Sentences.
Sentences?
Sentences!
Variety IS the Spice of Writing!
 Cumulative Sentence (aka Loose)
 Periodic Sentence
 Balanced Sentence
Cumulative Sentence
(aka Loose ~ presumably
loosely structured)
 Common to speech & sentence
combining
 Basic Statement: Bells rang.
 Add a string of details: Bells
rang, filling the air with their
clangor, startling pigeons into
flight from every belfry, bringing
people into the streets to hear
the news.
Cumulative Sentence ~
another example
 The teacher considered him a good
student.
 Add a string of details: The teacher
considered him a good student, steady if
not inspired, willing if not eager,
responsive to instruction and
conscientious about his work.
Cumulative Sentence ~ mentor
text from “The Demon Lover”
 “Against the next batch of clouds,
already piling up ink dark, broken
chimneys and parapets stood out.”
 Work with a partner to find another
example in the text. Write your example
on a sentence strip.
Periodic Sentence
 Suspense builds as the main clause arrives
near the period, but can have appositives
as the additional details.
 Basic sentence: John gave his mother
flowers.
 Add a string of details: John, the
tough one, the sullen kid who
scoffed at any show of sentiment,
gave his mother flowers.
Periodic Sentence ~ another
example
 She refused.
 While he was declaring the ardour of his
passion in such terms, as but too often
make vehemence pass for sincerity,
Adeline, to whom this declaration, if
honourable, was distressing, and if
dishonourable, was shocking, interrupted
him and thanked him for the offer of a
distinction, which, with a modest, but
determined air, she said she must refuse.
Periodic Sentence ~ poetry
“Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent and soft, and slow,
Descends the snow.
Longfellow’s “Snowflakes”
Periodic Sentence ~ mentor
text from “The Demon Lover”
 “Behind the blanket of rain the clock of
the church that still stood struck six—
with rapidly heightening apprehension
she counted each of the slow strokes.”
 Work with a partner to find another
example in the text. Write your example
on a sentence strip.
“Presto-Chango”
 Cumulative ~ Periodic
 True cumulative sentences and periodic
sentences can be reversed without
losing meaning – just effect/emphasis.
Balanced ~ Emphatic
Parallel structure approximately the same
length and importance
 Best-known examples:
 “Veni, vidi, vici” Julius Caesar
 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times…” A Tale of Two Cities
Balanced Sentence
From Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
“But in a larger sense, we cannot
dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we
cannot hallow – this ground” and “….–
that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish
from the earth.”
Balanced Sentence~Mentor
text from “The Demon Lover”
 “It was not a circular, it was not a bill.”
 Work with a partner to find another
example of a balanced sentence from
the text. Write that example on a
sentence strip.
Assignment
 Groups of two – each will have a sentence
to write, but you may share brains.
 Write a sentence of at least 15 words based
on the forms chosen by your group.
 Share the sentences with the class by
writing them on the sentence strips.
Student Samples ~ cumulative
 They had a good time, laughing, joking and
smiling, running jovially while playing capture
the flag until the wee hours of the morning.
 The moon rose, high and bright, provoking
wolf cries, stealing darkness from night.
 She obviously liked the song on the radio,
tapping her foot, singing along, and moving
enthusiastically to the rhythm of the beat.
Student samples ~ periodic
 Lying on the frigid hardwood floor, clinging to
the last inkling of life, the man was dying.
 With a carnival-like atmosphere, the lively
show, the howling beasts, and sweating
performers, the circus was his life.
 Looking at me with wide, shocked eyes, her
hair swaying softly in the breeze as she
breathed in a shaky breath wrought with
nervousness, Andrea told me to do it.
Student samples ~ periodic con’t
 Crawling out of his bed, creeping into the
shower for a jolt of awake, pouring the caffeine
into his veins, he made it to work every day.
 Even though he tried his best in practice and
never touched the filed during games, the sport
was his life.
 Lying motionless in a bed of wood, his face was
pale, his body was solid in absolute stillness,
the man was dead.
Student samples ~ balanced
 The pain was unbearable; the stress was
unequaled.
 The old painting hung on the wall, almost a
vivid photograph created from paint.
 Doctors heal patients; dentists clean teeth;
both gain wealth.