Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

RATIONALE:An important characteristic of any college student—not just an English major—is the ability to write well. Effective writing must be cogent and coherent, but what truly makes competent writing excellent is style.

One of the challenges this semester will be to take your writing from competent to excellent, to move it up to the next level. We will use many strategies to improve your writing style, and of these strategies, using a variety of sentence patterns is one the most effective ways to improve your writing.

Throughout the semester, you will not only learn and practice new sentence patterns, but you will also incorporate these patterns into your writing.

The Plan:We will work on one sentence pattern each week with the goal of completing all fifteen by the end of first semester. However, you know what Burns said about the best laid plans of mice and men… (If you don’t, find out!)

Therefore, be prepared to be flexible. Sometimes we may skip a week, or we may do two in one week. We may not even go in order. I will give you plenty of notice about due dates.

I will also review the rules for most patterns. Please ask for help or ask me to check your sentences if you’re not sure you’re doing them correctly.

Requirements: Write 12 sentences for each pattern. TEN of the twelve sentences must focus on one major literary work—

novel, play or epic poem. Use a different work for each pattern. Two of the sentences can be fun, but they still have to follow the pattern.

Grading:The sentences will be graded on following the pattern, using it appropriately, and focusing on one literary work.

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

PATTERN # 1

Compound sentence: semicolon, no conjunction (two short, related sentences now joined)

S V ; S V.

Models: The cry for freedom stops at no border; it echoes endlessly in the hearts of all

men. The vicuna is a gentle animal living in the central Andes; his fleece often

becomes the fabric of expensive coats.

Two complete sentences Two closely related ideas

PATTERN # 2

Compound sentence with elliptical construction (comma indicates the omitted verb)

S V DO or SC ; S , DO or SC.

This pattern is really the same as PATTERN #1, but here you will omit the verb in the second clause BECAUSE and ONLY if it would needlessly repeat the verb of the first clause.

Models:

The Eskimo lives in an igloo; the American Indian, in a teepee.

A red light means stop; a green light, go.

The Russian ballerina wears a tutu; the Malaysian dancer, a brightly colored

sarong.

Two independent clausesBe sure the verb omitted in second clause matches exactly the verb in the

first. Test this by putting the verb in first, e.g. A red light means stop; a green light means go. The following is wrong: We like classical music; George, hard rock.

Use semicolon if there is no conjunction; use comma if there is a joining, coordinate conjunction. Susan likes classical music, and George, hard rock.

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

PATTERN #3

Compound sentence with explanatory statement

General statement (idea) : specific statement (example). (independent clause) : (independent clause)

This pattern is exactly like #1 and #2 in structure; it is a compound; however, it is very different in content as the colon implies. The colon signals the reader that something important or explanatory follows.

Models: Darwin’s Origin of Species forcible states a harsh truth: only the fittest

survive. The empty coffin in the center of the crypt had a single horrifying meaning:

Dracula had left his tomb to stalk the village streets in search of fresh blood. Creative writing is a little like biological creation: the offspring is sometimes

quite different from the parent.

Don’t use this pattern unless the second independent clause in some way amplifies and explains the first.

PATTERN #4

Series without a conjunction(a series in any part of the sentence)

A,B,C

This pattern is the simplest form of the series. The items making up the series are separated by commas, and in this special pattern there is no conjunction linking the final two items. Omitting this conjunction in the series here is effective, for it gives your sentence a quick, staccato sound, a sound of crispness and liveliness. Remember that tone and sound fluency are important considerations here.

Models: The United States has a government of the people, by the people, for the

people. The goals of the ecology-awareness movement are clear: breathable air,

drinkable water, livable space, viable soil, unpolluted oceans. Shortly after midnight in a serene, enchanting, mysterious performance, the

night-blooming cereus gradually begins to bloom.

Series may be in any part of the sentence

Make sure the items in the series are parallel in structure

Pattern #5

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

Series of balanced pairs(note the rhythm)

A and B , C and D , E and F (may be in any slot in the sentence)

Models: Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Lancelot and Guinevere were all

famous lovers in literature. Lorenzo had that paradoxical character of the Renaissance man—idealist and

materialist, artist and debauchee, angel and devil. Jane Austen depicts with gentle satire the foibles and weaknesses,

eccentricities and ambitions, triumphs and defeats of the human species.

Pairs may be in any sentence slot

Listen to rhythm and sound

Pairs must be parallel

PATTERN #6

Single appositive

S , appositive , V commas = ordinary dashes = dramatic parentheses = whisper

Models: His father, the minister, performed the ceremony. A familiar smell—fresh blood—assailed his jungle trained nostrils. The Elizabethan concept of artifice (craftsmanship well-executed and

therefore admirable) made the word “artificial” a compliment, not a criticism.

An appositive takes two punctuation marks

PATTERN #7

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

Emphatic appositive at end, after a colon

S V : the appositive (with or without modifiers)

Models: Most contemporary philosophies echo ideas from one man: Plato. Anyone left abandoned on a desert island should avoid two dangers: cactus

needles and rattlesnakes. Were those twins my children, I’d make one thing perfectly clear to them: the

curfew hour.

Independent clause before the colon

The appositive is a word or phrase, not a complete sentence

PATTERN #8

Introductory series of appositives with a dash and summarizing subject(An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies, or provides further information about, another noun or noun phrase)

Appositive, appositive , appositive — summary word S V.

The key summarizing word before the subject may be one of these: such, all, those, this, many, each, which, what, these, something, someone. Sometimes this summary word will be the subject, but sometimes it will merely modify the subject.

Models: The trees, the earth, the hills, the green water of the lakes—all told their

stories. To struggle, to exist, and to create his own soul—this is man’s great task. Love, hate, fear, anger, ambition—how many are the emotions that direct our

daydreams? An old photograph, a haunting fragrance, a sudden view of a half-forgotten

scene—something unexpectedly triggers our nostalgia for the past.

Check commas, summary word, dash, parallel structure

PATTERN #9

Internal series of appositives or modifiers

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

(enclosed by a pair of dashes)

S — appositive, appositive, appositive — V. S — modifier, modifier, modifier — V.

Because the series itself will have commas, there must be a pair of dashes to set off the series from the rest of the sentence.

Models: Any famous detective—Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe or Dick Tracy—would

be an excellent model? Young Beauregard—handsome, dashing, and debonair—kept all the young

ladies breathless. All the sciences—physical, biological, and social—share in the search fro

truth.

Two dashes

Is it a complete sentence without the interrupter?

Parallel structure

PATTERN #10

Interrupting Modifiers between subject and verb

S , modifier , V .S — modifier — V .S (whispering modifier) V .

Models: A small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, can make millions think. He jumped at the chance (too impetuously really) to shoot the rapids in a

kayak. Her joyous laughter—delightful to all who knew her—no one will ever forget.

The punctuation marks for this pattern must go in pairs

PATTERN #11

Introductory or concluding participial phrases

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

Participial phrase, S V.S V, participial phrase.

Models: Overwhelmed by the tear gas, the rioters groped their way toward the

fountain to wash their eyes. Chaucer’s monk is quite far removed from the ideal occupant of a monastery,

given as he was to such pleasures as hunting, dressing in fine clothes, and eating like a gourmet.

Printed in Old English and bound in real leather, the new edition of Beowulf was too expensive for the family to buy.

Don’t dangle participles

PATTERN #12

Dependent clauses as subject or object or complement

S V.(dependent clause as subject)S V.(dependent clause as object or complement)

Models: How he could fail is a mystery to me. He became what he had long aspired to be. Why many highly literate people continue to watch insipid “situation

comedies” on television constantly amazes writers, producers, even directors.

Who, whom, which, that, what, why, where, when are the words that introduce these clauses.

PATTERN # 13

Dependent clauses in a pair or series (at the beginning or end of a sentence)

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

If … , if … , if … , then S V .When … , when … , S V .

Save this pattern for special places. It can be effective at the end of a single paragraph to summarize the major points, in structuring a thesis statement, or in the introductory or concluding paragraphs to bring together main points of a composition in a single sentence.

Models: Whether one needs fantasy or whether one needs stark realism, the theater

can become a Mecca. If you promise not to keep your socks under the bed, if you agree to help me

with the dishes every evening and take out the garbage every morning, if you really will “love, honor, and cherish,” then I might marry you.

In Biology 101 Stella learned that a hummingbird does not really hum, that a screech owl actually whistles, and that storks prefer to wade in water rather than fly around carrying tiny babies.

Two or three dependent clauses will work

No matter the number, or the position within the sentence, you should arrange the dependent clauses in some order of increasing impact.

PATTERN # 14

Repetition of a key term(in a modifying phrase attached to the main clause)

S V key term — repeated key term .(use dash or comma before repetition)

You may repeat the word exactly as it is or you may use another form of it. Be sure the word is worthy of repetition.

Models: He was a cruel brute of a man, brutal to his family and even more brutal to his

friends. We all inhabit a mysterious, inorganic world—the inner world, the world of the

mind.

Be sure that the attached phrase with the repeated key term is not a complete sentence; if it is, you will inadvertently create a comma splice.

PATTERN # 15

Complete inversion of normal pattern

Standard = S V or S V ADJ or SV DO or SV SC

Advanced Placement Sentence Patterns

Inverted = V S or ADJ V S or DO V S or SC V S

Models: Down the street and through the mist stumbled the unfamiliar figure. From his years of suffering came eventual understanding and compassion. Westward fly their dreams.

Never offend the ear.

This pattern adds spice, but too much seasoning can ruin the dish.