tips for writing strong sentences - cloud object storage ...€¦ · strong sentences by glynnis...
TRANSCRIPT
The basis of good writing
Great sentences come in all sizes.
Some are great because they are short: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
Some are great because they are long and beautiful: “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'” C.S. Lewis
A SentenceA sentence contains a subject and predicate and
expresses a complete thought. A sentence ends with a period or other concluding punctuation.
Subject (who or what the sentence is about)Predicate (tells something about the subject)
The writer loved to read.
Subject – Is always a noun or a pronoun
Predicate – Includes a verb (action or state of being)
Writers write.She forgot to turn off the light.Dogs are great pets.
NOTE: to be a true predicate, a verb ending in –ing must always have a helping verb.
The girl was working on her essay.
Independent Clauses
Contains a subject and a predicate and a complete thought
Does not necessarily end with a period
Can stand alone
Example: The author finished the book.
Dependent Clauses
Contains a subject and a predicate, but not a complete thought.
A dependent clause cannot stand alone.
Sometimes I measured myself against other people. “She’s so clever. She’s so educated. She’s so connected. Who am I compared to all that?” Gradually, I shrank back. I pulled away. I put up a front of perfection with carefully crafted words and a house and kids that looked just right.
Polished on the outside, yet completely undone on the inside.
Lysa TerKeurst, “Will You Share Your Story?”
There can be a compound subject and/or a compound predicate.
The brother and sister had fun.
The teacher walked into the classroom, greeted the students, and took attendance.
Compound SentenceContains two independent clauses joined by a conjunction/coordinator
Coordinators: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
The class was easy, but the lab was hard.
Complex SentenceContains one or more dependent clauses, joined to an
independent clause.
A complex sentence always has a subordinator (because, since, after, although or when) or a relative
pronoun (that, who or which).
SubordinatorsComparison &
Contrast* Although* Though* Even though* While
Cause & Effect* Since* So that* Because
Time * After* When* Until* Whenever* Before
Complex Sentence Rule #1
When the sentence begins with a subordinator, a comma is required at the end of the dependent
clause.
Although the class was easy, the lab was hard.
Complex Sentence Rule #2
When the sentence begins with the independent clause, no comma is required.
The lab was hard although the class was easy.
John passed the test because he studied hard and understood the material.
Contains two independent clauses joined by one or more dependent clauses.
While the class was easy, and the lab was hard, the students enjoyed both.
Although I like books, I do not like suspense novels, but my sister loves them.
A Compound-Complex Sentence
Run-on Sentence
Two independent clauses joined without punctuation
Example: She wanted to write about an exciting life she didn’t want to leave the
house.
Practice
Dan loved the idea of writing but he didn’t like the act of writing.
Dan loved the idea of writing, but he didn’t like the act of writing.
Many years were spent regretting sins from my past; sins that had hurt others and myself.
Many years were spent regretting sins from my past, sins that had hurt others and myself.
Dan loved the idea of writing, he bought a computer.
Dan loved the idea of writing; he bought a computer.
Dan bought a computer, since he loved the idea of writing.
Dan bought a computer since he loved the idea of writing.
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between
lightning and a lightning bug.”
Mark Twain
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the
reader.”
Robert Frost
Anastrophe
Anastrophe is a form of literary device wherein the order of the noun and the adjective in the sentence is exchanged. This reversed order creates a dramatic impact and lends weight to the description offered by the adjective.
"This is the forest primeval."
Henry Longfellow in
Evangeline
Antimetabole
Reversal of repeated words or phrases for effect.
“Ask not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country.” John F.
Kennedy
Antithesis
A rhetorical device containing a contrast of ideas in a balanced parallel construction
“To be or not to be, that is the question.” Shakespeare
To err is human; to forgive, divine. --Pope
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. --
Neil Armstrong
Willa Cather A Wagner Matinee
She sat looking about her with eyes as impersonal, almost as stony, as those with which the granite Rameses in a museum watches the froth and fret that ebbs and flows about his pedestal-separated from it by the lonely stretch of centuries.
Her lip quivered and she hastily puther handkerchief up to her mouth. From
behind it she murmured, “And you have been hearing this ever since you left me, Clark?” Her question was the gentlest and saddest
of reproaches.
My aunt wept quietly, but almost continuously,as a shallow vessel overflows in a
rainstorm.