Pronoun Exercise Recasting a Paragraph With Pronouns

This exercise will give you practice in using the different forms of personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, and possessive determiners. Instructions Rewrite the following paragraph, substituting an appropriate pronoun for each italicized word or group of words. For example, the first sentence might be rewritten in this way: The fortune teller moved her dry, shriveled hands over the glass ball that she had bought at a dollar store a long time ago. When youre done, compare the sentences in your new paragraph with those in the revised paragraph on page two. The Fortune Teller The fortune teller moved the fortune tellers dry, shriveled hands over the glass ball that the fortune teller had bought at a dollar store a long time ago. The fortune teller could hear the laughter and the occasional shouts of the children as the children ran outside from ride to ride and from tent to tent. The children never came in to see the fortune teller. Instead it was always the face of a laid-off dock worker or a romantic teenager that peered through the entrance way of the fortune tellers tent. The unemployed dock workers wanted to hear about winning lottery tickets and new job opportunities. The teenagers were eager to hear stories about far away places and dark, mysterious strangers. And so the fortune teller always told the dock workers and the teenagers what the dock workers and the teenagers wanted to hear. The fortune teller liked giving the dock workers and the teenagers something to dream about. The fortune teller tried to fill the minds of the dock workers and the teenagers with great expectations. Just then, a young man appeared in the entrance way. The young man was nervous, and the smile of the young man was timid. The young man shuffled into the dark tent, the young mans head full of dreams and yet, at the same time, innocently empty. The fortune teller took the trembling hands of the young man into the fortune tellers own hands, and peered at the revealing lines etched on the palms of the young man. Then, slowly, in the cracked, ancient voice of the fortune teller, the fortune teller began to speak of new job opportunities, far away places, and dark, mysterious strangers. When you have completed this  exercise, compare the sentences in your new paragraph with those in the revised paragraph below. The fortune teller moved  her  dry, shriveled hands over the glass ball that  she  had bought at a dollar store a long time ago.  She  could hear the laughter and the occasional shouts of the children as  they  ran outside from ride to ride and from tent to tent.  They  never came in to see  her. Instead it was always the face of a laid-off dock worker or a romantic teenager that peered through the entrance way of  her  tent. The unemployed dock workers wanted to hear about winning lottery tickets and new job opportunities. The teenagers were eager to hear stories about far away places and dark, mysterious strangers. And so the fortune teller always told  them  what  they  wanted to hear.  She  liked giving  them  something to dream about.  She  tried to fill  their  minds with great expectations. Just then, a young man appeared in the entrance way.  He  was nervous, and  his  smile was timid.  He  shuffled into the dark t ent,  his  head full of dreams and yet, at the same time, innocently empty. The fortune teller took  his  trembling hands into  her  own hands and peered at the revealing lines etched on  his  palms. Then, slowly, in  her  cracked, ancient voice,  she  began to speak of new job opportunities, far away places, and dark, mysterious strangers. Next For additional practice in using pronouns effectively, see the following Editing Exercise: Correcting Errors in Pronoun ReferenceSentence Completion Exercise: Personal Pronouns and Possessive DeterminersUsing the Different Forms of Pronouns