Direct Objects
A student writes:
"The teacher gave the class a challenging assignment."
👉 Identify the direct object and explain how you know.
“assignment” — It receives the action of the verb gave (what was given).
Read the sentence:
"The bright sun warmed the chilly air."
👉 Identify the adjective and explain what it describes.
“bright” (also “chilly” is acceptable) — adjectives that describe sun and air.
Read the sentence:
"The tall boy in the red hat ran quickly."
👉 Identify the simple subject.
“boy”
"I bought apples oranges and bananas at the store."
👉 Where should the commas be placed?
“I bought apples, oranges, and bananas at the store.” — commas separate items in a series.
A student writes:
"Dogs are very loyal animals (Smith)."
👉 What is missing from this MLA in-text citation?
The page number — it should be (Smith 12) (if a page number is available).
Read the sentence:
"Marcus carefully built a model of the solar system for his science project."
👉 Which part is the direct object, and why isn’t “science project” the direct object?
Direct object: “a model of the solar system” — It receives the action of built.
Why the science project is not a direct object: “science project” is part of a prepositional phrase (for his science project), so it is not the direct object.
Read the sentence:
"Quickly, the students finished their assignment before lunch."
👉 Identify the adverb and explain how it modifies the verb.
“Quickly” — it modifies the verb finished by telling how the students completed the action.
Read the sentence:
"My best friend from camp sent me a letter."
👉 Identify the complete subject and explain your reasoning.
“My best friend from camp” — includes the main noun friend and all the words that describe it.
Read the sentence:
"After the game we went out for pizza."
👉 Where should the comma go, and why?
“After the game, we went out for pizza.” — comma after an introductory phrase using a subordinate conjunction.
Read the sentence:
"According to the article, recycling helps reduce waste (Johnson 45)."
👉 Revise the sentence to correctly introduce the author in the sentence instead of beginning with quotations and ending with the author.
According to Johnson, "recycling helps reduce waste" (45). — author is introduced in the signal phrase, so only the page number stays in parentheses.
A sentence reads:
"After school, the students painted a mural and wrote poems about their community."
👉 Identify both direct objects
“a mural” and “poems”
Read the sentence:
"She and her brother walked through the park after dinner."
👉 Identify the pronouns and explain their role in the sentence.
“She” and “her” — pronouns that replace specific nouns (people) in the sentence.
Read the sentence:
"The students in the class are studying for the test."
👉 Identify the simple predicate and explain how you know.
“are studying” — the main verb (helping + action verb) showing what the subject is doing.
"I wanted to go to the party however I had too much homework."
👉 Should you use a comma or semicolon, and where? Explain your reasoning.
“I wanted to go to the party; however, I had too much homework.” — semicolon joins two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb (however), followed by a comma.
A student writes:
"Plastic pollution is a major problem in oceans."
(Source: Brown, page 18)
👉 Rewrite the sentence to correctly include an MLA in-text citation.
“Plastic pollution is a major problem in oceans (Brown 18).”
A student claims the direct object in the sentence below is “her friend”:
"Lila sent her friend a long message about the trip."
👉 Evaluate this claim and correct it if needed, explaining your reasoning.
The claim is incorrect.
“a long message” is the direct object (what was sent).
A student says the word “through” is a verb in the sentence below:
"The dog ran through the yard and jumped over the fence."
👉 Evaluate this claim and correct it, explaining the correct part of speech.
Hint: It is NOT a verb, it is one of the following: direct object, pronoun, preposition.
The claim is incorrect.
“through” is a preposition, not a verb. It shows the relationship between ran and yard.
A student claims the complete predicate in the sentence below is “finished”:
"After school, the team finished their practice on the field."
👉 Evaluate this claim and correct it, explaining your reasoning.
The claim is incorrect.
The complete predicate is “finished their practice on the field” — it includes the verb and all the words that tell what the subject did.
A student writes:
"The movie was exciting, it kept me on the edge of my seat."
👉 Evaluate the punctuation and revise the sentence correctly using a semicolon or commas, explaining your choice.
Correct: “The movie was exciting; it kept me on the edge of my seat.”
The original sentence is a comma splice. A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses.
A student writes:
"‘Reading every day improves vocabulary’ (page 22)." Anderson
👉 Evaluate this citation and correct it, explaining what is missing.
The citation is incorrect because it is missing the author’s name and incorrect punctuation marks.
Correct: According to Anderson, "Reading every day improves vocabulary" (Anderson 22). — MLA requires the author’s last name and page number, along with specific punctuation.
A student claims the direct object in the sentence below is “the audience”:
"The speaker told the audience an inspiring story about perseverance."
👉 Evaluate this claim and correct it if needed, explaining your reasoning.
“an inspiring story” is the direct object because it receives the action of told (what was told).
A student says the word “before” is a conjunction in the sentence below:
"They completed their homework before dinner."
👉 Evaluate this claim and correct it, explaining the correct part of speech.
The claim is incorrect.
“before” is a preposition, not a conjunction.
Revise the sentence so the simple predicate changes, but the overall meaning stays similar:
"The dog barked loudly at the stranger."
👉 Rewrite the sentence and identify the new simple predicate (change the verb but keep the meaning).
Example:
Revised: “The dog growled loudly at the stranger.”
Simple predicate: “growled” — the main verb has changed but the meaning is similar.
Revise the sentence by adding both a comma and a semicolon correctly:
"Before the storm started the sky grew dark the winds became strong."
👉 Rewrite the sentence and explain your punctuation choices.
“Before the storm started, the sky grew dark; the winds became strong.”
Comma follows the introductory phrase, and the semicolon connects two related independent clauses.
Combine the information below into one sentence with a correct MLA in-text citation:
👉 Write the sentence using a signal phrase.
Sample Answer:
According to Taylor, she explains "that students learn better when they take notes by hand" (67).