2. What is the subject of the sentence below?
Try giving the dog less water and he won’t spill it on the floor.
a. an understood “You”
b. he
c. the dog
d. There is no subject. This is a fragment.
Read the following excerpt from Jesse Jackson’s speech to the Democratic National Convention:
I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. And it wasn’t born in you, and you can make it. Wherever you are tonight you can make it. Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don’t you surrender. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.
3. What is the best interpretation of the first sentence?
a. Jesse Jackson was born in the slum, but his parents moved him to a better area before it could really affect him.
b. Jesse Jackson was born into poor circumstances, but that did not mean he was locked into them.
c. Jesse Jackson was not actually born in the slum. He is exaggerating to connect with his audience.
d. Jesse Jackson worked hard to escape the circumstances of his birth, but he always feels like he belongs in the slum.
4. Why do you think Jesse Jackson repeats the phrase “you can make it”?
a. to inspire the audience to keep working
b. to make sure the audience hears him
c. to show that he hasn’t given up on his life
9 answers
3. b
4. a
The verb in the second clause is "will spill." Obviously this subject is he.