless, until
W what, when, where, whereas, whether, which, while, who, why 103
Recognizing, Eliminating, or Correcting the Dependent Clause Fragment
1. When a dependent clause stands alone, it creates a fragment.
2. A fragment is less than 1 main clause.
3. The fragment is a major error that an academic writer should avoid.
Example:
On a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, when a
tiny pitcher made of yellow-green glass caught the eye of the
author, Susan Vreeland.
The fragment can be avoided.
Eliminate the subordinate connective.
Example:
On a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a tiny
pitcher made of yellow-green glass caught the eye of the author,
Susan Vreeland. 104
Or you can add the dependent clause to a main clause.
You will create a Complex Sentence.
Example:
On a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, when a
tiny pitcher made of yellow-green glass caught the eye of the
author, Susan Vreeland, her mind raced back across time to
thoughts about a different time and a different place.
Caution:
Some subordinate connectives double function as
prepositions.
Although they are both modifiers, it is easy to distinguish
one from the other. 105
A Subordinate Connective Versus a Preposition
A dependent clause will always contain a subordinate connective that is followed by a complete subject and a complete verb.
Example:
Before that tiny artifact was put behind glass to keep it from
being touched, it was created by a Phoenician glassmaker to be
used as a container for medicine.
A prepositional phrase will begin with a preposition that is followed by a noun or pronoun object.
Example:
Nineteen hundred years earlier, the item now before her
might have been held by a mother in order to pour a drop or two
of soothing liquid onto a sick child's tongue to ease some
unknown pain. 106
Turn to the list of single word prepositions on page 77.
Highlight the following words:
after as before like since to until
The highlights mean "Watch out!"
To—followed by a noun or pronoun creates a prepositional
phrase.
(to the Los Angeles County Museum)
(to thoughts)
To—directly followed by a verb plus a noun or pronoun object
creates a verb or (infinitive) phrase.
(to keep it) 1/2
(to ease some unknown pain) 1/2 107
The words:
after as before like since until
may be prepositions or subordinate connectives.
like (used as a preposition)
Drawn to other thoughts like a magnet, Susan Vreeland
imagines a glassblower working in his studio under the scorching
heat of the midday sun while fashioning the pitcher with its long
curving spout inspired perhaps by the shape of an animal seen
earlier that day.
like (used as a subordinate connective)
While creating a beautiful object for a useful purpose, he
could not have imagined that countless hands would have
touched it like the hands of the Phoenician mother had
touched it before it was confined to an exhibition space. 108 109
Punctuating the Complex Sentence
A dependent clause preceding a main clause has a pause.
A comma is needed to separate the 2 clauses.
Example: [D, M]
Although the life of a craftsman covers a brief span of time,
a work of art created with his hands and his heart can take on a
life of its own and exist for many years after its maker's death.
A dependent clause following a main clause has no pause.
Therefore, no punctuation is needed to separate them.
Example: [M D]
Our author thinks about a humble pot made by an unknown
potter from Pompeii buried under mounds of volcanic ash
following a volcanic eruption occurring almost two thousand years
ago and now put on display so that others can be moved by its
presence. 110
Additional Examples:
A dependent clause preceding a main clause has a pause.
A comma is needed to separate the 2 clauses.
Example:
Before she writes, she needs something to say.
A dependent clause following a main clause has no pause.
Therefore, no punctuation is needed to separate them.
Example:
She needs something to say before she writes.
In general, when a dependent clause comes in the middle of a main clause, there are commas (or pauses) on both sides. 111
Example: [M, D,]
She decides to write a book, which she will base on a painting by Vermeer, in order to give life to stories created in her mind's eye about an artwork withstanding the test of time.
Note:
In this case, the dependent clause is non-restrictive.
It is a renamer with non-essential information.
A further breakdown of that concept:
Susan Vreeland begins her task.
Susan Vreeland, the author, begins her task.
Susan Vreeland, who is an author, begins her task.
Note:
Who is a pronoun.
It is a stand-in for Susan Vreeland.
It is the subject and the subordinate connective for the dependent clause. 112
An additional example:
The novelist stepping into the world of a Vermeer canvas,
which the artist himself never commented on, must imagine her
way into that Dutch painting.
Sometimes, a dependent clause in the middle of a main clause is restrictive.
It contains information that is essential to the meaning of the
main clause.
In that case, no commas will be used.
Example: [M D]
To participate in her creative vision, all that you have to do
is to read her novel called Girl in Hyacinth Blue.
An additional example:
Something that you must be willing to embrace is a world
brought to life by words on a page. 113
Caution:
You cannot hedge your bet.
If a dependent clause is inside of a main clause, you must
have 2 commas or none at all. 114
To summarize:
1. A Complex Sentence contains 1 main clause and
1 or more dependent clauses.
2. It is abbreviated as CX.
3. It will be punctuated in the following way.
D, M When a dependent clause precedes a main clause, there is a pause. There is a comma.
M D When a dependent clause follows a main clause, there is no pause. There is no comma.
M, D, When a dependent clause comes in the middle of a main clause, it can be non- restrictive, non-essential information. Often, it is a renamer. There are commas on both sides.
M D When a dependent clause comes in the middle of a main clause and is restrictive or necessary to the meaning of the main clause, there are no commas. 115
Some words double function as subordinate connectives and relative pronouns in a dependent clause:
That, what, which, and who are subordinate connectives.
They are also relative pronouns.
They often double function as the subject and the subordinate connective in a dependent clause.
Example:
A. Susan thought about her childhood and the time that was
spent watching a blank white sheet of textured watercolor paper
put forth a recognizable image after using a jar of water, a brush,
and a palette of tiny dried cakes of colored paint.
Example:
B. The memory of her great grandfather from England living in
America, painting his newly adopted homeland, and teaching a
nine-year-old child how to mix colors was what stood out in her
mind. 116
Example:
C. She could still feel the pressure of his large hand which
surrounded her tiny one guiding her brushstrokes across the
surface of the paper and producing a painted calla lily as if by
magic.
Example:
D. She felt lucky to have a great grandfather who encouraged
her to spend her time painting beautiful images rather than doing
ordinary household chores like washing or mending clothes.
Caution:
Remember that words like that, what, which, and who may
double function as both the subject and the subordinate
connective in a dependent clause.
However, they will not always function in both capacities. 117
In the following example, that functions as an adjective or a noun-modifier.
It is not a subordinate connective or a relative pronoun.
Example:
She remembered taking a trip to Holland some twenty years
earlier and passing through that quaint little village with the
same Dutch name as hers called Vreeland.
In the next example, that functions as the subject of a main clause.
It is a pronoun.
It is not acting as a subordinate connective.
Example:
That revived memories about her own Dutch heritage and
her ethnic connection to Dutch artists like Vermeer. 118
In the next example, that functions only as a subordinate
connective in the dependent clause.
Example:
She remembered a painted image that she had seen of a
young Dutch girl wearing an orange skirt billowing out behind her
as she crouched down in front of a freshly swept sidewalk.
In the next example, that double functions as a subordinate connective.
It is also the subject of the dependent clause.
Example:
Had she been born and raised in Holland, she felt that could
have been an image of her living in another age. 119
In the final example, the word who also double functions as
the subordinate connective and the subject of a dependent
clause.
Example:
As seen through Susan Vreeland's eyes, "It was Vermeer
who gave me my heritage."
Note:
That and which are used to refer to animals and things.
Who is generally used to refer to people.
To summarize:
That, what, which, and who may double function as both
the subject and the subordinate connective in a
dependent clause.
However, they will not always function in both capacities. 120
Note:
Some Complex Sentences have an implied subordinate which the reader must learn to recognize.
The implied subordinate is usually the word that or who.
Examples:
A. Feeling very Dutch, she thought it was a good time for her
to explore Dutch history as well as Dutch art.
B. She knew she was very lucky to have survived two years
of cancer treatment.
The subordinate connective may be stated or implied.
An implied subordinate can appear without a warning. 121
Example:
The moment she felt a connection between her personal
survival and that of Vermeer's paintings, she decided to take
advantage of her library card and her solitude by imagining her
way out of her "uncertain circumstances" and "into Dutch
paintings."
The implied subordinate connective can also be who or whom.
Example: [ an implied who or whom]
All the brave Dutchmen she had read about spending much
of their time preventing flood swelled canals from destroying the
sunken lowlands of her ancestors were her kinsmen. 122
Note:
Who is a subject word like he, she, or they.
Whom is an object word like him, her, or them.
1. Go to the part of the sentence where you would need to
choose who or whom.
2. Turn that part of the sentence into a question.
3. Then, answer the question.
Example:
[Question]
[Who or whom] had she read about?
[Answer]
She had read about the brave Dutchmen.
She had read about them.
So:
..., whom she had read about,... 123
Another Example: [ an implied who or whom]
However, the Dutch woman she saw admiring a necklace bought for her by her husband, a ship's captain, making his living by "trading in African souls" was also her kinswoman.
Example:
[Question]
[Who or whom] did she see admiring a necklace?
[Answer]
She saw the Dutch woman admiring a necklace.
So:
...who she saw admiring a necklace... 124
To summarize:
In deciding whether to use who or whom:
1 Go to the "who" or “whom” word in the sentence.
2 Ignore all of the words that come before it.
3 Rephrase the remaining words as a question.
4 Answer it with a complete sentence.
5 Use a subject pronoun: he, she, or they
or an object pronoun: him, her, or them.
6 Choose the word who or whom that corresponds to the
pronoun in your answer. 125
Complex Sentence Variations
A single subordinate connective can make more than 1 clause dependent.
The coordinate connectives - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and
so [Fan Boys] connect equal parts of a sentence.
So at the beginning of a sentence, if the first clause is dependent and if a coordinate connective is used to connect it to the second clause, both clauses will be dependent.
It will be a double dependent clause fragment.
Consider the following examples.
Example: [A double dependent clause fragment]
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration and she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling. [;] 126
Example: [A triple dependent clause fragment]
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration and she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling and she suffered from "ethnic
blandness." [;]
Example: [A quadruple dependent clause fragment]
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration and she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling and she suffered from "ethnic
blandness" and she did not have a background rich in place or
history. [;] 127
Let's go back to the first example:
Example: [A double dependent clause fragment]
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration and she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling. [;]
To prevent a fragment [which is less than 1 main clause]:
Eliminate the coordinate connective [and].
Revise your punctuation.
Form a Complex Sentence.
Example:
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration, she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling.
In this version, the coordinate connective [and] has been
eliminated.
The punctuation has been revised. 128
Or retain both dependent clauses.
Add a main clause.
And form a Complex Sentence.
Example:
Before mining this rich vein of Dutch history, while she
envied the ability of others to look into their own growing up
experiences for inspiration and she did not have "a ready-made
family story" worth telling, she suffered from "ethnic blandness."
In this version, both dependent clauses have been
retained.
And a main clause has been added to form a Complex
Sentence.
In a Complex Sentence, this situation usually occurs at the
beginning of a sentence.
A dependent clause can function as the subject of a main
clause. 129
Examples:
1. That she and Vermeer both shared a fondness for objects associated with domestic life strengthened her ethnic “cords of connection.”
2. What they had in common was clear.
3. "That a thing made by hand, the work and thought of a single craftsman, can endure much longer than its maker, through centuries in fact, can survive natural catastrophe, neglect, and even mistreatment, has always filled me with wonder." 130
2 subordinates side by side, not normally paired, means 2
dependent clauses, one inside the other.
Example:
A friend felt that if she dug down deeper into her ethnic
past, she would find several stories to tell.
The subordinate if controls dependent clause #1.
The subordinate that controls dependent clause #2.
Dependent clause #1 is not a renamer.
There will only be 1 comma or pause separating the 2
dependent clauses. 131
Note:
This sentence can be written 2 different ways.
Examples:
1. If she dug down deeper into her ethnic past, a friend felt
that she would find several stories to tell.
2. A friend felt that she would find several stories to tell if she
dug down deeper into her ethnic past.
Note:
The subordinate connective [that] can also be implied.
Example:
If she dug down deeper into her ethnic past, a friend felt
she would find several stories to tell. 132 133
A Supplementary Punctuation Rule for the Complex Sentence
In a single Complex Sentence,
you can have dependent clauses
in front of the main clause,
in the middle of the main clause,
and following the main clause.
Example:
Since she felt that she had the freedom to add objects stemming from her own creative impulses such as "a glass of milk left by a sickly child, a sewing basket, [and] a young girl's new black shoes with square gold buckles, "she was ready to create a "Vermeer,"
that she would call Girl in Hyacinth Blue, and to trace the journey of that painting which started in the twentieth century and be- cause of its life in the homes and hearts of those who possessed it
for varying periods of time would finally meander back to its source
in the village of Delft,* where the man who painted it and the woman whom he used as his model would have the last words and
thoughts to share with those of us readers who followed its trip
back through all of those layers of time. 134
*Note:
When you have several dependent clauses in a row, you may
want an extra pause.
Place a comma between dependent clauses where there is
least disruption of meaning.
A Reminder:
All sentences are determined by the number and type of clauses they contain.
With 1 main clause and 9 dependent clauses, you still have
just 1 Complex Sentence. 135
Exercise 6: Locate Subjects and Verbs in Complex Sentences
Directions:
1. In each sentence, underline the subject with one line and the verb with two lines.
2. There will be subject/verb combinations in main and dependent clauses.
3. There can be an implied subordinate connective.
4. That, what, which, and who are relative pronouns and subordinate connectives.
5. They can double function as the subject and subordinator of a dependent clause.
6. Circle the subordinate connectives.
7. And write them down in the blank spaces to the right. 136
Example:
Partway through this journey, you will need to stop and read
the book to uncover the final decades and see why a young
scholar gives up a newborn son, why Vermeer decides to paint his
daughter, and why Magdalena is fascinated by rounds of cheese
that are sold in Market Square.
Subordinates
1. Track your clauses.
2. Do a progressive drawing.
3. Then, do a clause tabulation for each example.
4. See that you have the right number and type of clauses to form a Complex Sentence. [CX]
5. Run a punctuation check on each example. 137
1. At the end of the last century, on a snowy winter day, after he got back from a funeral for a fellow teacher and he recalled his dying father's last words, Cornelius Engelbrecht, a solitary math instructor, asked a colleague to stop by his home.
2. He wanted the man, a professor of art, to confirm that his painting of "a young girl sewing at a window" was a genuine unauthenticated work by Vermeer before he cut it out of its frame with the intention of burning it in his fireplace.
3. Knowing that his German father, Lieutenant Otto
Engelbrecht, had stolen it from a Jewish household in Amsterdam on August 6, 1942 after a midnight raid when a boy hidden under tablecloths was kicked out and herded to a train deporting
Jews to Westerbork, his guilt by association kept him from enjoying the girl in the painting who, in his father's words, had
"an eye like a blue pearl."
4. After peeling back a layer of time as you would peel back the skin of an onion, the reader is placed inside of that Jewish home where the painting of the young girl looking out of her window hung before the onset of that Black Thursday Raid. 138
5. Sol Vredenburg bought it for his daughter Hannah two years earlier just prior to her eleventh birthday when he put in the highest bid at an auction that was meant to aid poor Jewish refugees.
6. Now, his diamond selling business was over whereas the carrier pigeons, housed in a coop above the attic, that formerly carried diamonds in small cannisters around their necks from
Hannah's father in Amsterdam to his partner in Antwerp, were not allowed to be owned by Jews and were about to be killed.
7. Hannah watched her mother clean house and prepare for the
Passover dinner and thought about the quiet girl in the painting who had unspoken desires like she did but who did not have to come up with answers for a nine-year-old brother like Tobiah who wanted to know why one side of a leaf had twenty-four spikes while the other side of it only had twenty two. 139
8. Knowing it was just days before they would be herded out of their house wearing yellow stars sewn onto their garments to mark them as Jews, she spared her young brother the anguish of seeing his pet pigeons die by going up to the attic and strangling each one before joining her family for their last Seder dinner.
9. In the next chapter, another layer of time is peeled back bringing the reader into the village of Vreeland where a husband and his wife are walking several steps behind their daughter,
Johanna, who has broken with family tradition by announcing her marriage to Fritz and her intention of moving to Amsterdam without having asked for her parents' consent.
10. Johanna's mother is thinking about a wedding gift that will be a constant reminder of her family life which is proving to be difficult because she does not want to give the young couple something as ordinary as a broom and a butter churn. 140
11. After settling on the perfect gift, the painting she calls Girl
With a Sewing Basket, her husband objects because he bought it for her on an anniversary although it reminded him of an earlier love, Tanneke, who once held the palm of her hand up waiting to be kissed just as the girl does in the unsigned painting by
Vermeer.
12. Stung by jealousy about the unknown rival, Digna stitches a sampler with words that prohibit all mention of past memories while her husband gets ready to part with the painting that has served him as a constant reminder of the woman he met and lost decades earlier in 1874 when his job was pumping water out of
Vreeland's water drenched soil.
13. Going back a hundred years earlier to the 1790's when
Napoleon had conquered Holland, we see the same painting hung in the drawing room of a mansion rented by a tax collector from
France by the name of Gerard whose disenchanted wife Claudine tells us about her life in The Hague. 141
14. Having been forced to marry a man of her father's choosing, she is not sure about what love is but is drawn like a moth to a light to a violinist, Monsieur le C—, who agrees to give a concert at her home for a few members of the former Dutch nobility.
15. After the concert, she lures the musician into the drawing room to show him the one Dutch object she values which is the painting of the girl wearing a hyacinth blue smock that was bought at an auction in Amsterdam by her husband who has papers proving it to be a genuine work by Jan van der Meer.
16. Before a passionate intrigue can be carried out, a noise in the room causes her to stop and light a match which reveals her husband, a known womanizer, who is about to engage in a similar intrigue with the Countess Maurits.
17. The scandal that will spread throughout The Hague causes her to wrap the small painting in muslin without its papers and sell it to an art dealer who gives her enough money to leave her husband, hire a carriage, and return to her home in France. 142
18. After taking a final look at the expression in the eyes of the girl in the painting, she realizes that this young woman would have known what love was and that she would have been willing to follow the man she joined her life with to the ends of the earth when it was time for her to marry.
19. But this was not to be for our narrator, Claudine, who married a man she did not love and was not able to bear him a child which had caused them to grow even further apart.
20. Mourning the loss of the painting that was now "an illegitimate child" because it went out into the world without its certification, she consoled herself with the thought that she would be back in Paris where the newest hairdoes and the latest fashions would feed her desire for elegance if not her desire for love. 143
Fragment Errors
Fragments are major grammatical errors that academic writers should avoid.
The most frequent kinds of fragment errors that occur in
writing include:
the dependent clause fragment
the infinitive phrase fragment
the present and past participle phrase fragment
the prepositional phrase fragment
Phrases can create common fragment errors.
A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a complete subject and a complete verb.
To see the difference between a clause and a phrase, look at the following diagrams. 144
A clause has a complete subject and a complete verb.
S V 1 subject and 1 verb (S) V an implied subject (command form) and 1 verb SSSVVV more than 1 subject and more than 1 verb SSSV more than 1 subject and only 1 verb S VVV only 1 subject and more than 1 verb V S 1 verb (an inversion) and 1 subject
A phrase is always missing something.
S — a complete subject and no verb — V no subject and a complete verb S 1/2 a complete subject and 1/2 verb — 1/2 no subject and 1/2 verb — — no subject and no verb
Note:
A prepositional phrase always begins with a preposition.
Example:
(with regard to the painting's actual origin) 145
A verbal phrase may consist of a complete subject and a half
verb.
Example:
It necessary to peel back more layers of time. S 1/2
Or a verbal phrase may begin with a half verb and end with a noun or pronoun object.
Example:
And (to investigate earlier generations) of the painter's owners. 1/2 object 146 147
Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases
The infinitive construction consists of to + a verb:
to dream, to wonder, to paint. It is only a half verb.
An infinitive phrase that stands alone creates a fragment.
Example A:
Her husband, Stijn, to survey their living space.
Example B:
To take a closer look.
An infinitive phrase will not be a fragment if a helping verb
is added to it.
Example:
Her husband Stijn, a worker at the Damsterdiep Dike,
wanted to survey their living space on the second floor of their
flooded out farmhouse now occupied by food, furniture, a cow,
his wife Saskia, and their two small children, Marta and Piet. 148
An infinitive phrase will not be a fragment if it is added to a
main clause.
Example:
To take a closer look at what was floating by on the river
below their window sill, Saskia squeezed behind a grain sack and
pointed to a dark colored object wrapped inside of a blanket.
A Reminder:
A sentence is determined by the number and type of clauses it contains, not by phrases.
1 main clause + 1 dependent clause + 6 prepositional
phrases + 1 infinitive phrase add up to 1 Complex Sentence. 149
Variant Functions of the Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase can be a noun modifier.
Example:
Stijn got into his boat and handed up the blanket covered
object which when unwrapped revealed a painting to look at and
admire of a beautiful girl looking out of her window.
An infinitive phrase can be a subject in a clause.
Example:
To savor the mystery of this ownerless painting was to
momentarily lose sight of the second God-given object in the boat
which was a basket containing a newborn baby wrapped in its
mother's shawl together with a cabbage leaf for good luck. 150 151
Participles and Participle Phrases
A participle phrase that stands alone creates a fragment.
A participle phrase has an incomplete verb.
When a participle is written in the present tense, it will always
end in -ing. [100%]
When a participle is written in the past tense, the regular
ending will be -ed.
Many past participles have irregular endings.
Note: at least once in the past: catch = catched
A tense change for the verb—ring:
ring present
rang past
rung past participle 152
Some common examples of irregular endings:
—ade —ewn —orn —um —aught —it —ost —ung —eld —old —ound —unk —en —ome —own —ut —ent —one
A participle phrase may contain a subject and a participle.
Example: (present participle)
Saskia looking for some clues about the baby boy's
parents.
Example: (past participle)
A message written on one side of an art document held in
place by a fold in the mother's shawl urging the reader of the
note to sell the painting and feed the child. 153
A participle phrase may have a participle and no subject.
Example: (present participle)
Remembering a man rowing under the window and
asking for some milk.
Example: (past participle)
Stunned by the thought.
A participle phrase will not be a fragment if a helping verb is added to it.
Example: (present participle)
Saskia was looking for some clues about the baby boy's
parents. 154
Example: (past participle)
A message was written on one side of an art document held
in place by a fold in the mother's shawl urging the reader of the
note to sell the painting and feed the child.
A participle phrase will not be a fragment if it is added to a main clause.
Example: (present participle)
Remembering a man rowing under the window and asking
for some milk, she wondered if the baby had been his.
Example: (past participle)
Stunned by the thought of anyone abandoning a child, she
turned the art document over, saw the name Jan, the maker of
the painting, and decided to call the nameless baby Little Jan or
Jantje to link the baby's present to his past. 155
Reminders:
A participle phrase that stands alone creates a fragment.
A participle phrase has an incomplete verb.
When a participle is written in the present tense, it will always end in -ing. [100%]
When a participle is written in the past tense, the regular ending will be -ed.
Caution:
Words that end in -ing are not always participles.
A word that ends in -ing can be the subject or (gerund) in a clause.
Example: [an -ing word as the subject of a clause]
Fantasizing was something Saskia enjoyed doing. 156
Example:
[a present participle phrase as the subject of a clause]
Imagining the painting that she called Morningshine to be a
portrait of Jantje's mother as a young girl who was well known for
her sewing skill was well within her grasp.
A word that ends in -ing can sometimes act as an adjective or noun modifier in a sentence.
Example:
Her practical husband Stijn was more interested in the
amount of money that the painting would sell for in the
neighboring town of Groningen which could be used to feed his
family.
Note:
Although there is a present and a past participle verb form, the half verbs do not indicate the tense you are writing in.
The first verb word that follows the subject determines
the tense of the clause. 157
Let's examine the verb—sell.
It has a present participle form—selling.
It has an irregular past participle form—sold.
In the following examples, the present participle—selling—is used in sentences written in the past, present, and future tenses.
Example: [Past Tense]
A trip to Groningen made Saskia aware that Jan van der
Meer's name on the back of the note that she carried was really
another name for Vermeer whose work was selling for more than
eighty Dutch guilders in a big city like Amsterdam.
Example: [Present Tense]
After parting with her prized blue linen table scarf to get
money to buy meat for a stew, she considers selling her small
spice chest in order to keep the painting of the girl with an aching
soul just like hers a bit longer. 158
Example: [Future Tense]
But the day comes when she must go to Amsterdam to see
for herself if the painting will really be selling for more than the
twenty five guilders that was offered to her by the shopkeeper in
Groningen.
In the next three examples, the past participle—sold—is used in sentences written in the past, present, and future tenses.
Example: [Past Tense]
If the painting had been sold to the shopkeeper in
Groningen for twenty-five guilders, that money would have paid
for a sow and a mating hog. 159
Example: [Present Tense]
Stijn tells Saskia that if the painting is sold in Amsterdam
for eighty guilders, she can spend five guilders on a different
painting in spite of her having used the forbidden seed potatoes
reserved for spring planting for potato broth making the sale of
her beloved painting an absolute necessity.
Example: [Future Tense]
When Saskia brings her Morningshine to Amsterdam, she decides that it will be sold for seventy five guilders to an art
dealer who values Vermeer and tells her that the glass
windowpanes look like they have been painted with liquid light. 160 161
Flip-Flop Patterns in Prepositional and Verbal Phrases
You are now familiar with the terms preposition, infinitive, and present and past participles.
So you will start to recognize flip-flop patterns that are common in phrasing.
Examine the following sentence.
Example:
After looking at paintings consisting of kitchen maids
scouring pots and rich people playing musical instruments, she
decides not to buy one and leaves with the intention of
purchasing a tulip bulb for each member of her family and some
fine blue woolen yarn from Leiden having decided on an impulse
to knit woolies for the children, the color of which will serve as a
reminder of the blue colored smock worn by the girl with the
aching soul in a painting that she will never forget. 162
A prepositional phrase may begin with a preposition and have
a verb phrase as its object.
Example A:
(after looking at paintings)
Example B:
(of purchasing a tulip bulb)
A verb phrase may begin with a half verb and have a prepositional phrase acting as its object.
Example A:
(consisting of kitchen maids)
Example B:
(worn by the girl)
A verb phrase may also begin with a half verb and have a verb phrase acting as its object.
Example:
(having decided on an impulse) 163
Exercise 7: Making a Verb Chart
To pick up speed and accuracy in recognizing each type of half verb, use the following chart.
In column 1, list 10 different verbs at random.
In columns 2, 3, and 4, write your chosen verbs as an
infinitive, a present participle, and a past participle.
Use a dictionary to check the accuracy of your answers.
Examples:
verb infinitive present participle past participle
draw to draw drawing drawn
paint to paint painting painted
weave to weave weaving woven
Note:
In these random verb selections,
only paint has a regular past participle- ed ending. 164 verb infinitive present participle past participle
To classify a Fragment Error:
1. Identify a fragment by its dominant structure.
2. A dependent clause + phrases = a dependent clause fragment.
3. Your next best answer is an infinitive or a present or past participle phrase fragment. You will definitely have a 1/2 verb. You may also have a subject.
4. So far, the lowest type of fragment error is the prepositional phrase fragment. It has no subject and no verb. 165
The Compound Sentence
Definition:
The Compound Sentence contains 2 or more main or
(independent) clauses.
The main clauses can be joined with a period (.) It indicates a complete stop.
Example:
John Bayley's novel, The Red Hat, takes the reader to a
crowded room at the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague. The
narrator, Nancy Deverell, looks over heads and under arms of
people standing five feet deep to try to see one of the Vermeer
paintings on display. A Dutch guard with outstretched arms stops
her from going backwards out of the small dingy room. Yet she is
not allowed to walk forward into the next room. The crowd has
not yet been told to move on.
Note:
In a paragraph, it would be possible to argue about whether or not you were looking at 5 Simple Sentences or 1 Compound
Sentence with 5 main clauses. 166
We are currently examining sentence structures in isolation.
Therefore, the preceding example can only be seen as a
Compound Sentence with 5 main clauses that are joined
with a series of periods. 167
The Semicolon
Definition:
Main clauses can be joined with a semicolon. (;)
It indicates a complete stop.
The semicolon may be preferred to the period.
It provides a visual link for main clauses that are closely
related in content.
Example:
Unlike her companions, Cloe and Charles, Nancy is not a
Vermeer worshipper; to her, the woman with a wrestler's arms
tries too hard to coax a thin stream of milk to pour out of a big
stone jug; a pop-eyed slack-jawed woman with a turban and a
pearl earring peers over her shoulder with a vacant stare; in the
most un-Vermeer like painting, a female saint is placed next to a
martyr with a look of astonishment painted on his face for all of
eternity. 168
The semicolon (;) has a secondary function.
It separates complex items in a series.
There may be many items in the series.
Or an individual item may have commas making it difficult to
see where one item stops and another one continues.
Example:
Only The Girl with the Red Hat captures her interest with its
image of the Red Hat girl printed on the entrance ticket for use as
a souvenir bookmark; with its face as much like a girl's as a
boy's; with the bright sparkling eyes; with the pink tinged teeth
looking for all the world like "divine marshmallow”; with the pearl
earring; with the bright red feather covered hat, and with its
striking resemblance to her, noted by Cloe and Charles and by a
tall, dark, handsome man glancing down at the ticket and then up
at Nancy with a startled expression on his face. 169
The Colon
Definition:
A colon (:) is used to begin or end a series of related ideas.
A complete clause must precede or follow the series.
In the following examples, a colon (:) is used to begin or end a series.
Commas are used to separate the items in the series.
Example A:
At the Town Hall's fancy dress dance, Charles, Cloe, and
Nancy will become these Vermeer characters: a cavalier wearing
a tall black hat, the girl holding a wine glass, and the girl with a
red hat.
Example B:
A cavalier wearing a tall black hat, the girl holding a wine
glass, and the girl with a red hat: Charles, Cloe, and Nancy will
become these Vermeer characters at the Town Hall's fancy dress
dance. 170
In the next example, a colon (:) is used to begin a series.
Semicolons (;) are used to separate the items in the series.
Example:
Making a red hat for Nancy Deverell was no easy task: a
dirty grey moth infested hat was purchased from an old crone in
a thrift shop near a canal; before selling it, the woman had to
shake the dust from its feathers; then, Cloe bought red dye from
a chemist's shop, dyed the hat in the bathroom sink, and dried it
with an electric hair dryer; the end result was a spectacular
reincarnation of Vermeer's red hat.
Do not use a colon with a series without a complete clause
before or after the series that calls for a stop.
Example: [Wrong]
To bring Vermeer's Red Hat girl to life, Cloe had: to ask
Nancy to put on a pair of tights, to slip on Charles' blue silk
dressing gown, and to put on the red feathered hat as a final touch. 171
However, you would use a colon here.
Example: [Right]
To bring her own character of the girl with a wine glass to
life, Cloe had to do the following things: turn a white pillowcase
into a hat with hanging wings by reshaping it and adding strings
to tie it under her chin, borrow a large wine glass from the local
bar in the hotel, and create a blank but obliging stare by
practicing in front of her bathroom mirror. 172 173
Coordinate Connectives
Definition:
Main clauses can be joined with a comma and a coordinate
connective.
Example:
Before going to that fancy-dress ball, we must go back to an
earlier evening, and we must observe Cloe, Charles, and Nancy
at a small Israeli restaurant having a late night meal consisting of
tough lamb chops.
The primary function of coordinate connectives is to join main clauses.
They also prevent run-on sentences.
Because the written language follows the spoken one,
use a comma (pause) + a coordinate connective to join
main clauses.
This list of coordinate connectives must be memorized: For,
And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
The first letter of each Coordinate Connective spells the words Fan Boys. That should help you to memorize these terms. 174
For indicates a reason for doing something.
And indicates a continuation of thought.
Nor indicates a double negative.
It means not this one and not that one.
But indicates a contrast.
Or indicates an alternative.
Yet indicates a contrast.
So indicates a result.
Caution:
If nor is used to join 2 main clauses, the second main clause will always have inverted word order.
The verb will come before the subject.
Example:
With a need to find the Ladies' room, Nancy does not see
the familiar female symbol of a lady in a skirt on a door, nor does
she expect to find anything other than an unmarked restroom for
women after opening the door next to the one clearly marked
with an appropriate symbol for men. 175
Secondary Functions
A. Coordinate connectives can join items in a series.
If the items in a series are short, simple words or
phrases, only commas [pauses] and a coordinate connective are needed to separate them.
Example:
After opening that door, Nancy is astonished to see a short
man with a white face, a dark mustache, and black eyes staring
back at her.
Note:
Current standard usage calls for a comma following the item before last. 176
The Coordinate connective [and], which links equals, may be used in place of commas to separate related items in a series.
Example:
She apologizes for disturbing the man and his companion
seated at a table under a light and rejoins her friends and leaves
the restaurant with an urgent need to find a proper restroom and
goes back to her hotel.
B. Coordinate connectives are used to join words of equal
weight and value.
Example:
The next morning, after seeing some photos of Arab men
wearing headscarves in the morning newspaper, she makes a
connection between the face of the white-faced man in the
restaurant and the face of a Middle Eastern terrorist appearing on
the front page of a recent edition of a British newspaper as being
one and the same person. 177
C. And coordinate connectives may be used to begin a sentence.
Example:
But in the whirl of activities leading up to the fancy-dress
dance, Nancy forgets the man and focuses on the similarity
between her and Vermeer's Red Hat girl and her anger at Cloe for
pulling off her hat and replacing it with her white pillow bonnet
turned backwards, right in the middle of a dance, before being
whisked away by some young Dutch people out of the Town Hall
and into the shadows of the night. 178 179
Run-On Sentences
Preliminary Example [Wrong]
A. I read I wonder I write.
B. Stop look listen.
Preliminary Example [Right]
A. I read I wonder I write.
B. Stop look listen.
A Run-On sentence has 2 main clauses joined with a comma (a pause).
Example:
The next morning finds Nancy and Charles having breakfast
in the dining room of the hotel, they are now worried about Cloe's
disappearance, Nancy is still wearing the white cravat made by
Cloe under the blue silk dressing gown, the layers of white toilet
paper folded and pinned to form ruffles at the neckline are
beginning to look a bit tattered. 180
A Run-On sentence has 2 main clauses joined with a dash
(a long pause).
Example:
They go to the local police station—Nancy tells a policeman
about the Vermeer dance celebration at the Town Hall—she
describes her costume as being similar to the outfit worn by the
Red Hat girl—she now thinks of the Vermeer painting as being
more than layers of beautiful paint—how would the Girl in the Red
Hat have acted under these circumstances?
A Run-On sentence has 2 main clauses that come together with no punctuation at all.
Example:
The policeman brings out the log book from the night before
a bus driver was walking to work he spotted a shapeless form
floating in the canal it had a red cloud of color trailing along
behind it with the help of a fellow pedestrian, he fished it out it
had become a mass of feathers and cloth with streaks of red dye
running off of it and into the canal it was the red hat worn by
Nancy at the dance the night before. 181
Notice the use of the dash [—].
It functions as a kind of "super comma."
It gives a longer pause.
Examples:
A. At this point in the novel, the plot begins to get
complicated—really complicated.
B. It involves political terrorists—very violent Palestinian
terrorists.
The comma [pause] and the dash [a longer pause] are not
strong enough to join main clauses.
The Run-On sentence is a major grammatical error that academic writers should avoid.
Yes! Compound [CC] versus No! Run-On [R-O]
M. M M, M
M; M M—M
M, and M M M 182
A Table of Sound Values:
. = a stop [to join main clauses]
; = a stop [to join main clauses]
: = a stop [to begin or end a series]
, = a pause
— = a longer pause 183
Speaker Clauses
When 2 main clauses are joined with a comma, a
Run-On sentence occurs.
Speaker Clauses create a situation which is an exception to the rule.
Example:
Nancy said Vermeer's Red Hat girl has a future.
Example:
Vermeer's Red Hat girl has a future said Nancy.
Example:
Vermeer's Red Hat girl has a future said Nancy she is going
out of the picture frame and into life.
Vermeer's Red Hat girl has a future said Nancy she is going
out of the picture frame and into life. 184
A Speaker Clause can be either a main clause or a dependent clause.
It is used before or after a quoted statement.
A Speaker Clause in front of a quote is followed by a comma.
Example:
The tall, dark man first seen looking down at the Red Hat
girl on an entrance ticket and then up at Nancy at the Vermeer
exhibition enters her hotel room for a second time and says,
"I am a member of the Israeli police force investigating a
Palestinian terrorist plot being hatched in an Israeli restaurant
serving as a cover for that group right here in The Hague."
The end of the quote comes after the period that ends the quotation. 185
When the Speaker Clause follows a quote, it is preceded by a
comma.
Example:
"Your friend Cloe has been kidnapped by Palestinian
terrorists," he says.
The first letter of the first word following the quotation is
not capitalized.
When a Speaker Clause comes between 2 main clauses, stop the Run-On sentence with a period, a semicolon, or a comma + a coordinate connective.
Example:
"When searching for the Ladies' room at the Israeli
restaurant that night, you saw the Palestinian chief, the man with
the white face and the dark mustache," says the mysterious
man; "you could have reported him to the Dutch police." 186
Example: [Wrong]
"The next night at the dance, you were seen wearing the red
hat by the Palestinian terrorists," he continues, "they kidnapped
Cloe because of the red hat on her head, mistaking the wearer of
that hat for you."
In this example, a Run-On sentence occurs before or after the
Speaker Clause—he continues.
Example: [Right]
"You must go back to the Israeli restaurant and ask to see
the chief," and says the man, "the terrorists will realize their
mistake, and you and your friend Cloe will be released without
being harmed." 187
Note:
After the word [chief], a period, a semicolon, or a comma +
a coordinate connective is needed to prevent a Run-On sentence. A comma is placed after the word [man] because the
Speaker Clause follows the quote.
Example: [Wrong]
"The only way to untangle the complicated threads of this
plot is to read the actual novel," says Sophia, "will a red hat
ever find its way back into the hands of Nancy Deverell?"
Example: [Right]
"I would like to know more about the writer of this novel;"
says Yvonne, "he writes from a woman's point-of-view with such
a masterful touch." 188 189
Exercise 8: Joining Main Clauses in Compound Sentences
Directions:
1 Underline the subject and verb of each main clause.
2 Track, diagram, and tabulate each clause.
3 Revise the punctuation to make correct Compound
Sentences.
Example:
John Bayley, the former Warton Professor of English
Literature at Oxford University, is the author of The Red Hat his
first wife, Iris Murdoch, was also a novelist she died from
Alzheimer's Disease in 1999.
# of Main Clauses 190
1. In 2001, John Bayley proposed to Audi Villers, a close family friend, while looking at white cactus flowers blooming for just one night in the moonlight "the gigantic ghost blooms" swaying in the night wind looked to him "like a dance of the blessed spirits" he felt the presence of his dead wife Iris blessing the new union and
"making us three in the warm breath of the night..."
# of Main Clauses
2. Audi Villers entered the new marriage with a sizeable amount of money her first husband was the inventor of the electric blanket Iris Murdoch and the 22 novels written by her currently provide some of the favorite topics of conversation for
Audi and her new husband.
# of Main Clauses 191
3. Iris Murdoch required a lot of silence her words flowed through the mouths and thoughts of the characters in her novels by contrast, Audi is somewhat dyslexic she enjoys talking more than writing. # of Main Clauses
4. There are other differences between these two women in
John Bayley's life Iris was married without pomp and ceremony in a register's office Audi was bought a proper wedding gown in a shop called Pronuptia in Oxford and had a very formal wedding.
# of Main Clauses
5. John Bayley prides himself on his still life clutter he enjoyed that kind of disorder during his marriage to Iris and continues to enjoy it today his favorite room is his kitchen his drink of choice is sherry wine, and his favorite snack is Pringles potato chips.
# of Main Clauses 192
6. In that room, "...no surface is without a pile of diaries and notebooks, or a clutter of postcards and paintings, or dead and dying pot(ted) plants, or dubious things stored in coffee jars, old bowls of porridge and pots of pickles, foreign editions of Iris's books, manuscripts of volumes on Alzheimer's, piles of literary reviews and newspapers," says the writer Tim Adams, "there is a peg for flat caps and one for ties, most of them still knotted."
# of Main Clauses
7. John Bayley's cooking skills are rather ununusal he boils eggs in an electric kettle and uses the leftover boiled water to make himself a cup of Nescafé coffee.
# of Main Clauses 193
8. For a more elegant meal, he puts Heath Robinson Pasta in a pan together with canned spinach and some thin strands of vermicelli noodles he then adds olive oil, chopped bits of garlic, thin slices of mild cheddar cheese, and some boiling water.
# of Main Clauses
9. "Shove everything in," he says, "cook for eight minutes, stirring occasionally." # of Main Clauses
10. Relishing his isolation from the world at large, John Bayley describes a good marriage as having "a soundless glass bell descend over the two betrothed, and no one hears of them again
I rather like that idea," he says.
# of Main Clauses 194 195
The Compound-Complex Sentence
Definition:
A Compound-Complex Sentence contains at least 2 main
[independent] clauses and 1 or more subordinate [dependent] clauses.
Example:
The next novel to be examined is one that was written by a
Professor of English at Yale University; her name is Katharine
Weber. The title of the book comes from the title of a painting by
Vermeer; it is called The Music Lesson. 196 197
Exercise 9: Punctuating Compound-Complex Sentences
Directions:
1. Punctuate each Compound-Complex Sentence.
2. Use a period, a semicolon, or a comma + a coordinate
connective to separate main clauses.
3. Underline each subject once and each verb twice.
4. Circle the subordinate connectives.
5. Be on the lookout for Run-On sentences.
Note:
The best way to do a careful structural analysis of these sentences is to follow these 3 steps.
1. Read the given sentence one time for free.
2. On the second reading, use a colored pencil.
3. And put parentheses around each phrase that you find.
4. Isolate a prepositional phrase with parentheses.
5. Put parentheses around a verb phrase, and give it a brief label:
[inf] for an infinitive phrase 198
[prp] for a present participle phrase
[pp] for a past participle phrase
6. On the third reading, track your clauses.
You will have fewer words to look at.
You will not confuse the object of a phrase with the
subject of a clause.
7. Label each clause.
8. Make a progressive drawing.
9. It gives you a visual check on your punctuation.
10. Do a clause tabulation.
Check to see that you have the right number and type of
clauses to form a Compound-Complex Sentence.
The Run-On sentence is a major grammatical error that academic writers should avoid.
Yes! Compound [CC] versus No! Run-On [R-O]
M. M M, M
M; M M—M
M, and M M M 199
1. The idea for Katharine Weber's novel began in 1976 when she spent her honeymoon in a small cottage on the southwest coast of Ireland a favorite topic of conversation in the local pub had to do with Rose Dugdale, an IRA activist, who was involved in the robbery of several priceless artworks that had been stolen by the IRA for the purpose of holding them hostage for ransom money.
2. After walking through a muddy path to see what the locals called "the picture cottage," she looked through a window of the house where Rose lived when she kept watch over stolen works of art by master painters such as Vermeer however, there was nothing to see but a broken-down couch in the living area and a dirty teacup on a windowsill and no way to know if the content of any one of those stolen paintings had touched her life in a meaningful way. 200
[Weber's comments on that experience]
3. "I was intrigued by the notion of this woman in solitude at the edge of the sea with some of the great paintings of the world the Vermeer, 'A Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid,' was the painting that most fascinated me as I have always felt a powerful personal connection with Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century, particularly the interiors and still lifes."
4. In a small house overlooking a harbor, the open sea, and the abandoned "picture cottage," Katharine Weber writes novels in her bedroom on the second floor seated on her favorite chair, a plain wooden one with a shiny blue coat of boat paint it once belonged to Connie O'Donovan, a pubgoer who spoke with Rose
Dugdale at a local shop where he was shocked by the unladylike language she used when scolding a mechanic who was slow at repairing her car. 201
5. In her Note to the Reader, Katharine Weber says that "...not only have I invented the Vermeer of the book's title but also the village in which the story takes place—what's real and true in The
Music Lesson, I hope, is the sound and feel of this magical corner of Ireland."
6. The novel begins with an entry from Patricia Dolan's diary dated January 19th she is living in a small cottage in Ireland and has just returned from a walk into town with an accounting ledger—her new diary, she bought it from Kieran O'Mahoney who owns one of the two shops in the village of Ballyroe.
7. Due to bone chilling weather and heavy rain that had soaked clear through her raincoat, her Irish sweater, and her flannel shirt, she decided to treat herself to some freshly baked scones from Dunne's shop, a place she tried to avoid the mean suspicious look on Annie Dunne's face made her think that thumbtacks might be baked inside of the scones she bought to punish her for being an American tourist. 202
8. According to Patricia Dolan, many Americans suffer from what she calls "cultural amnesia," she says, "I remember a boy in high school who told the history teacher that he was 'half Italian, half Polish, half English, half German, and one-quarter Swedish.' "
9. She goes on to say, "I think one of the reasons so many of us are disconnected from our histories is because none of it happened where we live in the present the past, for so many, is a faraway place across an ocean."
10. Regretting the fact that she did not have a camera to record the beauty of a spectacular Irish rainbow on a particular morning caused Patricia Dolan to think about the "basic American imperative to seize and record foreign experience in order to take it home, own it [and] consume it," as a result, she rejected her impulse to freeze time in a photographic print. 203
11. When you gaze at a painting by Vermeer, you are looking at a product that was given birth to in the mind of its creator, "a mind has meditated to conceive it," says the narrator, "minds must meditate to understand it."
12. And so, Patricia Dolan spends time doing just that in a windowless room on the second floor of an Irish cottage she looks at the sunlit face of a young woman who holds a lute on her lap and gazes at the viewer with a quiet intelligence that makes the narrator feel that it is she—not the image in the painting—who is being observed. 204
Notice the use of the dash [—] in Sentences 6 and 12.
It functions as a kind of "super comma."
It gives a somewhat longer pause.
6. The novel begins with an entry from Patricia Dolan's
diarydated January 19th she is living in a small cottage in Ireland
and has just returned from a walk into town with an accounting
ledger—her new diary, she bought it from Kieran O'Mahoney who
owns one of the two shops in the village of Ballyroe.
12. And so, Patricia Dolan spends time doing just that in a
windowless room on the second floor of an Irish cottage she looks
at the sunlit face of a young woman who holds a lute on her lap
and gazes at the viewer with a quiet intelligence that makes the
narrator feel that it is she—not the image in the painting—who is
being observed. 205
Logical Connectives
Definition:
They are transitional words and phrases.
They do not serve a grammatical function
as coordinate connectives do
[linking main clauses of equal weight and value]
or as subordinate connectives do
[de-emphasizing a less dominant idea]
Function:
They mentally link one idea to another.
Subordinate connectives always come at the beginning of a
dependent clause. However, you cannot predict the placement of a logical connective.
A logical connective can be placed in front of a clause.
It can be placed at the end of a clause.
It can be placed between a subject and a verb. 206
Here is a partial list of logical connectives.
You must commit them to memory.
accordingly furthermore then for example
afterwards however therefore in general
also moreover thus in other words
besides nevertheless first of course
consequently otherwise second on the other hand
finally still third 207
A logical connective at the beginning of a clause is followed by a comma [pause].
Example:
Of course, you may be wondering about why this Irish
American woman chose to visit a rain drenched village in Ireland
during its coldest, wettest season.
Note:
In the last example, the logical connective
was placed before a main clause.
The same rule would apply if the logical connective had
been placed in front of a dependent clause. 208
An introductory phrase acts like a logical connective.
Example:
In her journal entries, she unravels the mystery for the
reader a little at a time.
Note:
In the last example, a prepositional phrase was placed in
front of a main clause.
The same rule would apply to an infinitive, a present participle, or a past participle phrase that is placed in front of a main clause or a dependent clause.
A logical connective at the end of a clause is sometimes
preceded by a comma [pause].
However, the comma is optional.
In general, it is not used. 209
Examples:
A. Two months before the novel begins, Patricia Dolan was an art historian working as a research librarian in New York City's
Frick Museum, moreover.
B. Her time was spent on doing research for the kind of clothing that was worn by subjects in the artist Fragonard's paintings then. 210
Caution:
If a logical connective comes between 2 main clauses, the compound structure must be joined with a period, a semicolon, or a comma + a coordinate connective to avoid creating a run-on sentence.
Example:
She moved to New York to try to erase the memory of a
tragedy that turned her life upside down when she was living in
Connecticut; nevertheless, she could not stop thinking about the
rainy day when her five-year-old daughter Katie was killed by a
schoolbus driver who did not see the child step in front of the
bus.
Note:
The semicolon after Connecticut stops the run-on sentence.
The comma after [nevertheless] is used because the logical
connective comes in front of the next main clause. 211
How Versus However
It is important for you to be able to distinguish between the subordinate connective—how—and the logical connective—however.
Examples:
how: [a subordinate connective]
She tried hard to understand how that accident had also
dissolved her marriage.
however: [lc—a logical connective]
She sealed her emotions inside of a protective wall
surrounding her heart however she did not count on a telephone
call and an unexpected visit from Mickey O'Driscoll, a distant
cousin from Ireland, who would melt her heart and change her
life. 212 213
Than Versus Then
It is also important for you to be able to distinguish between the subordinate connective—than—and the
logical connective—then.
Examples:
than: [a subordinate connective]
Because of a shared dislike for the English who had
brutalized and divided the Irish ever since the time of the potato
famine in 1846, Patricia Dolan decided that it was better to help
Mickey to plot to steal a Vermeer painting from The Hague
exhibition and to keep watch over it in a cottage in Ireland than
it was to continue to work at her job in New York.
then: [lc: a logical connective]
She chose her favorite Vermeer, The Music Lesson, which
was owned by Queen Elizabeth then she listened to Mickey talk
about his involvement with the IRA and mentally walked him
through the steps that would follow the deinstallation of the
Vermeer exhibit at The Hague. 214
2 shorter examples:
X X 1. She set up some plans then she chose one.
R X She set up some plans then she chose one.
X X 2. She set up some plans then she chose one.
X R She set up some plans then she chose one.
Remember:
If a logical connective comes between 2 main clauses,
you must stop the Run-On sentence.
However, you must also control the meaning. 215
A Supplementary Rule
If 2 main clauses are joined with 2 coordinate connectives:
Use a comma before the first coordinate connective
which joins main clause 1 to main clause 2.
Use a comma after the second coordinate connective
which functions as though it were a logical connective.
Example:
cc lc 1. Her plan was good, but yet, it was risky.
cc lc , but nevertheless,
Example:
2. Her plan called for a double-sided crate to be specially built
to hold the Queen's Vermeer, and so, a hidden copy of The Music
Lesson would be placed in it alongside of the real one. 216
Example:
3. The stolen painting was to be ransomed for 10 million
pounds sterling, and yet, to find out if the kidnapping plot was
successful, you have no choice but to read Katharine Weber's
novel for yourself. 217
Chapter 2
Writing a Paragraph 218 219
Focusing on the Topic Sentence
In a marching band, a wind ensemble, or an orchestra, there is something you need to have before you can play. That something is a musical instrument.
It works the same way if you are writing a paragraph.
You need the equivalent of a musical instrument to start with.
In writing, it is called a Topic Sentence.
A Topic Sentence gives direction to the paragraph.
It is a generalization of what the paragraph is going to focus
on.
A generalization is broad and non-specific.
It is also an opinion. 220 221
A Fact versus an Opinion
Here are some examples of specific facts in Column A and generalizations in Column B.
Column A Column B
1. A drop pearl earring 1. An item such as a provides a focal point in piece of jewelry worn by Vermeer's painting called one of Vermeer's women is The Girl with a Pearl Ear- always invested with hidden ring. meanings.
2. It was probably an artifical pearl like those 2. The stillness Vermeer invented by Monsieur creates in a painting like Jacquin in France in the The Milkmaid is more active late 1600's. than any action.
3. The pearl was made by filling thin spheres of 3. The women in glass with a substance Vermeer's paintings are made out of white wax and individuals who cannot silvery scales that were easily be forgotten. taken from a certain kind of river fish called ablette meaning bleak. 222
Note:
The specifics are direct and to the point. They are facts.
They refer to an object:
- by name [the artificial pearl]
- by content [glass spheres, white wax, silver fish scales]
- by its maker [Monsieur Jacquin]
- by its country of origin [France]
- by the time of its creation [the late 1600's]
The Topic Sentence is the only generalization that you
should have in your paragraph except for the conclusion. 223
The Deductive Paragraph
The Topic Sentence is a generalization.
If it is followed by specific facts, directly relating to the
opinion, it is called a Deductive Style of writing.
Example:
Topic Sentence
fact
fact
fact 224 225
Deductive Style of Writing:
Everything Old Is Newer than New!
At the Vermeer exhibition in 1996, the artist Munchen sold
postcards of a new work as part of his collection called True
Falsies. His image brought viewers from Vermeer's world into the twentieth century. Vermeer titled his painting The Girl with a
Pearl Earring; Munchen called his work The Girl on the Phone with the Tape-Measure. Paintings by Vermeer often include a floor made up of black-and-white tiles as does the floor on Munchen's postcard. In Vermeer's The Milkmaid, there is a row of blue-and-
white Delft tiles at the base of the wall; a similar row of Delft tiles
can be seen in the work of the German artist. In Vermeer's
Woman Holding a Balance, a woman stands in a dark room hold- ing a balance in her right hand while weighing her thoughts rather than the gold and pearls that have tumbled onto the table.
Is she thinking about the content of the painting that Vermeer placed behind her? In The Last Judgment, behind the woman's
head and hidden from the viewer is the archangel Michael 226 weighing souls for Christ who welcomes the blessed into heaven and condemns the damned to hell. A richly patterned carpet was placed on a table in Vermeer's time. A similar rug appears in the postcard. However, whereas Vermeer's carpet might have held a platter of tempting fresh fruit, the postcard shows a scantily dressed woman in a sunlit room seated on top of a rug with her bare feet supported on a chair at one side. Vermeer's chairs had lions' heads mounted on top of the backs; the new artist has a lion woven into a square of his carpet. Vermeer's women were fully clothed. Munchen's woman is wearing only her underwear including a padded brassiere which contains "falsies" or false padding to amplify her twentieth-century curves in an age where the fake is more highly prized than the real. Vermeer's women sent or received letters written by hand with the kind of penman- ship that revealed the character of the sender. But the invention of the typewriter erased all traces of character. And the telephone replaced letter writing as a more rapid form of communication.
Facing a wooden cupboard with a globe of the world on top of it 227 which would have indicated the absence of a male figure in
Vermeer's time, the new age woman speaks into the mouthpiece of a telephone. It is her lifeline to the outside world that operates at the speed of lightning. Instead of thinking about weighing her soul on Judgment Day, she thinks about the present. And instead of holding a balance in her right hand, she holds a tape measure so that she can judge her own worth by measuring the size of her waistline. Vermeer's paintings were labor–intensive taking months to complete a single image to the artist's satisfaction. They were one of a kind and were intended for a wealthy patron who could afford to own them. However, during his lifetime, Vermeer never sold a single painting for ready cash. Munchen's image was printed—not painted—on cardstock; it was meant to be sold in multiples at a price that anyone could afford. And now, in the twenty-first century, Munchen's work can be viewed by everyone with a computer and a keyboard that can bring his fully colored work right into their space and into their hands with the click of a mouse. 228 229
The Inductive Paragraph
If specific facts come first and the paragraph ends with the Topic Sentence generalization, it is called an Inductive
Style of writing.
This style is more difficult.
The writer must know where the paragraph is going
before he or she begins to write.
Example:
fact
fact
fact
Topic Sentence 230 231
Inductive Style of Writing:
Untwisting the Threads of a Six-Stranded Plot
The writer, Mary McHugh, wants to touch the soft white fur
on a silk mantle worn by the artist's "lady in yellow" in several of
his paintings. She wants to touch the glass in the leaded
windowpanes and to examine the texture of his diamond-
patterned floor tiles. Vermeer's lady has wrapped its tentacles
around her mind. The woman she sees is in her early thirties. She
is married to a wealthy merchant and is the 17th-century
counterpart of a corporate wife who entertains her husband's
guests. But she is tired of household chores and is seeking relief
from a boring existence. Her husband hired a musician to
teach their daughters how to play an instrument. Why can't she
hire him to show her how to play the lute? Before each lesson,
she puts on her fur trimmed cloak and adjusts her blonde curls
while looking at herself in a mirror. She adds a strand of pearls to
compliment the red ribbons she wears in her hair. We see her
thus in Vermeer's painting of Woman with a Pearl Necklace. In 232
Woman with a Lute, she looks out of a window and waits for her
tutor to arrive. Says, McHugh, "I imagine him standing behind
her, showing her how to hold the lute, [and] how to place her
fingers on the strings." Standing close enough to inhale the scent
of her hair and to feel the warmth of her body, he bends down to
kiss her. Then, feeling apologetic about the difference in their
social status, he leaves abruptly without finishing that day's
lesson. In A Lady Writing, the housewife is shown once again wearing pearl earrings instead of her necklace. She smiles at the viewer who tries to read the words on the letter she has written to her young tutor. Says McHugh, " 'I felt our last lesson was incomplete,...I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday afternoon so that I might learn the rest of the song.' " In
Vermeer's Mistress and Maid, she asks the maid to deliver her letter. The reply is brought the next day in a painting entitled
The Love Letter. As she sits with her lute on her lap awaiting the young man's arrival, she weighs the cost of putting her marriage at risk against her need to alleviate her boredom. In The Guitar 233
Player, she is seen for the last time wearing the yellow silk jacket trimmed with white ermine fur. She looks up and smiles at her young lover who cannot be seen. Her flushed cheeks and her smile lead the viewer to believe she will give in to her desires when the music lesson for the day is finished. And her happiness will continue until she gets tired of this new love or until she decides to learn how to play a different instrument under the direction of a different musician or until she decides to take up watercolor painting under the supervision of a promising young unattached artist. In her article entitled "Take Five: Vermeer—
Why I Adore Him," Mary McHugh says, "There is something so intimate and personal about his work, and the faces of his subjects are so expressive that I can easily pretend I know what they are saying to each other." 234 235
The Empty Paragraph
If the generalization or Topic Sentence comes first, in
the middle, and at the end, you have made a mistake.
You can have only 1 generalization or Topic Sentence in a paragraph except for the conclusion. 236 237
The Empty Style of Writing:
Fire from Ice
More than three centuries after the death of Johannes
Vermeer, many facts about this artist remain frozen in a time
period that cannot be melted down to reveal untapped letters or
journal entries written in his own hand that would unveil the
secrets about his life and his work. The three documents that
confirm his existence in Delft, Holland which certify the date of
his baptism, the date of his marriage, and the date of his death
shed far too little light on the life he lived from 1632 to 1675. And
yet, his small body of work that is made up of some thirty-five
known paintings continues to have a profound effect on the
artistic output of some of the most creative minds in the fields of
both literature and art. In the last century, the French author,
Marcel Proust, paid him one of the highest compliments that a
master in one field—that of literature—could pay to a master in a
different field—that of painting. Toward the end of his eight-
volume epic novel called À la Recherche du Temps Perdu which 238 was published between 1913 and 1927, he summed up Vermeer's importance in the book he called Time Regained. In it, he said,
" 'Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world, our own, we see it multiplied, and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists, worlds that differ more widely from each other than those which revolve in infinite space, worlds which—whether their name be Rembrandt or Vermeer—send us their special radiance centuries after the fire from which it emanated was extinguished.' " 239
The Controlling Idea
A paragraph is like a sandwich of ideas.
You would use 1 slice of bread for the top of your
sandwich [the Topic Sentence].
You would use 1 slice of bread for the bottom [your
Summary Statement].
You don't want more slices of bread in the middle.
You want lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, ham, turkey, and
perhaps some bacon.
It is the specific layers of your favorite foods that make your
sandwich flavorful.
In the same way, specific main clause facts directly
supporting your Controlling Idea make your paragraph
a rich and filling example of analytical prose. 240
In Chapter 1, we covered the subject and verb of a sentence.
There is a third part of a Topic Sentence. It is called the
Controlling Idea.
The Controlling Idea is a description of the subject or a
judgment about the subject.
It should be a clear-cut opinion.
Example:
! ! Johannes Vermeer made [good use of a piece of
equipment called a camera obscura]. c.i.
The subject is underlined once.
The verb is underlined twice.
The Controlling Idea is bracketed.
The Controlling Idea brings the subject of your paragraph
into sharper focus.
It gets the paragraph started in the right direction.
Avoid words with vague or abstract meanings.
Words like beautiful, interesting, and amazing are hard 241
to define and are too broad to be handled in a single
paragraph.
Example: ! Many people find Vermeer's paintings to be [very ! remarkable]. c.i.
The word [remarkable] is too broad. Has the fact that his paintings reflect a different time and a different place made them so remarkable? You may know that he painted a famous view of the city of Delft as it was in 1660. You may know that he painted an even more famous work called The Girl with a
Pearl Earring. You may know that Ralph Fiennes may try to
capture the personality of the painter as well as the
circumstances that prompted him to paint calm, peaceful
Dutch interiors in a house that was teeming with noise from eleven children in addition to a wife, a mother-in-law, and a live-in maid or two. How can you write effectively about all 242 of those different remarkable aspects in one paragraph? You must narrow the control down to a more specific area?
A Topic Sentence with a narrower control: ! Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, was [part of a very ! dysfunctional family]. c.i.
The dictionary definition of dysfunctional:
"a noun meaning abnormal, impaired, or incomplete."
Such a well-focused Topic Sentence could give rise to the specific information that is found in the following paragraph.
Example:
Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, was part of a very dysfunctional family. Although her husband, Reynier Bolnes, had a profitable brick-making business when she married him in 1622, after nine years of marriage, he became a monster. He kicked his wife, and when she was sick, he pulled her out of bed by the hair.
When she was pregnant with one of their children, he attacked her 243 with a stick. He later terrified his nine-year-old daughter Catharina by dragging her sister Cornelia through the house and hitting her because their mother wanted to beat their brother Willem for something he had done wrong. " 'I'll do it again,' " he said; " 'when- ever she beats Willem, I'll take it out on Cornelia.' " Reynier ate his meals with Willem apart from his wife and his daughters. He threatened to beat Willem if he did what his mother asked him to do. In 1648, years after a legal separation from her abusive husband, Maria Thins met her son on a street in Gouda. A witness saw Willem "turn his arse towards her...saying, 'That's what you get.' " And yet, Maria Thins continued to pay off his debts and give him money when he needed it. After leaving Gouda when he was in his thirties, Willem continued to show up at his mother's home on the Oude Langendijck in Delft. Once, he swore at her and called her
"a she-devil." He also called her "an old popish swine." Another time, he pulled out a knife and tried to stab her. He was equally ruthless to his sister Catharina, the wife of Vermeer, by attacking her with a stick that had an iron spike on one end when she was 244 pregnant. Eventually, he was placed in a house of correction for
"delinquent and mentally ill persons." He died in March of 1676. It must have been sad but also a relief to his mother to have him buried in the grave she had bought for her family in the Oude Kerk when his troublemaking days came to an end and he was laid to rest once and for all.
Note:
The Controlling Idea in the preceding example is at the end of the main clause.
However, it may be positioned at the beginning of
a sentence.
It may also be positioned in a dependent clause.
The important thing to remember is that the Controlling Idea
will always be the judgmental part of an opinion or a Topic
Sentence. 245
Another important point:
To increase your vocabulary, circle every unfamilar word.
Look it up in a dictionary.
Write a short definition in the margin of the text.
Reread the material before continuing.
Some of the material in this section of the book has been
taken from major magazines and books that appeal to the
masses and will serve as a reading text for you. As you go
through the following exercises, you must look up all unfamiliar
words in the dictionary. Many words in this text are defined in
the Glossary at the end of the book.
The text for some of the following exercises consists of
direct quotes from professional journalists. Most of the
punctuation has been presented as it was in the original articles.
When words are left out of a sentence, [3 periods...] indicate the omission. When complete sentences are left out of paragraphs,[4 periods....] indicate the omission. When editorial changes or comments are added to the text, they are [bracketed]. 246 247
The Dead End Fact
There are 3 kinds of Topic Sentences that must be avoided.
Avoid the "Dead End" Fact.
Examples:
1. Maria Thins was the mother of Catharina Bolnes.
2. Maria Thins was also Johannes Vermeer's mother-in-law. 248 249
The Future-Based Statement
Avoid a wild guess or future-based statement.
Examples:
1. After the release of the proposed movie version of Girl with
a Pearl Earring with Ralph Fiennes slated to play the role of the
artist, Vermeer will probably be considered by many to be a
greater artist than Rembrandt.
2. Ralph Fiennes will probably win an Oscar for Best Actor after
his performance as Johannes Vermeer.
3. People will probably travel in droves to see places like the
Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk that he immortalized in his
painting of Delft. 250 251
The Rhetorical Question
Avoid the rhetorical question.
A rhetorical question has a built-in answer such as "yes,"
"no," or "I don't know." It can be an excellent device for
directing the reader's attention to an area of discussion that you,
as a writer, are obligated to elaborate on.
Examples:
1. Would you like to find out more about Johannes Vermeer's
life?
2. Do you want to get an impression of what it was like to live
in the town of Delft?
You can ramble on and on about questions like those and never come to a conclusion. So avoid using a rhetorical question. 252
A beginning writer will do better to answer the question
in a limited, judgmental way.
The answer will then be the Topic Sentence for a
paragraph.
Examples:
1. You can find out more about Johannes Vermeer's life by
reading a book about Dutch artists.
2. You can get an impression of what it was like to live
in Delft by taking a well planned trip to that town. 253
A Summary of Important Paragraph Concepts
1. The Topic Sentence gives direction to your paragraph. It
is a generalization. It is an opinion. It is the only
generalization or opinion in the paragraph except for the
conclusion.
2. If the generalization or opinion comes first with the specific
facts following, your paragraph is written in a Deductive
Style.
3. If the specific facts are first with the generalization or
opinion following, your paragraph is written in an Inductive
Style.
4. If you have one generalization following another
generalization, you have made a mistake. Only one
generalization is allowed per paragraph except for the
conclusion.
5. Look up, circle, and define in the margin all of the
unfamiliar words that you find in the following exercises.
This will help to increase your vocabulary. 254
6. Avoid the "Dead End" Fact because you have nowhere to
take the paragraph if you start with one.
7. Avoid the wild guess or future-based Statement. You
cannot predict the future. So do not try it in your paper.
8. Avoid the rhetorical question. With a Rhetorical
Question, beginning writers tend to ramble. For this reason,
it is better to answer the question with your Topic Sentence.
It will give you the limited direction that your paper needs.
Remember!
You can only have 1 generalization or opinion in your
paragraph except for the conclusion. 255
Exercise 1: Distinguish Between a Fact & an Opinion
Directions:
1. In each example, put 1 line under the subject and 2 lines
under the verb of each main clause.
2. Then, look for a Controlling Idea or an opinion.
3. If you find one, [bracket the Controlling Idea].
4. Put an O in the appropriate blank for each sentence that is
an Opinion.
5. Put an F in the appropriate blank for each sentence that is a
specific Fact. 256
1. In writing about the history of Delft's famous blue-and-white pottery, Anthony Bailey says, "Seldom has long-distance plagiarism produced such an original result—the creation of a
[unique] type of folk art."
Fact or Opinion:
2. He was referring to a double-firing process of making plates, jugs, and jars which made use of designs inspired by two shiploads of late Ming porcelain china that came to Holland by way of the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600's.
Fact or Opinion:
3. A civil war in China stopped importation of the highly prized
Chinese porcelain ware to various parts of Holland.
Fact or Opinion: 257
4. And as a result, the pottery makers in Delft, who began to specialize in blue monochromatic pottery pieces, rushed to fill a demand that the Chinese imports were no longer able to meet.
Fact or Opinion:
5. In addition to their decorative quality, Delft tiles had a very practical purpose.
Fact or Opinion:
6. They hid damp spots on the walls of rooms that were on the ground floor.
Fact or Opinion: 258
7. They also protected the plaster on those walls from being marred or ruined by brooms, mops, and brushes to scrub floors with that were used on a daily basis.
Fact or Opinion:
8. Many of Delft's pottery and tilemakers had their own sites for making clay which were located near the Rotterdam Gate.
Fact or Opinion:
9. By 1670, the pottery making establishments provided a source of gainful employment for many of Delft's male inhabitants.
Fact or Opinion: 259
10. At that time, one out of every four adult males worked in a pottery factory as an apprentice or a master potter.
Fact or Opinion:
11. In Girl with a Pearl Earring, apprentices like Griet's brother,
Frans, would have been trained to do a wide variety of pottery making tasks.
Fact or Opinion:
12. There was a need for clay mixers as well as stokers for the kilns, glazers, and tile or pottery painters.
Fact or Opinion: 260
13. The apprentices were first taught how to mix clay and how to mold pots and tiles.
Fact or Opinion:
14. At a later point in time, they would have been given instructions on how to mix glazes and apply color to tiles or pots that had been fired and dipped in white tin enamel which provided a base for the surface decoration.
Fact or Opinion:
15. On a visit to see Frans, Griet walked past some young men her brother's age who were seated on benches in front of long tables where they were hard at work painting tiles.
Fact or Opinion: 261
16. "They were working on simple designs," said Griet, "with nothing of the graceful style of my father's tiles."
Fact or Opinion:
17. One of Griet's few possessions was a handpainted tile that her father had made just for her.
Fact or Opinion:
18. "Most of his tiles we had at home were faulty in some way— chipped or cut crookedly, or the picture was blurred because the kiln had been too hot."
Fact or Opinion: 262
19. However, Griet's special tile was painted in such a way as to suggest a very strong resemblance to her and Frans.
Fact or Opinion:
20. On the tile, a boy with messy hair and a mischievous look on his face was shown walking ahead and looking back in order to speak to a girl who wore an unusual cap to hide her hair.
Fact or Opinion:
21. Whereas most young girls wore white caps that were tied under their chins, this cap had a wide brim framing the girl's face that hung down in points on both sides to keep her expression hidden from others.
Fact or Opinion: 263
22. Griet took pride in keeping her cap stiffly starched by boiling it in water with potato peelings added to it each time it was washed.
Fact or Opinion:
23. Many of the designs painted on Delftware by local tile painters provided a remarkably accurate catalog of the daily activities of the people who lived there at that time.
Fact or Opinion:
24. Some tiles had painted images of children flying kites and walking on stilts or playing a favorite game such as leapfrog.
Fact or Opinion:
25. Other tiles showed fishermen at sea, knife-grinders sharpening their tools, and weavers making baskets.
Fact or Opinion: 264
26. According to Anthony Bailey, "Tiles were the humblest form of the earthenware business."
Fact or Opinion:
27. Those artisans with the highest level of skill produced plates and plaques that were called porcelain paintings.
Fact or Opinion:
28. The ability to reproduce a painting such as Nightwatch by the Dutch Master Rembrandt in a succession of small square tiles required great artistry and extraordinary attention to detail.
Fact or Opinion:
29. Unfortunately, Frans found making pottery to be boring, repetitive work.
Fact or Opinion: 265
30. As a beginning apprentice, he would not have been given the task of making a detailed rendering of a ship or a naval battle or even a multi-colored tulip.
Fact or Opinion:
31. In describing the apprentices she saw at the pottery making factory, Griet said that "many [of them] were not even painting the main figures, but only the flourishes on the corners of the tiles, the leaves and curlicues, leaving a blank center for a more skilled master to fill."
Fact or Opinion:
32. Griet found Frans at work in a small hot building that was used to house the kiln.
Fact or Opinion: 266
33. As a punishment for sexual advances he had made to the owner's wife, he was given a dull, uninspiring task.
Fact or Opinion:
34. For hours and days on end, he lifted endless trays filled with tiles putting them into the kiln and then taking them out after they had been properly fired.
Fact or Opinion:
35. As Anthony Bailey pointed out, "It was crucial to know when to take the baked ware out."
Fact or Opinion:
36. To keep from being burned, Frans had padded quilting material tied around his forearms and his hands.
Fact or Opinion: 267
37. Johannes Vermeer made use of a great number of visual references that showed his high regard for Delftware.
Fact or Opinion:
38. Some of his paintings show small, square white tiles with blue designs that were used to border the lower area of an inside wall.
Fact or Opinion:
39. One of the tiles at the foot of the plaster covered wall in The
Milkmaid shows a cupid painted on it which Anthony Bailey says might be an indication of what Vermeer's "kitchen-maid's daydreams" were about.
Fact or Opinion: 268
40. Vermeer was also fond of the white Delftware jugs that were used for pouring out wine.
Fact or Opinion:
41. One such jug can be seen placed dangerously close to the edge of a table in his painting called The Girl with Two Men.
Fact or Opinion:
42. Anthony Bailey suggests that the wine jug might have been
chosen by Vermeer because its curves echoed the shape of the
female form.
Fact or Opinion:
43. The color of the painted tiles known as Delft blue or China
blue was used to great advantage in some of Vermeer's paintings.
Fact or Opinion: 269
44. An elegant silk gown worn by the young woman in A Lady
Seated at the Virginal and the upper part of a ruffled blouse seen in A Lady Standing at the Virginal make use of many different
tints, tones, and shades of Delft blue.
Fact or Opinion:
45. In Girl with a Flute, Vermeer presents a rather unusual portrait of a young woman wearing a wide cone-shaped Chinese hat adorned with vertical stripes which reflects a contemporary interest in oriental fashions of the day.
Fact or Opinion:
46. Bailey says since the portrait was painted in Delft, the
Chinese hat might "be taken as a salute to the distant Chinese potters whose work made such a [great] impact on the local plateelbakkers [or glazed-earthenware makers] during those years."
Fact or Opinion: 270 271
Exercise 2: Recognize Topic Sentence Parts
Here are some Topic Sentences. They are comments by Susan Vreeland about her views on writing.
Directions:
1. In each example, put 1 line under the subject and 2 lines
under the verb of each main clause.
2. Then, bracket the Controlling Idea or opinion.
Example:
[In A Penguin Readers Guide to Girl in Hyacinth Blue, a writer reflects on a particular book she rereads once a year]
! ! Over the years, it has become [a comforting ritual of ! discovery as I always come away with renewed A understanding of my place in the world and the pleasure of B visiting old friends.] c.i. 272
[Susan Vreeland's comments on her choice of Vermeer as the subject matter of her novel]
1. This is the province and privilege of the writer, to let those
concrete things that move us feed our imagination until we find
meaning in them.
[Her comments on Vermeer's ability to paint with light]
2. Vermeer's characteristic honey-colored light coming through the window bathed [his women's] faces and touched with significance the carefully chosen items in the scene.
[Susan Vreeland's purpose in describing the Dutch landscape that surrounds her characters]
3. The interior landscape of a soul is, in part, a reflection of the
exterior landscape.
[The value of understanding a work created by an artist like Vermeer or a writer like herself]
4. We as a people are generally rushing headlong through the
decades of our lives without reflection. 273
5. We keep an unwholesome pace.
6. If a story or a painting or a poem can urge us toward more contemplative living by which we discover some truth, then,...that function of art justifies sacrifices incurred in the making of it and is a worthy goal of any artist.
[Susan Vreeland's comments on why her book has touched so many people]
7. The girl in the painting, not doing her mending, simply
thinking and gazing out the window, gives us permission to have
moments of reflective inactivity.
[Her work as a teacher of literature, writing, and art and how it affects her approach to writing]
8. In writing, after getting down the basic structure of a story,
I love the period of revision where I can add more [rich] texture
with details. 274
9. It is no mere coincidence that the last stages of writing are called polishing.
10. With this polishing comes the refinement of voice, the unexpected uncovering of inter-relatedness, the possibility of suggesting something meaningful with a detail that reaches into [the] readers' lives. 275
Main Clause Unity
Unity is all parts of a paragraph working together for the
complete whole. Unity is the "quality of oneness" you
experience when viewing a synchronized motion picture.
The voice tracks are matched up with the lip movements of
the actors.
In a musical comedy, the post—recorded musical
sound tracks are matched up with a singer or a dancer's
movements.
In a unified paragraph, the main clauses need to be "in synch" with the Controlling Idea of the Topic Sentence.
In art, an artist keeps color complements (or opposite colors on the color wheel) in mind when he paints a picture.
If the finished canvas consists solely of varying shades of
green, he must have a touch of red in it.
If not, the person viewing the painting will feel that it is
out of balance even if he or she does not know anything
about color complements. 276
So it is with writing. Main clause unity in a paragraph keeps the reader's attention focused on the Controlling Idea.
A good writer takes advantage of that automatic focus.
Place key facts in main clauses.
Place less important information or secondary information
in dependent clauses. 277
Take a look at the following paragraph which focuses on the cleverness of a man who was brought to trial for a crime that he did not commit.
The Court Trial of a Clever Man
[1] In 1947 after World War II, Han van Meegeren was subjected to a most unusual court trial. [2] The prosecution accused him of trading with the enemy as a result of selling a
"Vermeer" called Christ and the Adulteress to Reichsmarschall
Hermann Goring. [3] The painting sold to Goring was not a
"Vermeer." [4] Van Meegeren had painted it himself. [5] Van
Meegeren told the court of his decision to make Goring return 200 paintings valued at 1.5 million guilders that were looted from
Dutch collections during the Nazi occupation of Holland. [6] The judge ordered van Meegeren to be locked in a room with painting supplies, six witnesses, and a police guard. [7] Two months later, he produced his ninth false "Vermeer" and called it Young Christ.
[8] He was convicted of forgery and sentenced to serve one year 278 in jail. [9] Regarding him as a hero rather than a criminal, in a popular opinion poll taken at that time, the people of Holland ranked him second to the Prime Minister of their country. [10]
After the trial, van Meegeren became ill and was taken to the hospital where he died of a heart attack at the age of 58 without serving one day of his sentence.
In the previous paragraph, [a most unusual court trial] is the Controlling Idea. Yet several different topics are discussed.
Your Topic Sentence is there to give direction. You must follow that direction. What would happen if the dialogue in a motion picture was not synchronized with the lip movements in that film?
Here once again, is the given Topic Sentence.
In 1947 after World War II, Han van Meegeren was ! ! ! subjected to [a most unusual court trial]. c.i. 279
Sentence 2 may remain.
The prosecution accused him of trading with the enemy as a
result of selling a "Vermeer" called Christ and the Adulteress to
Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring.
Van Meegeren is charged with selling an original painting by Vermeer to a German officer for financial gain.
A U for a Unity error is placed next to sentence 3.
The painting sold to Goring was not a "Vermeer."
It is not directly concerned with [a most unusual court trial]. It is concerned with the sale of a painting that was not done by Vermeer.
A U for a Unity error is placed next to sentence 4.
Van Meegeren had painted it himself.
It is not directly concerned with [a most unusual court trial]. The artist claims that he was the one who had painted the item that was offered for sale. 280
Sentence 5 may remain.
Van Meegeren told the court of his decision to make Goring return
200 paintings valued at 1.5 million guilders that were looted
from Dutch collections during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
The artist explains to the court how the trade he made with Goring has benefited the country of Holland.
Sentence 6 may remain.
The judge ordered van Meegeren to be locked in a room with
painting supplies, six witnesses, and a police guard.
As part of the court proceedings, Han van Meegeren is forced to prove that he can paint like Vermeer.
Sentence 7 merits a U.
Two months later, he produced his ninth false "Vermeer" and
called it Young Christ.
It is not directly focused on [a most unusual court trial]. It is focused on the artist's ability to paint like Vermeer. 281
Sentence 8 may remain.
He was convicted of forgery and sentenced to serve one year
in jail.
Van Meegeren is convicted of an unplanned charge, forgery. He is convicted of a crime he was not brought to stand trial for.
Sentence 9 merits another U.
Regarding him as a hero rather than a criminal, in a popular
opinion poll taken at that time, the people of Holland ranked
him second to the Prime Minister of their country.
It is not directly focused on [a most unusual court trial]. The people of Holland see van Meegeren as a national hero.
Sentence 10 may remain.
After the trial, van Meegeren became ill and was taken to the
hospital where he died of a heart attack at the age of 58 without
serving one day of his sentence.
The summary statement shows that van Meegeren did not serve his sentence because he died before it could be carried out. 282
A Rewrite of That Paragraph:
The focus has been altered when necessary.
Each main clause now directly supports the Controlling
Idea.
The Court Trial of a Clever Man
[1] In 1947 after World War II, Han van Meegeren was ! ! ! subjected to [a most unusual court trial.] [2] The prosecution accused him of trading with the enemy as a result of selling a
"Vermeer" called Christ and the Adulteress to Reichsmarschall
Hermann Goring. [3] Because the painting sold to Goring was not a "Vermeer" since van Meegeren had painted it himself, van
Meegeren told the court of his decision to make Goring return 200 paintings valued at 1.5 million guilders that were looted from
Dutch collections during the Nazi occupation of Holland. [4] The judge ordered van Meegeren to be locked in a room with painting supplies, six witnesses, and a police guard whereby two months later, he produced his ninth false "Vermeer" and called it Young 283
Christ. [5] He was convicted of forgery and sentenced to serve one year in jail although regarding him as a hero rather than a
criminal, in a popular opinion poll taken at that time, the people
of Holland ranked him second to the Prime Minister of their country. [6] After the trial, van Meegeren became ill and was taken to the hospital where he died of a heart attack at the age of 58 without serving one day of his sentence. 284
As you look at the revised paragraph, remember!
A subordinate or dependent clause may be placed at the
beginning or at the end of a sentence.
Example:
A. Although regarding him as a hero rather than a criminal, in
a popular opinion poll taken at that time, the people of Holland
ranked him second to the Prime Minister of their country, he was
convicted of forgery and sentenced to serve one year in jail.
Example:
B. He was convicted of forgery and sentenced to serve one
year in jail although regarding him as a hero rather than a
criminal, in a popular opinion poll taken at that time, the people of
Holland ranked him second to the Prime Minister of their country. 285
Note:
Regardless of where you place it, a dependent clause carries secondary or less important information.
In the revised paragraph, the number of sentences has been effectively reduced from 10 to 6.
The paragraph has tighter main clause unity.
Like the green-red color complement control in an artist's
painting, it creates a sense of satisfaction in the viewer's visual
response. The reader is able to clearly focus on the cleverness of
a man who was brought to trial for a crime that he did not
commit.
Here are some important ways to insure the "quality of oneness,"
or unity, in your paragraph.
1. Your Topic Sentence gives direction to your paragraph.
Staying on that path requires main clause unity.
2. Unity fulfills the promise made in your Topic Sentence. 286
3. To maintain unity, relate all main clauses to your
Topic Sentence control.
And subordinate all secondary information.
4. Sentence structure can be tightened and needless repetition
avoided by intentionally subordinating less important
information.
5. Dependent clauses can be placed at the beginning or
end of a sentence.
6. Check for main clause unity.
Underline each main clause.
Does the subject matter directly support the Controlling
Idea? 287
Chapter 3
Producing an Essay 288 289
Structural Similarities in a Sentence, a Paragraph, and an Essay
The process of writing is like doing a waltz. What does a waltz have to do with writing a sentence or a paragraph or an essay? The answer is as simple as 1, 2, 3!
In the world of the theater, in a play or in a film, in the writing of a paper or even in a waltz, there is always a beginning, a middle, and an end. So it is with the sentence, the paragraph, and the essay. Each of them has a 1, 2, 3 type of rhythm.
In a sentence:
The beginning is usually the subject.
The middle is the verb.
The end is often an object.
Example:
Beginning/Middle/End
Subject/Verb/Object
Vermeer paints women. 290
In a paragraph:
The beginning is usually the Topic Sentence.
The middle is the factual support.
The ending is often a summary statement.
Example:
! Vermeer shows [women who live in a distinctively ! female world]. In The Milkmaid, a maid servant is doing a domestic chore in a kitchen; she is pouring milk out of a pitcher. In
The Lacemaker, a young lady is shown making bobbin lace which is stereotypical "women's work"; an example of her handiwork
can be seen in the lace collar she wears over her yellow dress. In The Little Street, a woman sits outside in an open doorway on a sunny day and is doing some kind of needlework. And in Woman with a Pearl Necklace, a woman admires a necklace she is holding up to the light. Woman Holding a Balance shows a woman
standing near a table close to her jewelry box with a string of
pearls and a strand of gold beads spilling out over the top. Whereas several other Dutch painters have painted women doing
household chores, only Vermeer has been able to capture
the calmness of their surroundings and the spiritual quality of the world they live in. 291
The Topic Sentence Versus the Thesis Statement
The essay also has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The opening paragraph touches upon the central idea of the
essay. It is like a "blow-up" of the Topic Sentence function in a
paragraph.
It makes use of a Thesis Statement. It directs the reader's attention to the main points that will be covered in the body of the paper in the order that they will be discussed.
If the Thesis Statement contains 2 subpoints, the essay will be at least 4 paragraphs long.
Paragraph 1:
It starts with a Thesis Statement.
A separate sentence is used for subpoint 1 and
subpoint 2.
It ends with a statement of purpose. 292
Paragraph 2 covers point 1.
Paragraph 3 covers point 2.
Paragraph 4 is the concluding paragraph.
It restates specific main clause reminders for each
subpoint.
Main clause reminders are presented in the same order that they were discussed in the introduction and in the body of the paper. 293
A Single Paragraph Versus an Introductory Paragraph
[1] The owner of a travel company based in Encino,
California called You Are What You've Seen claims that [the trips
people take reveal subtle insights about the people who go
on a journey.] c.i. [2] For example, the travel consultant,
Kathleen Flynn, suggests that the casual tourist is most
interested in being able to have interesting tidbits to share with
close family members and friends. [3] A person who selects an
eleven day packaged trip to Europe may spend three of those
days flying to London, recovering from jet lag, and flying back to
the United States after seeing a whirlwind progression of sites.
[4] On the third day of such a trip, the traveler might take a
guided tour of the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, and
Windsor Castle. By the fifth day, the visitor will have boarded a
ferry, crossed over to the continent, and taken a coach ride to
Brussels and The Hague before getting to Amsterdam in time to
get a hurried look at the Van Gogh Museum. [5] A more relaxed 294 traveler is likely to choose a much slower paced trip. That person may book his own air fare and plan a shorter list of activities. [6] After arriving in a country like Holland, only the
Anne Frank House in the city of Amsterdam may take up a planned segment of a given day. [7] The most highly seasoned
traveler will probably choose a more remote location that can be
savored at an even slower pace. [8] That person might choose to
stay in a town like Delft which is not overcrowded with tourists.
[9] The highlight for one day might be a stroll to the Delftware
factory to see how pottery, plaques, and tiles are made. [10]
Another day might be spent walking through Market Square and
sampling some unique types of cheese that are offered for sale.
[11] A third day might be spent basking in the sunshine at the
Beast Market waiting for just the right hour to stop by the Hotel
Johannes Vermeer to feast on a dessert called Vermeer's Palette
which features an array of fresh fruits, colorful scoops of ice
cream, and a passion fruit liqueur all carefully arranged on a
ceramic artist's palette. [12] These travelers, like others who
travel abroad, have carefully planned the kind of
experience they want to take home with them. 295
The same paragraph rewritten as an introductory paragraph for a 5-paragraph essay:
The owner of a travel company based in Encino, California called You Are What You've Seen claims that the trips people take reveal subtle insights about the people who go on a journey.
Casual tourists take trips. More relaxed travelers take trips. And so do highly seasoned travelers. In the following paper, I plan to show you how the kind of trip you choose reveals the kind of traveler you are.
The Topic Sentence is now the Thesis Statement. The Topic Sentence is an opinion that governs the content of a single paragraph. The Thesis Statement is an opinion that governs the content of an entire essay. A separate sentence is used for each subpoint. The subpoints are presented in the order they will be discussed in the body of the paper and in the conclusion. The introductory paragraph ends with a statement of purpose. It makes the writer and the reader aware of why the essay is being written. 296 297
A Summary of Essay Writing Concepts
A 4-Paragraph essay will look like this.
Paragraph #1
- a Thesis Statement - a separate sentence used for each subpoint - a statement of purpose
Paragraph #2
- a well focused Topic Sentence covering subpoint #1 - specific main clause examples that directly support the Controlling Idea
Paragraph #3
- a well focused Topic Sentence covering subpoint #2 - specific main clause examples that directly support the Controlling Idea
Paragraph #4
- a Topic Sentence is optional - a detailed main clause reminder for each subpoint - concluding reminders should not repeat the wording used in the body of the paper - the subpoint reminders are presented in the order set forth in Paragraph #1 and in the body of the paper 298 299
An Essay for Analysis
Suppose you were asked to analyze 2 of the experiences
that Tracy Chevalier talked about in a recent interview
regarding her career as a writer.
Suppose you knew that she had written Girl with a Pearl
Earring which was based on a major painting by Vermeer.
Suppose you had read some of her recent comments in that interview.
What 2 subpoints would you choose?
On what basis would you choose them?
How would you organize them for the writing of a
4-paragraph essay?
First, read the following excerpts from an interview with Tracy
Chevalier that was conducted by Gavin J. Grant.
Look for those aspects that were given a lot of specific
attention by Tracy Chevalier. 300
Tracy Chevalier: An Interview
conducted by Gavin J. Grant
I'm originally from Washington, D.C. I moved to London in
1984. I intended to stay six months, and I'm still here. I just
can't seem to get away! I went over for a junior semester in
London and really loved it. After I graduated, I didn't really know
what to do with my life, so a couple of friends and I came over
here for six months, and I ended up staying.
I think I'm here for the duration...my husband's English.
Also, I think I'm used to being the outsider. There's a cushiness to
it because you don't have to take responsibility for the culture
around you. You can comment on it or be amused by it, but [you]
don't feel that you are implicated [by it]—whereas I feel like in
the States, I always have to [take] responsibility for the idiocy of
it sometimes! It's a strange thing. But I think I prefer it [over
here] now.
I thought that an outsider [like Griet in Girl with a Pearl
Earring] has an ability to look at something afresh and stirs up 301 stuff. What could have been quite a static household ends up not being static because of her arrival. At the beginning, her family's house was all she knew; that was the base she came from. After she had the experience of living with the Vermeers for a while, going back home was hard. It's a combination of being an outsider and also being 16—it's not like anyone talked about adolescent rebellion back then, but there probably would have been that feeling that something was going to change, and she was going to feel alienated from her family.
[My first novel, The Virgin Blue] is out of print here and in
England, but the U.S. publisher is going to bring it out again in
January 2002. The Virgin Blue is also about an outsider. There are
two stories...there's a 16th-century French Huguenot family who
go from being Catholic to [being] newly Protestant, and they
have to flee religious persecution [and go] to Switzerland where
they are outsiders. (Also, the main character, Isobel, is kind of an
outsider to her own family.) It's intertwined with a contemporary
story about an American woman who goes and lives in France, 302 and that's very much about the outsider experience of being in a small town in a different culture. She starts to research her family history and discovers this 16th-century family which explains what is going on in her life. I think outsiderness is one of those things I seem to do without even realizing I'm doing it.
[As to being a religious writer], that's the weird thing! It came up in the first novel; it's come up in Girl, and I think it's rearing its head in the novel I'm writing at the moment. In none of them did I intend it as an exploration of religion. It's a very
20th-century phenomenon that religion isn't important in our society. If you write anything historical, you have to take on religion; it's a part of the social fabric. Changes in religion always bring up stories and ruptures. It's quite a small part in Girl, but nonetheless, it is there, underlining, I suppose, different aesthetic philosophies. That's the strange thing. I wasn't brought up anything...nominally Protestant, but we never went to church, so it's a peculiar thing for me.
[In doing research for Girl], I spent four days in Delft, a 303 couple of days in Amsterdam, and also The Hague where the painting [that inspired the novel] is in a museum. There are a lot of 17th-century buildings still left in Delft, and the structure of the town is still 17th-century based. It's built around a market square, the canal system, and bridges. There are a lot of 17th- century houses around, but there's a lot of the 20th century there: a lot of cars and signs and stuff. You really have to squint to get past that, but you do get a sense of [the older city] by being there.
...I'm sitting in my office, and [Vermeer's painting, Girl with
a Pearl Earring] is hanging right in front of me. My sister had a poster of the painting. When I was 19, I visited her in Boston, and I saw it and loved it so much. I'd never seen it before, so I went out and got one for myself. I've carried it with me wherever
I go. It's always hung wherever I've lived, usually in the bedroom, but now, she's in the office....It's the same poster; it's really faded and old.
There was an exhibition of Vermeer in 1995-1996 in The 304
Hague, and I thought, "Maybe now's the time to renew the poster." So I got a new one. I put it up, but it just looked so clean and dark and spanking new. I couldn't do it. I took it down and put the old one back up. I like the old fadedness of it. It's not framed nicely; it's in those white plastic things that you push along the edges [with] a string to hang it. Maybe I ought to do something in honor of it, but maybe that would kind of ruin it if I had it nicely framed.
...I started researching by reading all of the catalog for the
1996 Exhibition at The Hague. When I research a historical novel, it's a combination of research and writing at the same time because sometimes, you don't really know what your questions are until you've started writing a bit. So I researched a bit; then,
I wrote a bit. Then, I researched a lot, and that's when I went to
Delft.
That was how I did it with the first novel as well. You pick up a lot when you go to a place. For instance, in Girl with a Pearl
Earring, I didn't know that there was that eight-pointed star in 305 the middle of the market square, and I saw it when I was walking around and thought, "That's interesting," but [I] didn't think much more [about] it. Later on, it wove its way into the novel.
Things like that you don't really know until you get there. I'm not one of these people [who] plots every single detail out beforehand. It's a combination of knowing where I'm going, knowing what the big moments are, but also the spontaneity of the daily writing.
[With regard to writing about the code of behavior that is implied in paintings], there were conventions of the time, symbols that are put in the painting to indicate what the viewer is meant to think. In a funny way, Vermeer is much less prescriptive than most painters of that time. What other painters would do was—you'd have a scene of a man and a woman drinking wine, and in the background on the wall, you'd see a painting of some orgy or lascivious thing going on, and that would mean these two are about to do something. It's that prescriptive whereas Vermeer really was more subtle; he took out a lot of that stuff. [With 306
Griet] opening her mouth [in the painting]—most people at the time would look at that and go, "Wow!" You're not supposed to do that. The way I got around that—or made it less obvious—was that he transcended all that because he wanted whatever the best composition was.
...I've found a lot of the books that I've really loved recently have [not] been set in contemporary times—Correlli's Mandolin or
Birdsong or Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. I loved all three of
those. I loved them for the story. I liked being transported to a
different time and place, but I felt what was most important was
the psychological makeup of the characters and what drove them
to do what they did.
I see myself in the same way. People ask, "Are you a
historical novelist?" It's true that my novels seem to be set in the
past, but with Girl, it's set in the past because that painting was
painted then. But it's really the painting that I love rather than
the time. If it had been written in 1950s Holland, I'd have written
about that. But then, if it [was] painted in 1950s Holland, we'd 307 know who [Griet] was, and if we knew who she was, I wouldn't have written about her! I'm a novelist first, and the history—it's really fun, and fun to research—is really secondary.
I was an editor at a reference book publisher and edited encyclopedias of writers, essayists, poets, children's writers and so on. The entries were made up of biographical and bibliographical detail, and a 1,000-word essay on the writer's work. The only time I wrote nonfiction was when the academic— or whomever I assigned the 1,000 words to—didn't come up with it, so I had to do the odd pinch-hitting myself.
I'm not particularly good at nonfiction, I have to say. I'm a hack at it. I wouldn't say it's where I feel graceful. It takes me much longer; I sweat over it a lot more than when I write fiction.
I hate having to be accurate! Well, I don't mind being accurate in historical and bibliographical detail. In nonfiction, I find it really difficult to control my voice. It's strange, but we each have our strengths and weaknesses.
[As for painting], I painted in junior high school, but since 308 then, I hadn't painted at all. When I was writing the book, I thought I really ought to take a painting class just to see what it was like. I was really, really not good at it at all! It was very useful to be reminded [about] how hard it is to paint anything, much less a masterpiece like Girl with a Pearl Earring. It also
gave me an idea [about] what it's like to mix and handle paint. It
was another thing I put under fun research. The reading of the
big tomes of history is not so [much] fun, but painting, [the]
painting class, and going to Delft—those were fun.
[The newest book is called] Falling Angels. It's a novel set in
Edwardian London at the beginning of the 20th century, and it's
set primarily in a place right near where I live, Highgate
Cemetery, which is a very famous Victorian cemetery were Karl
Marx is buried. It's about two families who have graves side by
side there who get to know each other. The daughters of the
families become friends. It's about their struggle to throw off
Victorian values and enter the modern world. A lot of it is about
the triangular relationship between the two girls and a little boy 309 who is an apprentice gravedigger at the cemetery.
[With regard to a book tour to the U.S.A.], my voice is gone!
I was on the road for two weeks; it was the first time I'd done a book tour. It was riotous! It was quite an eye-opening experience.
As a writer, you spend all this time in a room writing away; then, when you get out among all these people who have actually read
[your book], it can be quite overwhelming. After a while, you meet so many people who have read it, you start to feel that everybody in the whole world has read it, and you lose perspective. But I regained it quickly, and luckily, most of the cities I went to I had friends in, and they kept me grounded which really helped. I'd do a reading; then, they'd take me away from all the madness! It was fascinating to see who was reading the book [Girl with a Pearl Earring]. It's a really big book club book, and I hadn't quite realized how big it was.
Across the board, the readings at the independent
[bookstores] were better attended and more atmospheric. It's really about the approach. When I go into a Waterstone's or 310 something over here, there's nobody there I can say to, "Hey, I read this really good book." It's not like that. It's the difference between going to a grocery store like Sainsbury's and going to the corner shop where you know the people. With an independent
[bookstore], I might go and say, "Listen; I read this really good book," and then, they [would] know [about] that. I had the feeling that the way they got all these incredible audiences was because they knew their readers; so someone would come in, and they'd say, "Hey Mrs. Smith, remember how you liked that book about the Vermeer painting; guess what? [The author's] coming to town to read." Also, they have book clubs that meet there; they give recommendations. They really have a good sense of their readers. I think their readers are very loyal.
At the chain [bookstores], they try, but they just really don't know how to do it. I had some big audiences in the chains, but I had my very smallest audience in chains. I was fighting against the intercom system which for some reason they didn't feel they could turn off, or they stuck me in the music section with music 311 playing in the background, and even though they turned it down,
I could still hear it. There wasn't a sense of atmosphere. There was definitely a kind of corporate feel about it. The managers were all really nice. But there was this sense that their job was to put on an event; it didn't really matter who, or what it was. It was just part of their job. Although they were unfailingly nice, that was all it came down to whereas at the independent
[bookstores], it was really An Event.
The best reception I had was in Milwaukee! I was going to all
these really big cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, San
Francisco, and then Milwaukee. My friends were saying, "What on
earth are you doing in Milwaukee?" But now, I know why; there's
this place called [the] Harry W. Schwartz Bookstore, and they had
250 people! It was so incredible. I walked in, and there was just
this absolute zoo in a fantastic way! They were a really receptive
audience; you could hear a pin drop when I read. I wasn't
fighting the coffee machine, the intercom, or the telephones.
They were just really warm and really into it. I found that just 312 wasn't the case in a lot of other places. It was only afterwards that I really understood better why people tend to go to independent bookstores for readings.
[A local independent bookstore is] Daunt Books in Belsize
Park. I love it; it's a wonderful bookstore. Its major thing is its travel section. They have books by geographical location. They have a fiction section as well, but their major thing is [travel]. If you're going to France on holiday, you can get not just guides but also all the recent and classic novels set in France. It's small and very well thought out, and it's run by a woman who has become a friend of mine. She just knows everybody; she knows what they like. People are always getting her to recommend books. I would never ever go into a chain and say, "Can you recommend me a book?"
If there's a bookstore you go to all the time, word of mouth is very powerful. If you're going to a strange city, you need something to set out books from the mass, and that's when staff recommendations can be very useful. In some ways, [they are] 313 essential. I think bookstores are realizing that they can't just lay out the books. Far too many books are published in a year, and those front tables change week by week. You need something that's going to [make] a book [stand] out and say, "Read me!"
In her interview, Tracy Chevalier gave special emphasis to
comments about:
- being an outsider in a different culture
- her method of doing research for her novels
- her job as a writer of non-fiction
She also talked about:
- her preference for writing fiction
- giving book talks in chain bookstores
- giving book talks in independent bookstores
All of those points have been given a lot of attention.
Select 2 of them as your subpoints.
You may use an outline to help you organize your
information. 314 315
Creating an Outline
Paragraph #1: Thesis Statement
Tracy Chevalier talked about [many interesting aspects
of her life that were prompted by her lifelong interest in
writing].
Source of Information
"Tracy Chevalier: An Interview" by Gavin J. Grant
I. Life as an outsider
II. Research methods
III. A statement of purpose
Paragraph #2: The Outsider Experience
A. The writer's life abroad
living in England
keeping her American heritage
B. Her characters' experiences
Griet in Delft
Isobel in Switzerland
an American woman in France 316
Paragraph #3: Research Methods
A. Traveling to sites
Delft
The Hague
B. Taking a painting class
learning technique
handling paint
Paragraph #4: Conclusion - Specific Main Clause Reminders
I. Being an outsider
The author's life in England
II. Doing research
Visits to sites linked to Vermeer
After outlining your major thoughts, you are ready to start your essay. Writing an essay is a logical procedure. If you have a
2-point format, mention subpoints 1 and 2 in your introductory paragraph. Keep that same order in the body of your paper and in your conclusion: 1,2—1,2—1,2. 317
Some Reminders:
1. Paragraph #1 requires:
- a reference to the source of information and the author
you are responding to
- a Thesis Statement
- a presentation of your subpoints in a planned sequence
- a statement of purpose
2. You are now ready to try your hand at writing an introductory paragraph on Tracy Chevalier and her experiences as a writer.
3. Your paragraph will probably be 4 sentences long. 318 319
GLOSSARY
A abrupt: characterized by or involving action or change without preparation or warning; unceremoniously curt, lacking smoothness or continuity adorn: to enhance the appearance of, especially with beautiful objects; to enliven or decorate as if with ornaments algorithm: [from the name of an Arab mathematician; in full, Abu Ja'far Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi [780-850 A.D.]; lived and taught in Baghad; his works in translation introduced Arabic numerals to the West; the last part of the name means literally 'man from Khwarizm,' a town on the border of Turkmenistan, now called Khiva] a procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a finite num- ber of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation; broadly, a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or ac- complishing some end anguish: extreme pain, distress, or anxiety apothecary: one who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes apprenticeship: one bound by indenture to serve another for a prescribed period with a view to learning an art or trade; one who is learning by practical experience under skilled workers a trade, art, or calling artifact: something created by humans usually for a practical purpose 320 assure: to give confidence to; to make sure or certain; to inform positively attic: a room or a space immediately below the roof of a building
B baptize: to purify or cleanse spiritually especially by a purging experience or ordeal; to give a name to (as at baptism); to christen baseboard: a board situated at or forming the base of some- thing; specifically, a molding covering the joint of a wall and the adjoining floor betrothed: to promise to marry billowing: to rise or roll in waves or surges; to bulge or swell out (as through action of the wind) brittle: lacking warmth, depth, or generosity of spirit
C camera obscura: a darkened enclosure having an aperture usu- ally provided with a lens through which light from external ob- jects enters to form an image of the objects on the opposite sur- face canal: an artificial waterway for navigation or for draining or irri- gating land
Catholic: often capitalized: of, relating to, or forming the church universal; of, relating to, or forming the ancient undivided Chris- 321 tian church or a church claiming historical continuity from it; a member of the Roman Catholic church charred: to convert to charcoal or carbon usually by heat; to burn slightly or partly chore: the regular or daily light work of a household or farm; a routine task or job; a difficult or disagreeable task clarity: the quality or state of being clear clattering: to make a rattling sound commission: to order to be made compelling: to drive or urge forcefully or irresistibly; to cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure; that which compels as in demanding attention consume: to do away with completely as in destroy; to spend wastefully as in to use up; to eat or drink especially in great quantity; to engage fully; to utilize economic goods cravat: a band or scarf worn around the neck crone: a withered, dried up, or shriveled up old woman crouch: to lower the body stance especially by bending the legs
Crucifixion: the crucifying of Christ; to put to death by nailing or binding the wrists or hands and feet to a cross; extreme and painful punishment, affliction, or suffering curlicue: a fancifully curved or spiral figure cushiness: also referred to as cushy; entailing little hardship or difficulty 322
D debts: something owed; a state of owing; the common-law ac- tion for the recovery of money held to be due decade: a group or set of 10 as a period of 10 years deinstallation: a term used in the art world to describe the tak- ing down of works of art which had been temporarily set up in a particular place such as an art gallery or a museum for a limited period of time denim: [from a serge fabric produced in the south of France in the town of Nîmes; a town referred to as serge de Nîmes; when borrowed by the English, it became serge de Nim; the last two words came to be run together, becoming denim] a firm durable twilled usually cotton fabric woven with colored warp and white filling threads; a similar fabric woven in colored stripes; the name of the fabric from which jeans are made deport: to behave or comport oneself especially in accord with a code; to carry away; to send out of the country by legal deporta- tion or to banish devout: devoted to religion or to religious duties or exercises; expressing devotion or piety; devoted to a pursuit, belief, or mode of behavior dingy: dirty, discolored, or shabby disenchanted: disappointed or dissatisfied distinctively: an accomplishment that sets one apart droves: a large number of people as in a crowd, usually used in plural, especially with the word in [in droves] 323 dyed-in-the-wool: thoroughgoing, uncompromising; not making or accepting a compromise; making no concessions; inflexible, unyielding dysfunctional: impaired or abnormal functioning dyslexic: a disturbance of the ability to read; broadly, adisturbance of the ability to use language
E earlobe: the pendent or pendant part of the ear of humans; the part of an ear that an ornament can be suspended from emphasis: force or intensity of expression that gives impressive- ness or importance to something; special consideration of or stress or insistence on something encrusted: decorated elaborately, especially with gems entice: to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or de- sire entombed: to deposit in a tomb; to bury; to place in an excava- tion in which a corpse is buried; a vault for the dead envious: feeling or showing envy; painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to pos- sess the same advantage essence: the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing espe- cially as opposed to its existence; the properties or attributes by means of which something can be placed in its proper class or identified as being what it is 324 ethnic: relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background; being a member of an ethnic group; a member of a minority group who retains the customs, language, or social views of the group
F flatiron: an iron for pressing clothes flesh out: to make fuller or more nearly complete fragmented: to fall to pieces; to break up or apart into frag- ments
G gap: a separation in space; an incomplete or deficient area; a break in continuity gauze: [named after Gaza, a city in medieval Palestine which was closely associated with the production of gauze] a thin often transparent fabric used chiefly for clothing or draperies glimpse: to look briefly; to get a brief look at ground sheet: a ground cloth or canvas used to support a painted surface guild: an association of people with similar interests or pursuits; especially a medieval association of merchants or craftsmen 325 guilder: the monetary unit and a coin of the Netherlands which includes Holland; something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment as an offi- cially coined or stamped metal currency; an amount of money
H handiwork: work done by the hands; work done personally; the product of handiwork heritage: property that descends to an heir; something transmit- ted by or acquired from a predecessor; something possessed as a result of one's natural situation or birth herring: a food fish that is abundant in the temperate and colder parts of the North Atlantic and that in the adult state is eaten raw or preserved by smoking or salting and in the young state is ex- tensively canned and sold as sardines house: [verb] to serve as shelter for household: those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family; also, a social unit comprised of those living together in the same dwelling
I incident: an occurrence of an action or situation that is a sepa- rate unit of experience indentured: a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for pay- ment of travel expenses and maintenance 326 infested: to spread or swarm in or over in a troublesome manner inhabitant: one that occupies a particular place regularly, rou- tinely, or for a period of time
inhabited: to occupy as a place of settled residence
inn: an establishment for the lodging and entertaining of travel- ers; an establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold to be drunk on the premises; also called a tavern
intriguing: to arouse the interest, desire, or curiosity of
K
kolf: a Dutch ice game; the Dutch play a game on ice using a small ball and clubs, called kolf, not to be confused with Ice Hockey.
L
labor-intensive: having high labor costs per unit of output; es- pecially requiring greater expenditure on labor than in capital:
laced [with]: to add something to impart pungency, savor, or zest to
lascivious: lewd or lustful; sexually unchaste; obscene or vulgar
lecherous: given to an overindulgence in sexual activity
leeks: an onionlike garden vegetable having a small bulb with a cylindrical stem and broad, flat, folded leaves; used for making soups and sauces 327 lens: a piece of transparent material such as glass that has two opposite regular surfaces either both curved or one curved and the other plane and that is used either singly or combined in an optical instrument for forming an image by focusing rays of light liqueur: a usually sweetened alcoholic liquor (as brandy) fla- vored with fruit, spices, nuts, herbs, or seeds lowlands: low or level country; land that is below the level of the surrounding land lute: a stringed instrument having a large pear-shaped body, a vaulted back, a fretted fingerboard, and a head with tuning pegs which is often angled backward from the neck
M magnet: something that attracts maintain: to keep in an existing state (as of repair, efficiency, or validity); to preserve from failure or decline; to sustain against opposition or danger; to continue or persevere in mantle: a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes; a cloak mar: to detract from the perfection or wholeness of; to spoil marbles: a little ball made of a hard substance such as glass and used in various games; any of several games played with these little balls master [painter]: a worker or artisan qualified to teach appren- tices; an artist of consummate skill monochromatic: having or consisting of one color or hue 328 muslin: [originally 'cloth from Mosul,' a city in Iraq where fine cotton fabric was once made] a plain-woven sheer to coarse cotton fabric
N
nicotine: [from Jean Nicot, a 16th-century French ambassador in Lisbon who, in 1560, got hold of some samples of the new 'to- bacco' and sent them to the French queen, Catherine de Medici; the tobacco-plant having been named herba nicotiana, 'herb of Nicot,' in his honor] a poisonous alkaloid that is the chief active principle of tobacco and is used as an insecticide; nicotine from nicotiana refers to the addictive alkaloid obtained from it
O
obedient: submissive to the restraint or command of authority, willing to obey obligation: the action of obligating oneself to a course of action (as by a promise or vow); something (as a formal contract, a promise, or the demands of conscience or custom) that obligates one to a course of action; something one is bound to do
onset: the beginning or commencement of something; to do the first part of an action; to go into the first part of a process
P
palette: a thin oval or rectangular board or tablet that a painter holds and mixes pigments on; the set of colors put on the pal- ette; a particular range, quality, or use of color 329 palette knife: a knife with usually a flexible steel blade and no cutting edge used to mix colors or to apply colors (as to a painting)
Papist: often capitalized, usually disrespectfully; a Roman Catho- lic who is a follower of the Pope; relating to a Christian church having a hierarchy of priests and bishops under the Pope, a pre- scribed form of rituals centered in the Mass, having deep respect for the Virgin Mary and saints, unmarried priests, and a belief that the Pope is not capable of error passion: the emotions as distinguished from reason; intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction; ardent affection; a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept
Passover: a Jewish holiday beginning on the 14th of Nisan, the 1st month of the ecclesiastical year in the Jewish calendar, and commemorating the Hebrews' liberation from slavery in Egypt
perpetually: continuing forever; valid for all time; occurring continually, indefinitely long-continued
pewter: any of various alloys having tin as the chief component; especially a dull alloy with lead formerly used for domestic utensils
phenomenon: an observable fact or event
Phoenician: a native or inhabitant of ancient Phoenicia; an an- cient country in southwest Asia at the eastern end of the Mediter- ranean in modern Syria and Lebanon pigment: a substance that imparts black or white or a color to other materials; especially a powdered substance that is mixed with a liquid in which it is relatively insoluble; used especially to impart color to coating materials (as paints) 330 pig's bladder: a membranous sac in animals such as a pig that serves as the receptacle of a liquid plagiarism:to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own; to use (another’s production) without crediting the source plague: an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality; a contagious disease accompanied by a fever caused by a bacte- rium and that occurs as a result of microorganisms and their toxic products that enter the bloodstream plaque: a thin, flat piece of pottery with a picture design, some- times in relief, hung as on a wall for ornamentation plaster cast: a copy or mold of a statue or other object cast in plaster of Paris, a heavy white powder which, when mixed with water, forms a thick paste that sets quickly; used for statuary porcelain: a hard, fine-grained, nonporous, and usually translu- cent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar and is fired at high temperatures possession: something owned prior: earlier in time or order; or taking precedence (as in impor- tance) professional: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs; having a par- ticular profession as a permanent career; engaged in by persons receiving financial return profusion: great quantity; a lavish display or supply prominent: readily noticeable; widely and popularly known 331
Protestant: a member of any of several church denominations denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the Ref- ormation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth; broadly, a Christian not of a Catholic or Eastern church
Q quaint: marked by skillful design; marked by beauty or el- egance; unusual or different in character or appearance; pleas- ingly or strikingly old-fashioned or unfamiliar quarantine: a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease; a place in which those under quarantine are kept; a state of enforced isolation
R reflective: capable of reflecting light, images, or sound waves; marked by reflection
reincarnation: a rebirth in new bodies or forms of life; especially a rebirth of a soul in a new human body; a fresh embodiment
render [painting]: to reproduce or represent by artistic means
restoration: a bringing back to a former position or condition
riveted: to attract and hold (as the attention) completely
rumbling: to make a low heavy rolling sound; to travel with a low reverberating sound 332 rumor: talk or opinion widely spread with no discernible source; a statement or report current without known authority for its truth
S sandwich: [from John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), is said to have been so addicted to the gambling table that in order to sustain him through an entire 24-hour session uninterrupted, he had a portable meal of cold beef between slices of toast brought to him] two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in be- tween; one slice of bread covered with food satin: [probably from Arabic zaytunI, or zaituni, which meant 'of Zaitun' or Zaytun, a seaport in China during the Middle Ages; Zaitun was the Arabic rendering of Tseutung, the former name of a port (now Tsinkiang) in southern China from which satin was exported] a fabric (as of silk) in satin weave with a lustrous face and a dull back
saturated: of a color having high saturation; pure color; undi- luted with white, said of colors
savor: to have experience of; to taste or smell with pleasure; to delight in
saxophone: [from Antoine or Adolphe Sax; the saxophone hav- ing been devised around 1840; the word commemorating the name of its inventor, the Belgian musical instrument maker Adolphe Sax (1814-94); his real Christian names were Antoine Joseph] one of a group of single-reed woodwind instruments ranging from soprano to bass and characterized by a conical metal tube and fin- ger keys 333 scone: a rich quick bread cut into usually triangular shapes and cooked on a griddle scorch: to burn a surface so as to change its color and texture
Seder: a Jewish home or community service including a ceremo- nial dinner held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt shading: to represent the effect of shade or shadow on; to add shading to; to color so that the shades pass gradually from one to another; the use of marking made within outlines to suggest three-dimensionality, shadow, or degrees of light and dark in a picture or drawing shrapnel: [from General Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842); an En- glish artillery officer who, in the course of the Peninsular War at the beginning of the 19th century, invented an exploding shell that sent bullets flying in all directions] a projectile that consists of a case provided with a powder charge and a large number of usually lead balls and that is exploded in flight; bomb, mine, or shell fragments shutters: a usually movable cover or screen for a window or door site: the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures (as a building, town, or monuments); a space of ground occupied or to be occupied by a building sketching: to make a sketch, rough draft, or outline of; to draw or paint a sketch slack-jawed: a part of something like a person's mouth that hangs loose without strain; lacking in usual or normal firmness and steadiness 334 socket: an opening or hollow that forms a holder for something; a hollow piece or part into which something fits (the socket for the eye) stark: having few or no ornaments; sharply delineated surgeon: a medical specialist who practices surgery, a branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions requiring op- erative or manual procedures
sweets: something that is sweet to the taste as a food (as a candy or preserve) having a high sugar content
T
tattered: to become ragged; torn or worn to tatters; wearing ragged clothes
throb: to pulsate or pound with abnormal force or rapidity; to beat strongly or fast
tome: a book, especially a large or scholarly book
transcend: to rise above or go beyond the limits of; to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of
turban: a headdress worn chiefly in countries of the eastern Mediterranean and southern Asia especially by Muslims and made of a cap around which is wound a long cloth; a headdress of Mus- lim origin consisting of a length of cloth wound in folds about the head; a scarf wound around the head, worn by women 335
Twelfth Night: the evening or sometimes the eve of Epiphany; January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gen- tiles—or Christians as distinguished from Jews—or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
U unauthenticated: not proved to be authentic or genuine unravel: to disengage or separate the threads of; to disentangle; to resolve the intricacy, complexity, or obscurity of; to clear up usher: to conduct to a place; to serve to bring into being; to mark or observe the beginning of
V verge: something that borders, limits, or bounds as an outer margin of an object or structural part
W wares: manufactured articles, products of art or craft, or farm produce; an article of merchandise; articles (as pottery or dishes) of fired clay; a marketable commodity weaver: one that weaves especially as an occupation; to form (cloth) by interlacing strands (as of yarn); specifically, to make (cloth) on a loom by interlacing warp and filling threads wedge: a piece of a substance that tapers to a thin edge; any- thing shaped like a wedge or having a wedge shaped part like a triangular slice of pie 336 wedlock: the state of being married, matrimony wet nurse: a woman who cares for and nurtures a small baby or child by breastfeeding milk to a child that is not her own wheelbarrow: a small usually single-wheeled vehicle that is used for carrying small loads and is fitted with handles at the rear by which it can be pushed and guided widow: a woman who has lost her husband by death and usually has not remarried willingness: inclined or favorably disposed in mind; prompt to act or respond; done, borne, or accepted by choice or without reluctance
woolies: a garment made from wool, especially, underclothing of knitted wool—usually used in plural
worsted: [from Worsted (now Worstead), England where it was first made] a smooth, hard-twisted yarn made from long-staple wool fibers used especially for firm napless fabrics, carpeting, or knitting; also, a fabric made from worsted yarns with a smooth, hard sur- face 337
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