Page 247 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 3.17
continued
a Long Walk to peace
my Notes
Language and Writer’s Craft: Adjectival and Prepositional
Phrases
You have studied the differences between clauses and phrases and have practiced with adverbial clauses and appositive phrases. In this activity, you will practice working with phrases that are used to modify nouns. “Modify” means “to describe,” and using adjectives well helps you create visual images for your reader. Look at these examples:
I petted the dog.
I petted the growling dog.
Notice that the adjective “growling” modifies, or describes, the dog. Prepositional phrases can also be used as adjectives to describe nouns.
The book on the bathroom floor is swollen from shower steam.
The sweet potatoes in the vegetable bin are green with mold.
The hunger for my own freedom became the hunger for the freedom of all.
13. In these sentences, adjectives in the form of prepositional phrases come after the nouns they are describing. Circle the nouns being described.
14. Now, create your own prepositional phrases used as adjectives. Be sure each phrase begins with a preposition. Write your sentences in the My Notes space.
Phrases used as adjectives are known as adjectival phrases. For example:
His long, curly, dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
He commented on the cold, bleak, biting weather.
Dr. Richards was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman.
Notice that these examples are adjectives in a series that make up the adjectival phrase. The adjectives are separated by commas and come before the noun they describe. Circle the noun described in each sentence.
15. Create your own adjectival phrases that include a series of adjectives. You can use the same nouns above or create your own sentences. Be sure to punctuate correctly. Write your sentences in the My Notes space.
16. Return to the excerpt from Mandela’s autobiography and reread paragraph 3. As you read, look for adjective phrases and prepositional phrases used as adjectives. Notice especially the effect of adjectives. Mandela uses them
to create a clearer, more detailed vision of the idea of freedom. Be careful; prepositional phrases can be used as adverbs, too!
220 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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