Shape the sentence to change the effect

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   “When the last of the ferries had pulled away from the dock, and the gulls that had trailed it for an hour had wheeled back toward town, the harbor, for the first time since dawn, was quiet.”

2. 1.

   Ari is labeling a sentence from a travel essay. Which description names its shape and what that shape does?

   • Periodic: the main clause, “the harbor … was quiet,” comes last, so the calm arrives only after the long wait.
   • Periodic: the main clause comes last, so the sentence feels like an easy drift, one detail after another.
   • Cumulative: the main clause comes first, and details follow it, so the calm builds up behind the harbor.
   • Periodic: the main clause, “the gulls … had wheeled back toward town,” comes last, so the gulls are the point.

3. Use this

   “The old telescope showed the astronomers what the sky contained; the new one showed them how little of it they had understood.”

4. 2.

   Kira is labeling a sentence from a science essay. Which description names its shape and what that shape does?

   • Cumulative: the main clause, “the old telescope showed,” comes first, and the second half merely adds detail.
   • Balanced: two matching clauses face each other, so the sentence builds suspense by delaying its main idea.
   • Balanced: two clauses of matching shape face each other, so the second half corrects the first.
   • Periodic: the main clause comes last, so the correction arrives at the end of one long build.

5. Use this

   “The relay team surged ahead on the last curve, though the anchor had pulled a muscle that morning and had told no one.”

6. 3.

   Milo is revising a track-meet report. The writer wants a periodic sentence that keeps every fact. Which version works?

   • Though the anchor had pulled a muscle that morning and had told no one, the relay team surged ahead on the last curve.
   • Because the anchor had pulled a muscle that morning and had told no one, the relay team surged ahead on the last curve.
   • Having pulled a muscle that morning and told no one, the relay team surged ahead on the last curve.
   • The relay team surged ahead on the last curve, even though the anchor had pulled a muscle and had told no one that morning.

7. Use this

   “A mural appeared overnight on the cafeteria wall, stretching from door to door, painted in blues and golds, and signed by no one.”

8. 4.

   Noah is revising a school-newspaper item. The writer wants a periodic sentence that keeps every fact. Which version works?

   • On the cafeteria wall appeared a mural overnight, stretching from door to door, painted in blues and golds, and signed by no one.
   • A mural appeared overnight on the cafeteria wall, signed by no one, painted in blues and golds, and stretching from door to door.
   • Stretching from door to door, painted in blues and golds, and signed by no one, a mural appeared overnight on the cafeteria wall.
   • Stretching from door to door and painted in blues and golds, a mural appeared overnight on the cafeteria wall.

9. Use this

   “Because the river had risen two feet overnight, and because the old footbridge had never been built for such a current, the town closed it before breakfast.”

10. 5.

    Pia is revising a town bulletin. The writer wants a cumulative sentence that keeps every fact. Which version works?

    • The town closed the old footbridge before breakfast, because the river had risen two feet overnight and the bridge had never been built for such a current.
    • Closed before breakfast by the town was the old footbridge, because the river had risen two feet overnight and the bridge had never been built for such a current.
    • The town closed the old footbridge after breakfast, because the river had risen two feet overnight and the bridge had never been built for such a current.
    • Rising two feet overnight, the town closed the old footbridge before breakfast, since it had never been built for such a current.

11. Use this

    “The caravan of vans left the lot at dawn, their windows fogged, their roofs strapped with canoes, and the drivers still arguing about the route.”

12. 6.

    Ren is revising a camp-trip story. The writer wants a periodic sentence that keeps every fact. Which version works?

    • Strapped with canoes and still arguing about the route, the vans' windows fogged as the caravan left the lot at dawn.
    • The caravan of vans left the lot at dawn, their roofs strapped with canoes, their windows fogged, and the drivers still arguing about the route.
    • Their windows fogged, their roofs strapped with canoes, and the drivers still arguing about the route, the caravan of vans left the lot at dawn.
    • Out of the lot at dawn rolled the caravan of vans, their windows fogged, their roofs strapped with canoes, and the drivers still arguing about the route.

13. Facts for one sentence

    The survey crew worked in the marsh for three weeks; the crew mapped a channel; charts had misplaced that channel for a century.

14. 7.

    Tala is drafting a field report. The writer wants the surprise, the century-old error, in the last words. Which sentence does that and keeps every fact?

    • Misplaced on charts for a century, the channel was mapped by the survey crew after three weeks of work in the marsh.
    • The survey crew mapped a channel that charts had misplaced for a century, after three weeks of work in the marsh.
    • After three weeks of work in the marsh, the survey crew mapped, for the state, a channel that charts had misplaced for a century.
    • After three weeks of work in the marsh, the survey crew mapped a channel that charts had misplaced for a century.

15. Facts for one sentence

    The baker unlocked the shop at five; the baker set out trays of rolls; the baker turned the sign to open; the first customers were already waiting on the sidewalk.

16. 8.

    Zee is drafting a profile of a bakery. The writer wants the morning to drift along, action first and details added behind it. Which sentence does that?

    • The baker unlocked the shop at five, she set out trays of rolls, she turned the sign to open, the first customers were already waiting on the sidewalk.
    • The baker, setting out trays of rolls and turning the sign to open at five, unlocked the shop and found the first customers waiting on the sidewalk.
    • The baker unlocked the shop at five, setting out trays of rolls, turning the sign to open, and greeting the first customers, who were sleepy commuters.
    • The baker unlocked the shop at five, setting out trays of rolls, turning the sign to open, and finding the first customers already waiting on the sidewalk.

17. Facts for one sentence

    The garden club planted the bulbs in October; nothing at all showed until March; the whole hillside bloomed in a week.

18. 9.

    Ari is drafting a garden-club newsletter. The writer wants the reader to wait through the winter and meet the bloom in the last words. Which sentence does that?

    • After the garden club planted the bulbs in October, and after nothing showed until March, the whole hillside bloomed in a week, amazing the town.
    • The garden club planted the bulbs in October, nothing at all showed until March, the whole hillside bloomed in a week.
    • The whole hillside bloomed in a week, after the garden club planted the bulbs in October and nothing at all showed until March.
    • After the garden club planted the bulbs in October, and after nothing at all showed until March, the whole hillside bloomed in a week.
19. 10.

    The ferry left the slip; gulls wheeled behind the ferry; passengers leaned on the rail; the island shrank behind them. Esme is drafting a travel diary. The writer wants the departure to unfold in one easy drift, the main action first. Which sentence does that?

    • The ferry, gulls wheeling behind it and passengers leaning on the rail, left the slip as the island shrank.
    • The ferry left the slip, gulls wheeling behind it, passengers leaning on the rail, the island shrinking behind them.
    • The ferry left the slip, it had gulls wheeling behind it, passengers were leaning on the rail, the island was shrinking.
    • With gulls wheeling behind it, passengers leaning on the rail, and the island shrinking behind them, the ferry left the slip.