Sophomores - Sentence Combining Practice Whole ClassSophomores - Sentence Combining Practice Whole Class

Paragraph 1 – Whole Class

My father was larger than life. Literally. He was like his father before him, he was a hulk of a man, he was beaten up on the outside by a lot of hard work. He used to stand in an open doorway and fill the entire space. He used the frame to scratch his back. And if he was trying to get in or out of a smallish car, it was best to just look away. I remember being a little girl and giving him my hand. I remember then being amazed at how it was so quickly swallowed up by his bear paw. In high school, I spent a lot of time hanging out in my parents’ basement with all my friends. My guy friends never wanted to go upstairs to get their own snacks or soda. They used to joke that they were afraid of my dad. They thought that he might kill them. They thought he might eat them. They thought he might bury them in the back yard. His stature made him an imposing figure. He had the personality to go with it. A lot of parents teach their toddlers a funny phrase they’ll say on command. What did my father teach me to say from the time I was three years old? He taught me rule number one. He taught me, “No Work, No Eat.” I must have been in 7th or 8th grade. My brother was just a grade or two ahead of me. Some neighbor kids got arrested for drinking and their names were printed in the newspaper’s police blotter. The three of us were sitting around talking about it when my dad said, “If that ever happens to either one of you, they print the wrong address.” He got up and left the room. He left Dan and me to wonder aloud, “What? He wants us to lie to the police and give them a fake address?” But no, my father called from the other room, “You don’t live here anymore.”