Would someone kindly help me edit a few sentences?

[TCoppock]

My son is working on a paper and I'm unsure if we have correctly edited the following sentences. When we typed it up our Word program is marking them as incorrect. Can someone please set me in the right direction? Grammar is NOT my strong point. I am especially confused because they are being used as quote.

 

The slave trader was taken aback. “Surely not! You are the pope.â€

 

“I am King Ethelbert and I rule this half of this island. Augustine, ye must tell me about your Christianity,†King Ethelbert continued, “but first a place for ye to preach. Canterbury, maybe? I would be more than willing to let ye build a church there.â€

[Fabio McFluffypants]

It looks fine to me--I could be wrong though. I'm not an English major or anything!

[Rebecca VA]

Technically, they're not complete sentences -- but come on, that's the way people talk! I vote for the sentences being correct.

 

However, I would change your King Ethelbert statement to this:

 

"I am King Ethelbert and I rule this half of the island. Augustine, ye must tell me about your Christianity," King Ethelbert continued. "But first [subject, verb] a place for ye to preach. Canterbury, maybe? I would be more than willing to let ye build a church there."

 

[i don't know if "continued" is really the verb that you should use for King Ethelbert's statement. Is this paragraph a continuation of a previous speech? If not, I'd just use "said" or "declared." I would probably use "let us find" for the missing subject and verb.]

Edited September 20, 2010 by Rebecca VA

[Dawn E]

I would perhaps edit the second sentence to this:

 

“I am King Ethelbert(,) and I rule this half of this island. Augustine, ye must tell me about your Christianity,†King Ethelbert (exclaimed, said, bellowed...). “(First, let us find) a place for ye to preach. Canterbury, maybe? I would be more than willing to let ye build a church there.â€