Models of Absolutes

DEFINITION An absolute is a two-word combination – a noun and a participle (an ing or ed verb) added

onto a sentence to evoke action and give detail.

Absolute =

Noun + Participle

(fists clenched)

Noun + Participle + Other Modifiers

(fists clenched tightly)

The following sentences contain absolute phrases (in bold).

“Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt

something long and hard beneath it.”

(Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling)

Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped

quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a

swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

(1984, George Orwell)

She was homesick for the fir trees in the park and seagulls wheeling over the school

lawn when there was a storm at sea.

(Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl)

His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chilly silence.

(J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

Radley had been leaning against the wall when I came into the room, his arms folded across his

chest.

(Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird)

Mr. Barnett, his face red and eyes bulging, immediately pounced on her.

(Mildred Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

They all fell silent, the hobbit standing by the grey stone and the dwarves watching

impatiently.

(J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit)

A wild-eyed horse, its bridle torn and dangling, trotted frantically through the mounds of men,

tossing its head, whinnying in panic.

(Lois Lowry, The Giver)

And then I see her, the blood drained from her face, hands clenched in fists at her sides,

walking with stiff, small steps up toward the stage, passing me, and I see the back of her blouse

has become untucked and hangs out over her skirt.

(Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games)

She didn't do anything but sit propped up in a chair or, more often, huddled under blankets on

her bed, eyes fixed on some point in the distance.

(Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games)

The King's Men swooped up Pia and Enzio in the lane outside Master Pangini's hut and placed

them high up on horses, a King's Man grasping each child as they raced through the village.

(Sharon Creech, The Castle Corona)

Matilde had felt herself physically buoyed along by the momentum, her own thoughts riding

the crest of something new and young.

(Ana Menendez, In Cuba I was a German Shepherd)

As the old man continued working, his fingers trembling a bit, the giant said, "There is so much

evil in the world, Henry."

(Robert Cormier, Tunes for Bears to Dance to)

He was almost invisible against the night sky, the streaks of silver in his thick black fur flashing

in the moon’s glow.

(Kenneth Coppel, Silverwing) page 1

But the troopers, their faces coppered in the light of the flames, were joyous.

(E.L. Doctorow, The March, p. 181)

Then, suddenly, his hand dashing out the words given to him by the ceiling muse, his pencil

moving determinedly across the lines of the paper, eyes focusing on the words taking

shape, Barry wrote this memorable sentence.

(Don Killgallon, Then: The Barry Story: An Epiphany from Parsing and Naming of Parts)

Bull Number Two turned to face me, fire sputtering from the gash I'd cut in it's side.

(Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters, Book 2: Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Windshield wipers beating away the snow, chain wrapped tires clanking on the heated road

bed, the explorer crested a final hill.

(Koontz Dean, The Eyes of Darkness)

I felt strong enough to float, warmed as if by sunlight, my bones thrumming and my skin

tingling.

Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days)

All the sisters, even the quick ones with eagle eyes, hung their heads low as they whispered

their prayers with steady precision, lips hardly moving in quick spasms of half-formed words.

(Cecilia Samartin, Broken Paradise)

But there was the wide receiver, Lynn Swann, his dark, lean body defying gravity as he leaped

up--caught it--and twisted midair to ram it down in bounds.

(Gloria Naylor, Mama Day)

He found a rubberized canvas seabag and he prowled the rest of the ship in his boots, pushing

himself off the bulkheads against the tilt, the yellow slicker pants rattling in the cold.

(Cormac McCarthy, The Road p226)

There, blood dripping from its mouth, it responded to Orange Juice in kind, with a higher-

pitched roar.

(Yann Martel, The Life of Pi)

How painful then to conceive of herself in this astonishing new guise, an object of horror, still

less an object of disgust.

(Joyce Carol Oates, The Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly)

"They raised their heads, snorting and stamping their feet nervously, the whites showing in

their liquid brown eyes."

(Cinda Williams Chima, The Demon King)

The Prince dangled in the darkness, shoulders aching, ancient manacles digging into his wrists

as he tried to sleep.

(Brandon Mull, The Beyonders)

There, his black robes rippling in a cold breeze, stood Severus Snape.

(J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

The creatures, some sitting on chairs, others reclining on a sofa, were all watching him

intently.

(Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach)

Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard, their heads down,

their forearms working, their breath whistling.

(John Steinbeck, The Red Pony)

"A tall man, his shotgun slung behind his back with a length of plow line, dismounted and

dropped his reins and crossed the little way to the cedar bolt."

(Howard Bahr, The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War. Picador, 2001)

"I grew quiet and Papa put his arms around Stacey and me, his hands falling casually over our

shoulders."

(Mildred Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

"Big Ma looked at me again, her voice cracking as she spoke. 'Go on, child . . . apologize.'"

(Mildred Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

"With a wave of his hand he sent the other driver back inside, and in less than a minute the lead

car had backed into the road, its headlights facing the other cars."

(Mildred Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

"I heard Stacey walk slowly away, then Mama whispering in the doorway, 'Cassie asleep?'"

(Mildred Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry)

"Judah stopped, and took the hand gently from his shoulder, and confronted Messala, tears

trembling in his eyes."

(Lew Wallace, Ben Hur, pg 77)

Out there, something moved, shadow sliding on shadow.

(Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl)

"He stood frozen like a statue in a park or a church, utterly unable to move, the pain spreading

throughout his body now, his hearbeats thudding in his temples."

(Robert Cormier, Tunes for Bears to Dance To)

"The Bently's headlights lit up the grove of overgrown rhododendrons that lined the drive.

The tires crunched over gravel." (Pratchett and Gaiman, Good Omens)

Heart thumping, Matt ventured from his hiding place and examined the chest. (Nancy

Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion 149).

"He was singing with intense concentration, his eyes closed, his face upturned to the day's last

light which was now seeping in through the darkening stained-glass windows." (Alan

Bradley, A Red Herring Without Mustard)

Deryn’s winged form streaked into sight beneath the edge of the gasbag, careening downward

at an absurd angle, two semaphore flags rippling in her hands. She shot past the bridge

windows in an instant, arms flailing, and then she was gone.

(Scott Westerfeld, Goliath)

I watched him walk by the front window, his head bobbing like his foot hurts.

(Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts, 9)

Charles Wallace slid down from his chair and trotted over to the refrigerator, his pajamaed feet

padding softly as a kitten's.

(Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time)

Heart pounding, I looked down at Angela, who was staring up at us, her expression serious.

Sarah Dessen, Just Listen, pg 222

Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

(Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief)

"Bolenciecwcz was staring at the floor now, trying to think, his great brow furrowed, his huge

hands rubbing together, his face red."

(James Thurber, "University Days")

"She goes on about bootstraps/and I shut myself in my room/ and I lay on my bed and I look at

the ceiling/ where there's the crack that partly looks like a tree overhanging, the branch

draping down."

(Virginia Euwer Wolfe, "Make Lemonade")

"It kept coming, thunder booming, lightning kicking, dancing from the heavens down to the

prairie, and my father dancing with it, dancing outside in the drenching night with the gutters

racing, with the earth puddled and pleased, with my father's near-finished pond filling."

(Karen Hess, Out of the Dust)

She walked indolently along, with a mind at rest, its peace reflected in her innocent face.

(Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

"Vaulting from the saddle, Aerion drew his sword and advanced on his fallen foe." (George R.

R. Martin, The Hedge Knight in Legends)

Her neck muscles tensing against the hold, she drops the gun and tries to wrench herself loose.

(279 Pure Julianna Baggott)

"One by one, down the hill come the mothers of the neighborhood, their kids running beside

them."

(Roger Rosenblatt, "Making Toast." The New Yorker, Dec. 15, 2008)

“Hundreds and hundreds of frogs were sitting down that pipe, and they were all honking, all of

them, not in unison but constantly, their little throats going, their mouths open, their eyes

staring up with curiosity at Karel and Frances and their large human shadows."

(Margaret Drabble, The Realms of Gold, 1975)

"Whenever you heard distant music somewhere in the town, maybe so faint you thought you

imagined it, so thin you blamed the whistling of the streetcar wires, then you could track the

sound down and find Caleb straddling his little velocipede, speechless with joy, his appleseed

eyes dancing."

(Anne Tyler, Searching for Caleb)

"Blood pounding in my ears, I dared to look down the slope of the roof."

--Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

"Then I slept as well, for the rest of the day, my mind and body far too tired to deal with any

more excitement."

--Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

“As the old man continued working, his fingers trembling a bit, the giant said, ‘There is so much

evil in the world, Henry.’”

Tunes for Bears to Dance To – Robert Cormier

“Six boys come over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard, heads down, their

forearms working, their breath whistling.”

The Red Pony – John Steinbeck

"The horse stopped to stare, his eyes filled with golden light."

(Mark Helprin, Winter's Tale)