Below are explanations for the two Noun Samples:

Nouns from The Brothers Karamazov

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.

As the interactive exercise instructs, the first step is to highlight any words that could be nouns:

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.

There appear to be eight nouns in this sentence:

1. PARIS: Proper Noun; object of a preposition (IN)
2. CHILD: follows a definite article (THE)
3. REVOLUTION: has noun-making morpheme; follows a definite article (THE)
4. FEBRUARY: Proper Noun; object of a preposition (OF)
5. IMPRESSION: follows an indefinite article (AN)
6. MIND: follows a possessive determiner (HIS); object of a preposition (ON)
7. REST: follows a definite article (THE)
8. LIFE: follows a possessive determiner (HIS); object of a preposition (OF)

Challenge Sample from The Brothers Karamazov

While he was wearying every one with his tears and complaints, and turning his house into a sink of debauchery, a faithful servant of the family, Grigory, took the three-year-old Mitya into his care.

Again, the first step is to highlight any words that might be nouns:

While he was wearying every one with his tears and complaints, and turning his house into a sink of debauchery, a faithful servant of the family, Grigory, took the three-year-old Mitya into his care.

For this sample, there appear to be eleven nouns in this sentence:

1. TEARS: has noun plural inflection; follows a possessive determiner (HIS); object of a preposition (WITH)
2. COMPLAINTS: has noun plural inflection; coordinated as compound object of a preposition (WITH)
3. HOUSE: follows a possessive determiner (HIS); object of non-finite verb (TURNING)
4. SINK: follows an indefinite article (A); object of a preposition (INTO)
5. DEBAUCHERY: object of a preposition (OF)
6. SERVANT: follows an indefinite article (A); modified by an adjective (FAITHFUL)
7. FAMILY: follows a definite article (THE); object of a preposition (OF)
8. GRIGORY: Proper Noun
9. THREE-YEAR-OLD: can follow definite article (THE); dashes create compound word; functioning adjectivally to modify MITYA
10. MITYA: Proper Noun
11. CARE: follows a possessive determiner (HIS); object of a preposition (INTO)

Tips to Keep in Mind

When reviewing for nouns, begin by analyzing in context and determining "who the word is hanging out with." Determiners and prepositions are KEY MARKERS for nouns. As confirmation, use the noun characteristics as primary tests to determine if a word is a noun. Finally, don't confuse pronouns (or other structure-class words) with form-class words.

If you have questions about these sample analyses, please contact your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.