1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. e_swallo.txt File Contents

e_swallo.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >


Swallow

Many of Aesop's fables are about animals who act like people. Others have people in them, too. Often the people aren't any wiser than the animals are! Here is an example:

The Young Man and the Swallow

A foolish man received his inheritance from his father, and lost no time in spending it in gambling and riotous living.

On the day the last of his inheritance was lost, he was walking along the road. It was wintertime, but the sun was shining and it was unseasonably warm. A foolish swallow, pretending that it was spring, flew gaily around in the sky.

"It looks as though spring is here," said the foolish man. "I won't be needing all these clothes." So he pawned them, gambled with the proceeds, and lost.

But now, when he left the town, the sun was gone. Snow lay on the ground, and everything was frozen hard. The foolish swallow, frozen stiff, lay dead in the snow. Looking at the dead bird, the shivering man said with his chattering teeth: "It is all your fault that I am in this unhappy fix!"

The End

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Think about the fable and discuss it in your writing group. What mistake did the foolish man make? Who was really to blame?

Now, state the moral of the story in your own words. Let each writing partner take a turn adding ideas at the markers.

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Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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Aesop expressed the moral this way:

"There is no profit in blaming your foolish mistakes on foolish advisers."

Reread your own statements of the moral. Choose the one closest to Aesop's meaning and copy it at the marker. If you want to make any changes, please do so now.

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The sentences in the fable you just read were nice and sleek. They were not overstuffed, nor were they short and choppy. Let's describe a piece of pizza by combining the following five short and choppy sentences into one sleek sentence. Brackets [ ] around words are a clue that these words could be moved into another sentence because they do not deserve a whole sentence of their own.


Short, Choppy Sentences

There's nothing better than a slice of pizza.
The pizza is [gooey].
The pizza is [greasy].
The pizza is [spicy].
The pizza has [pepperoni] on it.

Nice, Sleek Sentence:

There's nothing better than a <  > pizza.

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Your sentence probably came out something like this:

There's nothing better than a gooey, greasy, spicy slice of pepperoni pizza.

Now, try adding a few more describing words and phrases into your sentence about pizza after the word they describe -- pizza. Add details from these sentences:

Cheese [oozes out over the edge].
Cheese [stretches from your mouth to your hand].

First, copy your sentence about the pizza at the angle brackets below and add these additional details after the word pizza. You will probably have to add a few words (like with or and) to make the ideas flow together.

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Did your sentence end up something like this?

There's nothing better than a gooey, greasy, spicy slice of pepperoni pizza, with cheese oozing over the edge and from your mouth to your hand.

Now, let's get back to the fable! Suppose you were writing the fable yourself from notes you had taken. An editor, wanting the sentences to flow, made suggestions for combining your notes into sleek sentences. Your notes, with the editor's suggestions, are on-screen below.

The editor has placed brackets [ ] around some of the describing words. As before, this means that these words could be combined with another sentence, because they don't need a sentence of their own.

For example:

The man listened to the bird. The man was [foolish].

Might become:

The foolish man listened to the bird.

Here are your notes about the fable to edit. The sentences are in groups to combine into sleek sentences. When you have made them all into nice, sleek sentences, delete the returns and extra spaces so that your sentences make one nice paragraph.

Remember that you may need to add words like when, with, or and or add -ing to the ends of words to make your sentences flow. Please say your new sentences aloud as you create them.

Your Fable to Edit:

The man listened to the bird. The man was [foolish].

He pawned all his clothes. He [gambled with the proceeds]. He [lost].

He left the town. The [sun was gone].

Snow lay on the ground. [Everything was frozen hard].

The swallow was [foolish]. The swallow lay on the ground. He was [frozen stiff]. He lay [dead in the snow].

The man was [shivering]. His [teeth were chattering]. He [looked at the dead bird]. He said, "It's all your fault."


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This combining trick (symbolized by brackets [ ] in the previous sentences) is very useful. You use this trick whenever you insert describing words (adjectives and adverbs) into skinny sentences.


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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