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SENTENCES
Write a story, dialogue, anecdote or what have you, in the series of sentences listed,
sticking to order and type.
Simple
Compound
Complex
Standard order
Inverted Order
Interrupted sentence
Loose sentence
Periodic sentence
Parallelism
Balance
Antithesis
Gradation
EXAMPLES OF SENTENCES:
Simple:
*[Subject] [verb] [object]:
He hit the ball.
Compound:
*Two independent clauses linked by a conjunction:
He hit the ball and she ran away from him.
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Complex:
*At least one independent clause linked to one or more dependent or subordinate
clauses.
Rain finally came, although many had left the area by then.
Standard Order:
*Object of sentence comes first.
The sound of the rain was beautiful.
Inverted Order:
*Object comes at end of sentence.
How beautiful was the sound of the rain.
Interrupted:
*Sentence interrupted by parenthetical clause or phrase.
Peering down the well -- not realizing how dangerous it was to do such a thing -we saw nothing.
Loose sentence:
*Sentences complete with the subject and predicate plus their modifiers and then
more modifiers (dependent clauses, prepositions, etc.) are added at the end.
The old man bitterly hated all social planning, having been unaware of social
problems during most of his life and now choosing to ignore them, despite the
discomfort it caused him.
Periodic sentence:
*This sentence either saves the main clause until just before the end (the period) of
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the sentence, using everything that comes before to interpret the meaning:
In three years, two months, and seven days, according to his view, the world will
end.
*; or it begins with the subject near the beginning, is followed by modifiers, and
eventually comes to a predicate.
Uncle Theodore, whom everyone calls a liar, a drunkard and a fool, is, in truth,
beneath that gruff and smelly exterior, from time to time -- considering it's the
right time -- I've been told, a right fine fellow.
Parallelism:
*Parallelism expresses coordinate ideas in similar grammatical structures. The
ideas should also establish an order.
After years of teaching, Cleona decided to quit when she realized that she didn't
have enough time for her hobbies, that her fellow teachers bored her, and that she
actually disliked children.
Balance:
*In a pure balanced sentence two independent clauses are exactly parallel,
matching item for item:
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
Antithesis:
*Here is a balanced structure in which the content is in opposition, a against b:
You destroy what you touch; I build what I touch.
Gradation:
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*A series of balanced independent clauses in which ideas either increase or
diminish with each clause:
I came, I saw, I conquered.
or
Some women are born great; some women achieve greatness; and some women
have greatness thrust upon them.
or
You can fool some of the people some of the time; you can fool most of the people
most of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Example
I Lost it in Fuquay-Varina
Elizabeth Moose
Simple:
I lost it in Fuquay-Varina.
Compound:
I thought, what a place in which to lose it, and I longed to have lost
mine somewhere more exotic.
Complex:
Mother wept when she learned of what I had lost.
Standard Order:
Her tears rolled after she slapped my face.
Inverted Order:
Had she seen the truth there, shining in my eyes?
Interrupted:
She had, but could she not -- since this was my first -- forgive and
forget it?
Loose:
"You were reckless," she said, tongue-clucking and head-shaking as
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she rocked in housedress and scuffs, chewing on the ribbons of her
frock and nibbling Nip-cheese.
Periodic:
"Mother," said I, "all things, even the Ming Dynasty, the Clamshell
Alliance, cream-of-wheat and Chiquita banana, even Neferitti and
Ramses II, kumquats, katydid, the Flatiron building, Dippity-do,
even prickly heat and Kitty Carlisle, all these, I say, all things must
change, must past, for the tick of the clock is loss, loss, loss.
Balance:
"Bullshit," she said, then spat out a ribbon, patted her topknot,
scuffed to her bedroom, then slammed the door.
Simple:
Delicacy had always marked her speech and her step.
Antithesis:
Gradation:
Though I was hurt, I still remained proud.
That very afternoon I left for the A & P to recapture those days
when life was dark, life was sweet, life was chewy and seedy and
tasty, and when, in short, there was quality in my corner, in those
days, in those delectable days before I lost my fig newtons in
Fuquay-Varina.