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The stream passing under it is called Cedar creek. It is a water of James River, and sufficient in the driest seasons to turn a grist-mill, though its fountain ...
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The following reading excerpt and accompanying analysis is an EXAMPLE of what you
will do as you complete the sections of this summer reading and analysis assignment.
Thomas Jefferson, an amateur scientist/naturalist, received a request from the secretary of the French legislation for information on the State of Virginia. In response, Jefferson compiled a report known as Notes on the State of Virginia****. The following excerpt is taken from that report. In this excerpt he describes a unique rock formation on his property in Rockbridge County, Virginia.
The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of nature’s works, though not comprehended under the present head, must not be pretermitted. It is on the ascent of a hill, which seems to have been cloven through its length by some great convulsion. The fissure, just at the bridge, is, by some admeasurements, 270 feet deep, by others only 205. It is about 4 feet wide at the bottom, and 90 feet at the top; this of course determines the length of the bridge, and its height from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about 6o feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass at the summit of the arch, about 40 feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large trees. The residue, with the hill on both sides, is one solid rock of lime-stone... The fissure continuing narrow, deep, and straight for a considerable distance above and below the bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view of the North mountain on one side, and Blue ridge on the other, at the distance each of them of about five miles. This bridge is in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name, and affords a public and commodious passage over a valley, - which cannot be crossed elsewhere for a considerable distance. The stream passing under it is called Cedar creek. It is a water of James River, and sufficient in the driest seasons to turn a grist-mill, though its fountain is not more than two miles above.
Analysis of basic sentence patterns in T. Jefferson’s excerpt The following are the basic sentence patterns: (1)The “be” and/or linking verb sentence pattern includes the use of a form of “be” verb ( am, be, is, are, was, were, being, been ) or linking verb ( seem , became , etc.) which links the subject to an adverbial of time/place, an adjectival, or a noun phrase – examples: The students are almost ready (subject linked to an adverbial of time) or The teacher is tall (subject linked to an adjectival) or The students are gentlemen and scholars (subject linked to a noun phrase) or She seems curious (subject linked to an adjectival).
(2)The transitive verb sentence pattern includes the use of a transitive verb and one or more complements – examples: The students study their notes or The batter hit a home run or Claudia is eating dinner. A test that helps you determine whether or not a sentence’s main verb is transitive and has a complement is to use the subject and main verb to create a question that asks who or what, and if there is something after that main verb in the sentence that answers that question, then you know the verb is transitive – for example, take the sentence The students study their notes – create the question: The students study who or what? The question is answered by their notes , thus study is a transitive verb, and the sentence itself is a transitive pattern sentence.
(3)The intransitive verb sentence pattern typically ends with an intransitive verb which has no complement following it – examples: The students rested or John slept or The visitors arrived on schedule. The above test for transitive verbs also applies to discovering whether or not sentences main verb is intransitive, except is there is nothing after the main verb that answers the question then the main verb is intransitive – for example, take the sentence The visitors arrived on schedule – create the question to test whether or not the main verb is transitive or intransitive: The visitors arrived who or what? Nothing after the main verb answers the question, so the main verb is intransitive, and the sentence itself is an intransitive pattern sentence.
In the space below note what kind of sentence pattern seems most prevalent in the Jefferson excerpt, write down 2-3 examples of this prevalent pattern, then briefly comment on what it might reveal about his attitude toward what he describes.
While completing the summer reading and analysis assignment, reference the following as
you begin to formulate ways to describe the attitude(s) of the writers of the various
excerpts. NOTE: You are certainly allowed to come up with your own descriptors to label the
various attitudes conveyed by the writers of these summer reading excerpts.
