Question

Read the paragraph below from Jack London's short story "The Call of the Wild." Use the rules of hyphenation to decide where hyphens are needed.

And Buck was truly a (red eyed, or, red-eyed) devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, (hair bristling, or, hair-bristling) , (mouth-foaming ,or, mouth foaming) , a mad glitter in his (blood-shot, or, blood shot eyes). Straight at the man he launched his (one hundred and forty, or, one-hundred and forty) pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two (days and nights, or, days-and-nights) .

Answer 1

the hyphen is used at red-eyed and it is not red eyed. blood-shot is used instead of blood shot

Answer 2

Answer: And Buck was truly a red-eyed devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, hair bristling, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his blood-shot eyes. Straight at the man he launched his one hundred and forty pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two days and nights.

Step-by-step explanation:

We need to use a hyphen when we are transforming a group of two words or more into an adjective. That is, when those words characterize a noun and are placed right before it, they should have a hyphen between them.

In this excerpt, red-eyed is characterizing devil, and blood-shot is characterizing eyes. The other options given are not functioning as adjectives to a noun and, therefore, do not need the hyphen.

Check out some examples that show when to use it:

I live in a middle-class neighborhood.

I want to live in a neighborhood that is middle class.