FLC Writing Program / Writing Conventions
Williams’ Sprawl
In Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph Williams argues a sentence sprawls “when after
its verb and object, it tacks on a series of subordinate clauses of the same kind.”
For example, the following sentence contains an opening phrase, a subject-verb core, and 4
tacked on relative clauses: Of the many areas of science important to our future, few are more
promising than genetic engineering, which is a new way of manipulating the elemental structure
units of life itself, which are the genes and chromosomes that tell our cells how to reproduce to
become the parts that constitute our bodies.
Williams suggests 3 ways to avoid sprawl:
1. Cut relative clauses to phrases
2. Turn subordinate clauses into independent sentences
3. Change clauses to modifying phrases
1. Cut relative clauses by deleting unnecessary who/that/which and is/was clauses: Of the many
areas of science important to our future, few are more promising than genetic engineering, a
new way of manipulating the elemental structure units of life itself, the genes and
chromosomes that tell our cells how to reproduce to become the parts that constitute our
bodies.
2. Turn subordinate clauses to independent sentences by creating new sentences: Many areas of
science are important to our future, but few are more promising than genetic engineering. It
is a new way of manipulating the elemental structure units of life itself, the genes and
chromosomes that tell our cells how to reproduce to become the parts that constitute our
bodies.
3. 3 Types of Modifying Phrases

Resumptive—a phrase that repeats a key word
“It is a good strategy, a strategy that can get you an “A.”
“Williams’ strategies are both practical and effective, practical because they apply
to all writing and effective because they work!

Summative—a phrase that sums up the substance of the sentence
“It is a good strategy, a grammar rule you can take with you forever”

Free—a phrase that comments on the subject of the closest verb (“free” because they can
begin or end a sentence.)
“Free modifiers enhance paragraphs, making you a better writer.”