Question

Read this paragraph from a student's essay. Edgar Poe was born January 19, 1809, to traveling actors in Boston. By the time Poe was a *toddler*, his father had left the family, and his mother had died. Poe was sent to live with the wealthy Allan family in Richmond, Virginia.*John Allan* wanted Poe to become a businessman, but Poe had other plans. On the backs of business papers, Poe wrote *poetry*. When Poe was thirteen years old, *he* had already written enough poetry to publish a book. John Allan, however, didn’t support *that idea*.

"Note " * " is bold

Choose two of the bolded nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases. Replace your choices with noun phrases that provide more detail. These details don’t need to be factually accurate—they just need to be in the form of noun phrases!

Answer 1

"walking and talking three year old"

This noun phrase is more specific because it lists the traits of a toddler and specifies age.

"Successful entrepreneur John Allan"

This noun phrase describes John Allan as a successful entrepreneur. It gives a better indication of why he would want Poe to be a businessman as well as hints at the source of the Allan family wealth.

"unpolished, shorthand poems"

This shows how Poe was unable to devote all his time to writing poetry since he was supposed to be working and studying business.

"the budding amateur poet"

This noun phrase shows the newness of Poe's career as a poet just starting out.