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Chitty Chitty Bang BangBy Ian Fleming

Dictation passages

Week OneMost motorcars are conglomerations (this is a long word for “bundles”) of steel and

wire and rubber and plastic, and electricity and oil and gasoline and water, and the toffee papers you pushed down the crack in the back seat last Sunday.

(Chapter 1, page 11)

Week One Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

- 3 - © 2014 - Julie (Bogart) Sweeney - Brave Writerbravewriter.com

Week One:Opening:

Most motorcars are conglomerations (this is a long word for “bundles”) of steel and wire and rubber and plastic, and electricity and oil and gasoline and water, and the toffee papers you pushed down the crack in the back seat last Sunday.


From Archant (via TheSun.co.uk)



Why this passage:

Ian Fleming is famously known as the author of the James Bond books. James Bond is an international spy who goes on mysterious missions of intrigue to solve crimes, and is a great lover of fine automobiles. In this story for children, Fleming shows us what a fan of cars he is. The details of what this vehicle can do reveal a fertile imagination and an enthusiasm for the technological accomplishment of four-wheeled transport. He takes it further when he adds features to the car that are most likely on everyone’s “dream vehicle” list!

The opening passage, then, is the basis for the entire work. We are treated to a spare, clear description of what makes a car. The word “car” derives from its longer version: motorcar.

What to note:

“Conglomeration”—what a great word! It rolls off the tongue with a joyful flood of consonants and vowel sounds. I like the way Fleming tells us what the word means. He repeats this practice throughout the book any time he introduces a term he considers worthy of further explanation. If you stay alert, you might make a list of those terms that Fleming deems “long” or “fancy” and at the end, you will have a lexicon of new, impressive terms to add to your own writing.

The use of parentheses is classic. We’ll look at how they add value to sentences in the “How to teach” section.

Let’s also note the use of “and.” In many written lists, the author will opt to use commas when writing a series of items. The sentence in this opening passage uses “and” instead. Count them. How many are there? (There are 8!)



How to teach the passage:The use of parentheses in this sentence follows the usual criteria for parenthetical remarks. The sentence is written as part of a story. The parenthetical remark is an “aside” to the reader. It indicates a moment where the writer “pops out” of the story to share information with the reader that is quite separate from the story itself.

In this case, the writer is highlighting for his young readers that conglomeration is a big word, and he goes on to define it with a smaller, more familiar word: bundles. When two words are considered equivalent, we call them “synonyms.” We’ll take a look at “synonyms” in this week’s grammar notes.

This practice of using a parenthetical remark to speak directly to the reader creates an intimacy between reader and writer. It’s as though the two are sitting across the table from one another over tea. The writer is telling a story, but is fully aware of the presence of the reader and therefore, caters to that reader’s “need to know” when he uses big or unfamiliar terms, or wants to add detail to the information shared.

You may have noticed, however, in other books you’ve read that the writer will tell a story without referencing the reader. You are transported to the world of the story and the writer is invisible to you. These two sorts of writing are equally valid and create a different experience for the reader. Which do you like?

Inside the parentheses is the term bundles. It is featured in quotation marks because it is isolated from the sentence. The quotes make the term stand out so that we know it is this specific word that is the synonym for conglomeration.

The choice to use the word “and” in a list is deliberate. Most of the time, a writer will opt for commas. Let’s look at how the passage would read with commas. The items in the list are in bold, as are the commas:

Most motorcars are conglomerations (this is a long word for “bundles”) of steel, wire, rubber, plastic, electricity, oil, gasoline, water, and the toffee papers you pushed down the crack in the back seat last Sunday.

Commas speed the reader along. They keep the rhythm of the writing moving forward. The list runs by.

How does it feel to reread the passage using all those “ands”? The choice to use “and” creates a different feel for the reader. When I read “and,” I am much more conscious of there being eight items (or at least, a good many!). The “and” slows me and forces me to note each individual part. They mount together to a climax. In this



sentence, we are treated at the end to a delightful twist: not only is a car made of all the elements that hold it together and run, it is also made of unrelated items added to it including the careless gesture of tucking a candy wrapper into the back seat (a habit of back-seat riders the world over!). Delightful!

The choice to list using commas or the word “and” is a stylistic one. When you write, ask yourself if you want to add weight to the list (making it appear longer, heavier, more substantial – use “and”) or if you want the reader to rip through it quickly (use commas). It’s up to you.

Grammar notes: Same, similar; comparable, interchangeable: Synonyms

Synonym: a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close.

Synonyms are a writer’s best friend. They are the difference between weak writing and powerful prose.

Synonyms let you camp on a specific idea or thought without unduly repeating yourself and unwittingly tiring your readers!

When my kids were small, one of them called synonyms, “cinnamons.” I’ve never forgotten it. Think of synonyms like sweet spice—they enliven the writing so that it reads with ease and flavor.

The trick to synonym use is finding the right one. Many writing programs recommend the rigorous use of a thesaurus. A thesaurus (or, synonym-finder) is a valuable tool in the writing kit. Today, the Internet and Microsoft Word offer the writer robust thesauruses at the click of a mouse. Definitely use them to find alternate words when your brain is mush and nothing new will come.

The trick to making a thesaurus work for you, though, is selecting the right term. I’m reminded of a famous misuse of the Thesaurus in the sit-com “Friends.” Joey is asked to write a letter of recommendation for Monica and Chandler so that they may qualify to adopt a child.

The original sentence in the letter by Joey went like this:

“They are warm, nice people with big hearts.”



With the use of a Thesaurus, it became:

“They are humid prepossessing Homo Sapiens with full-sized aortic pumps.”

Classic!

Synonyms need to convey more than identical, technical meaning. They need to represent the emotional content of the original term or sentence.

Writers find themselves stuck in linguistic ruts. They latch onto a term and won’t let it go. In the drafting stage, it’s easy to repeat oneself and there’s no reason not to. During the editing process, however, intermixing a variety of terms to express the same concept adds life to the writing.

A thesaurus can help, but it’s even more important initially to think about what the goal is in the writing. It may be more useful to transform the term into a longer explanation or detailed depiction. For instance, if the writer writes:

The roller coaster ride was awesome!

Changing “awesome” to “fabulous” doesn’t enhance the writing at all.

This is an example where the term is begging to be unpacked: explored for the details it hides. You might ask the term:

• What is awesome about the ride?

• What are its awesome features or properties?

• What other experiences do I have that I describe as awesome?

• Do any of them share qualities with roller coasters?

• Can I draw a comparison?

Synonyms are useful when you are in the middle of a detailed depiction and you keep using the same term again and again. Perhaps you are describing the roller coaster as “really fast.” Here, a quick glance at the thesaurus may yield terms you’ve forgotten or can’t access easily:

fast: speedy, quick, swift, rapid

Rather than start with the thesaurus, turn to it once you have excavated the details of the thing being described or explored in writing. Then, turn to the thesaurus in the editing stage to enliven the vocabulary of that well-articulated concept or experience.



For fun, look up the following words taken from this chapter’s sentences and find synonyms for them. Replace the terms in their original contexts and see how they read!

1. But the Potts were a happy family who all enjoyed their lives and since they were not in the least sorry for themselves, or sorry that they had no motorcar to go whirling about in, we need not be sorry for them either. (Page 14)

2. Well, they hunted all that afternoon and all the next day. They looked at brand-new cars and they visited the secondhand show-rooms where smart salesmen offered Commander and Mrs. Pott cigarettes and Jeremy and Jemima candies just to try and tempt them. (Page 23)

Week TwoSo now the angry red knob read “PULL IDIOT!” And Commander Pott laughed out

loud and said, “Well I never! That’s pretty saucy! Here’s CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG taking control and calling me an idiot into the bargain! Oh well! Here goes!” And he reached over and pulled down the little silver lever.


Week Two Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


Week Two:Dialog:

So now the angry red knob read “PULL IDIOT!” And Commander Pott laughed out loud and said, “Well I never! That’s pretty saucy! Here’s CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG taking control and calling me an idiot into the bargain! Oh well! Here goes!” And he reached over and pulled down the little silver lever.


Why this passage:

It is irresistible to children to hear an inanimate object speak up—even more, when that object has enough chutzpah to call the owner an “idiot”!

What to note:

The passage includes two uses of “all caps.” The all-capitals in the first instance are meant to convey a loud voice. In point of fact, on the Internet or in texting, all caps imply shouting. Using capitals only is considered rude behavior (unless used ironically, and therefore meant to be funny).

The second instance of “all capitals” is when the writer names the car. The name “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” derives from the sounds the car makes as it starts its engine. When language is used to mimic the sound heard, we call it onomatopoeia (a literary device). Perhaps Fleming capitalizes all the letters in the car name because the sound it makes is so loud!

Quotation marks indicate speech (whether by Pott or the car).

Many exclamation points are used in this passage because, after all, this is an exciting moment! The characters are about to fly in a car!



How to teach the passage:

When teaching this passage, begin by reading it with the book open (or use the passage page of this week’s lesson). Ask questions:

1. Do you notice anything unusual about the typeface? Do you see any words that use capital letters only? Which ones? Why might that be?

2. Let’s count the exclamation marks. How many are there? (six) What does an exclamation mark do in a dialog? (Usually an author uses exclamation points to emphasize amazement, surprise, or volume.)

3. Read the sentences within the quotation marks. This is the dialog. Try saying the sentences like an actor in a play. Can you make your voice show the impact of the exclamation points? How might you say the same sentences if they ended in periods?

Once you’ve explored the passage this way, discuss the language.

The use of the word “idiot” can seem unduly insulting and we certainly don’t want our children calling each other “idiots.” Coming from a car, however, the word makes Commander Pott laugh. Can you think why? The use of a term that describes a person as “not smart” by a car is ironic. The definition of irony is: “the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect” (dictionary.com).

In this case, a usually “dumb” (that is, not speaking, not thinking) car is calling a fully functioning, thinking human being an “idiot” (as though not smart). The irony is that what is ordinarily not intelligent (a car) is calling what is regularly known to be intelligent (a human), stupid! That’s why we laugh and don’t take offense. If one person calls another person an “idiot,” it is a legitimate insult since the two are on a level playing field of capacity for intellect.

The term “saucy” is a wonderful adjective! Synonyms for “saucy” are “impudent,” “cheeky,” and “flippant.” The idea is that the car is being bold in its commands, and acting above its station (as a servant of the driver). Remember, the driver is Commander Pott. He’s a commander! Yet look who’s taking control here. A car!

The expression, “into the bargain,” is British, and is used when a person is referencing a set of experiences that combine to create one impression.



Grammar notes: The little “and” that could—Conjunctions

For those raised in the 1970s, you’ll remember the “Conjunction Junction, What’s Your Function?” song from Schoolhouse Rock. The title is a great summary of what most people feel when they hear the word “conjunction.” Just what are conjunctions and what is their purpose in language? Let’s unpack “conjunction” a bit so you can teach your kids about this versatile part of speech.

The term “conjunction” is a noun and comes from the verb “conjoin.” The idea is to join two somethings into one unit. Conjunctions in language serve the purpose of hooking sentences together. In the memorable Schoolhouse Rock cartoon, conjunctions were painted on railroad cars and they hooked other longer series of word-cars (sentences) together.

Conjunctions are words like: and, but, or, yet, for, nor, so

The word “and” is the most popular conjunction because most of the time, we are combining sentences or descriptors or items in a list. Fleming makes copious use of the word “and” – starting sentences with it (generally a no-no in writing, but sometimes a stylistic choice), separating items in a list with it, and combining sentences. Each of these functions is common to speech, in particular. Fleming’s story-telling style is speech-like in that way. He reinforces the story-telling angle through his parenthetical asides, too, as we have noted.

The use of “and” gives the writing a speech-like informality. See if you agree. Reread this week’s passage emphasizing the word “and” as you do. Notice how frequently it is used and just how naturally it trips off the tongue.

When writing, the choice to overuse “and” (as one might say Fleming does) is a choice to create a certain type of readability. Fleming deliberately uses “and” so that the reader feels involved in the storyline and is rushed forward with that sense of urgency the adventures require.

When writing a story yourself, determine in advance if you like the idea of rolling along using “and.” Sometimes it detracts (particularly if you fall into “and then” writing—more on that in a moment). Sometimes it creates the momentum you crave.

“And then…” writing: One danger of story-telling is stacking the narrative events on top of each other using “and then…” as the glue that holds the story together. “Telling” the story is not the same as “showing” it. If you find yourself using “and then he jumped off the cliff, and then he fell into the river, and then



he swam to shore, and then he was jumped by a robber…”, you have fallen into a trap. The “and then” clues you into the fact that you want to revise the writing to show the story (show the cliff jump, falling into the river, the struggle to swim to shore, and the surprise attack of the robber).

Otherwise, the use of “and” as a conjunction (hooking up words, and phrases, and clauses) is meant to be the nearly invisible, not-noticed go between in sentences.

Week ThreeRound the bends they went, on and on into the depths of the chalk cliff, and the

speedometer showed that they had now come a whole mile inland from the sea. The air was cold and damp and the breeze, that got stronger and stronger, blew the cobwebs to and fro high up in the roof and made Jeremy and Jemima huddle up together to keep warm.


Week Three Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


Week Three:

Description:

Round the bends they went, on and on into the depths of the chalk cliff, and the speedometer showed that they had now come a whole mile inland from the sea. The air was cold and damp and the breeze, that got stronger and stronger, blew the cobwebs to and fro high up in the roof and made Jeremy and Jemima huddle up together to keep warm.


Why this passage:

This is a lovely description that also creates some suspense too.

What to note:

One of the features of this description is its breathlessness—it’s exhausting to read. Notice the way Fleming makes use of the “and” again (like we looked at in week two). He also uses some key repetition of terms:

• on and on

• stronger and stronger

• to and fro

Even though “to and fro” is not a true repetition, it is in the same spirit as the others—a well known phrase that indicates movement.

There are key adjectives in this description too. Can you find them? Adjectives are the primary tools of description—they are the terms that give you the features and qualities of what is being described. Here are a few of them from this passage: chalk, cold, damp, high. Can you find any others?

Week Three Chitty Chitty Bang Bang



The key to this passage is reading it for its flow. The description helps the reader feel the cold air, the dampness, and the isolation the two children felt. Fleming uses the car to take the family on an adventure they would never have imagined on their own. It is up to Fleming to keep the adventure interesting to the reader. By using descriptive terms, he helps the reader enter the world of the Pott family.

Commas are used throughout and give the passage its feeling of endlessness. The clauses that contain “on and on,” and “stronger and stronger” are offset by commas. These are additional details to the primary sentences.

Grammar Notes:

Review the last two weeks.

Week Four“My hat,” shouted Commander Pott (which was the right thing to shout as his hat

had, in fact, been blown off), “I can’t control her, she’s taken off. Where in heavens is she taking us?”

And, to tell you the truth, even I haven’t been let into the secret.


Week Four Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


Week Four:Ending:

“My hat,” shouted Commander Pott (which was the right thing to shout as his hat had, in fact, been blown off), “I can’t control her, she’s taken off. Where in heavens is she taking us?”

And, to tell you the truth, even I haven’t been let into the secret.


Why this passage:

This ending passage includes many of the elements we have discussed this month!

What to note:

This passage uses dialog, parentheses, and commas.

Commander Pott is a proper noun (“Commander” is his title so it is capitalized).

There are three uses of apostrophes:

1. can’t = can + not

2. she’s = she + is

3. haven’t = have + not

Apostrophes can indicate contractions (two words smashed together—like the ones above), or possessive (ownership) as in “Commander Pott’s” for example.

The parentheses in this passage are used in the same way as you’ve seen throughout the story. They function as an “aside” from the author to the reader.

There are two paragraphs and so your child gets the chance to indent the second one.




When teaching this passage, start by looking at the arrangement of the paragraphs. Your student should be reminded how to create indentation on his or her paper. Lay an index finger along the pink margin line. Start writing on the other side of that space.

Because this passage has so much going on with punctuation, be sure to notice each mark in your read through. For instance, the passage begins with quotation marks! The next one is a comma, followed by closed quotes. And so on. Be sure to notice that the question mark is inside the closed quotes. By discussing the punctuation as you read the passage, you help your child to really notice the location of each mark. Ask whether a comma is inside or outside the quotes. Notice the capital letters. Pay attention to the apostrophes. As you run into each one, ask a meaningful question: “What’s that doing here?” or “Why is the first word inside the parenthesis not capitalized?” and so on. These questions help kids really see the sentences rather than glazing over.

Grammar Notes: The proper use of contractions

Contractions are shortcuts. When we speak, we are inclined to leave off parts of words that make it easier and faster to get our points across. For instance, we eliminate the ending “g” on words that end in “ing” when we speak. Try it!

We conserve energy in speech by labeling experiences without giving detail (The movie was AWESOME!), we make some words easier to say (I was gonna go, but I didn’t wanna), and we smash words together (I’m not, so I won’t, cuz I can’t).

Contractions are the admission that it takes too much work to say all those words!

In writing, we represent this speech variant by deleting the vowel in the second term and inserting an apostrophe in its place. The contraction is common especially when we use the word “not” with a verb.

I was doin’ the butterfly in the 50 meter race, when Chester was catchin’ up to me in the left lane.



• Should + not = shouldn’t

• Do + not = don’t

• Can + not = can’t

• Are + not = aren’t (slang form is “ain’t” spelled to reflect speech, not grammar)

But you will also find contractions for other verb combinations:

• Would + have = would’ve (not would of –a common error)

• Should + have = should’ve

Sometimes contractions are made from pronouns followed by the “to be” verb or “to have.” This makes sense since we use these over and over again in speech:

• She + is = she’s

• We + have = we’ve

• I + am = I’m

• They + are = they’re

• You + have = you’ve

Another common contraction that is used all the time without much thought:

• Let + us = “let’s”

Let’s is a particularly interesting contraction. We almost never hear anyone say “Let us go to the park for a picnic.” Rather, we use “Let’s go…” as the idiom that is most common to urge a group of people to get a move on! It’s important when you come across a contraction to help your children expand it back to its original two words to see what they are. This is what helps them retain proper spelling and usage.

There are other less frequently observed contractions:

• ‘Twas the night before Christmas… (It + was)

• It is 12 o’clock. (of clock)

• What’s he do all day? (What + does)

• Where’d she go? (Where + did)

In writing, contractions are permissible in fiction, in narrative writing, in dialog, and in every day writing (letters, blogs, online comments, texting, email). In academic



writing (essays and research papers), contractions are considered too informal for that genre. Therefore, when writing an expository essay in high school, for instance, you will expand contractions to their full two-word originals:

• Most theories do not account for…

Rather than:

• Most theories don’t account for…

To learn more about contractions, pick three – four pages of this novel and highlight or underline all the contractions you find. Then, make a list of them down a page. To the right of each one, note its expanded version. See if you can figure each one out! If it seems difficult, try to say the same sentence with the same meaning by using two words instead of the one contracted one. Usually that will trigger the correct second word.

Literary Element Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


Literary Element

The Parenthetical Aside

We’ve noted that Mr. Fleming, author of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is especially fond of the author’s aside. He uses the parenthetical remark to speak directly to the reader so that the reader is kept abreast of details that might not be obvious in a straight telling of the tale.

On page 45, he remarks:

And then the most extraordinary transmogrifications (which is just a long word for “changes”) began to occur.

He continues a few sentences later:

The big front mudguards swiveled outward so that they stuck out like wings sharply swept back, and the smaller back mudguards did the same (it was lucky the road was wide, and there was single-lane traffic, or a neighboring car or a telegraph pole might have been sliced in half by the sharp green wings).

On page 84:

(Well, of course Jeremy and Jemima weren’t in the least surprised. They knew CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG was a magical car. Just look at the way she could fly like an airplane and skim across the sea like a speedboat. And anyway, hadn’t they had their suspicions on the very first day, when they had noticed that the license plate number GEN II could be read two ways?)

Commander Pott put on his rubber gloves (electricity can’t go through rubber) and gave one short snip at the wire and, sure enough, as the pliers cut through, there was a bright blue flash and a shower of sparks and the two halves of the wire fell dead.



On pages 96-7 Fleming helps the reader understand fireworks:

He took a long roll of fuse out of one of the boxes (it looks like the stiff thin rope and it’s stuffed with magnesium powder or some other quick-burning explosive, rather like the fuse you light when you want to set off a firecracker) and he attached one end to the stacks of dynamite (that comes in oblong sticks) and piled all the gelignite (that’s a stiff putty stuff) on top of the dynamite and then he unrolled the length of fuse and came back to the car after blocking up the entrance again with the big crates so that the explosion when it came, wouldn’t chase them up the cave.

Look at each of the previous examples. Each time Fleming uses parentheses, he is speaking directly to the reader giving additional information apart from the story itself. These parenthetical remarks make the reader feel close to the writer and secure listening to the story. It’s clear that any event or situation not readily transparent to the reader will be explained to the reader. This style of writing relaxes a reader. It also leaves opportunity for humor, as the writer can make fun of his characters or the set of circumstances in parentheses since he is momentarily leaving the story to talk to the reader.

See if you can find other instances of the parenthetical remark in this novel.

Some stylists argue that if commas can do the job, don’t use parentheses. This is true if the parentheses are housing information that pertains directly to the sentence details. When parentheses make the most sense is when the writer departs from the story momentarily to fill in the reader. This is when the parenthetical aside is most effective.



Writing your own

The fun starts now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullcitydogs/Creative Commons Bull City Dogs

When writing a fictional story or personal experience narrative, be mindful of your reader in a new, conscious way. Rather than merely writing the story itself, you will now want to draw attention to the reader in some way. Think of the parenthetical aside as a walkie-talkie, or a private telephone line. While the main storyline goes forward, you are supplying details those within the story can’t hear. These details are meant to supply the reader with privileged information.

For instance, let’s take a look at a possible storyline and then add parenthetical asides to it.

Lydia broke into a run. She didn’t want her mother to catch her with the bowl of Valentine’s Day candy. Suddenly she slipped on a spot of moss and the bright blue bowl flew from her hands into the air; pink, silver, and gold foil wrappers sparked in the sunshine, arcing overhead. She landed on her backside, mud sliding up her exposed legs.

Oscar leapt into action. He growled, barked, woofed, and snorted. Candy! Before Lydia could right herself, Oscar had already pounced on



The story above is complete in itself. But if the writer wanted you to know some details you didn’t, that writer might include some parenthetical asides. See what you feel now:

the contents of the bowl, and gulped several heart-shaped chocolates, wolfing them down before anyone stopped him.

At just that moment, Mother appeared on the back deck. Her tall, stately form cast a shadow over Lydia’s little crumpled body. “What’s going on? Where’s Oscar?”

Hearing his name, Oscar brightened. He trotted to his owner…and proceeded to cough up wrappers and chocolate at her feet in an ugly mess. Lydia winced. She was found out. She started to protest her innocence when her mother said, “Goodness. Next time ask for a chocolate! Poor Oscar. Poor you! Let’s get you into a bath.”

Lydia broke into a run (she was sick of her big sister telling her what she could and couldn’t eat). She didn’t want her mother to catch her with the bowl of Valentine’s Day candy (candy given to her mother by her big sister). Suddenly Lydia slipped (Lydia refused to wear sneakers and always wore plastic high heels) on a spot of moss and the bright blue bowl flew from her hands into the air; pink, silver, and gold foil wrappers sparked in the sunshine, arcing overhead. She landed on her backside, mud sliding up her exposed legs.

Oscar leapt into action. He growled, barked, woofed, and snorted. Candy! (Oscar and candy have had their run-ins, and the results have not been pretty!). Before Lydia could right herself, Oscar had already pounced on the contents of the bowl, and gulped several heart-shaped chocolates, wolfing them down before anyone stopped him (the last time Oscar ate chocolate, he had to have his stomach pumped; chocolate is not good for dogs).

At just that moment, Mother appeared on the back deck. Her tall, stately form cast a shadow over Lydia’s little crumpled body. “What’s going on? Where’s Oscar?”



The parenthetical asides add a few details and a lot of commentary. The writer is biasing the reader to her point of view. By the end, you see the story the way the writer sees it.

That’s the fun of parenthetical asides.

Try it. Write your own story (keep it relatively short). Then after it is finished, add your own comments to the reader and put them in parentheses. Read both versions aloud to yourself and notice the way the mood of the narrative shifts when you include your own commentary.

The parenthetical aside should be used like seasoning in your work. You certainly don’t need to load up your stories with endless commentary. But for the sake of practice, feel free to be over the top in this exercise! Go nuts! Enjoy.

Hearing his name, Oscar brightened. He trotted to his owner…and proceeded to cough up wrappers and chocolate at her feet in an ugly mess (I will spare you the details of that sorry sight!). Lydia winced. She was found out (and shouldn’t she be? After all, she put the family dog at risk again!). Lydia started to protest her innocence when her mother said, “Goodness. Next time ask for a chocolate! Poor Oscar. Poor you! Let’s get you into a bath and Oscar to the vet!” (Mothers are much more reasonable than writers usually give them credit for, don’t you think? Lydia has a good one.)