Unit 9 Sentence Variety
Unit objectives
At the end of the unit you will be able to
1. understand the importance of sentence variety;
2. improve sentence variety in terms of length, pattem, emphasis, and sentence beginner;
3. use inversion correctly;
4. avoid word-for-word translation in writing compositions;
5. write effective introductory paragraphs for short compositions.
PART Ⅰ Warm-up Activities
1. The following two paragraphs express the same idea, but their language is quite different. Discuss with your partner the difference in language, and choose the paragraph that you like better.
Paragraph 1
I got up at six-thirty in the morning. I had my breakfast at six-fifty. I left home at seven exactly. I went to school by bus. I spent about twenty minutes on the bus. I arrived at seven-thirty. I read English for about twenty minutes. I had my first class at eight. (53 words)
Paragraph 2
I got up at six-thirty in the morning, had my breakfast at six-fifty, and left home at seven exactly. After a twenty-minute bus ride. I arrived at school at seven-thirty. Then I read English for about twenty minutes. My first class started at eight. (44 words)
2. An English proverb goes:” A friend in need is a friend indeed.” Write a short composition to explain how you understand this proverb.
PART Ⅱ Focus
In the previous units, we have discussed various sentence-writing strategies. By applying those strategies, we can write effective sentences. But when we put several sentences together, do we necessarily produce a good passage? Not likely! When joining sentences together, we should not only evaluate them individually, but also view them as a group. One important requirement for a group of sentences is that they should belong to different types so that they do not sound boring. We call this sentence variety.
Ways to Achieve Sentence Variety
Achieving sentence variety means using different types of sentences. Now work with your partner to classify English sentences into different types, and give an example for each type. (Tips: You need, first of all, to choose a proper criterion for your classification. You’ll soon see that different criteria lead to different classifications. For a criterion, sentence function, grammatical structure, and sentence length are recommended.) This exercise should help you perceive sentence types in different ways.
Sentence function:
Grammatical structure:
Sentence length:
Your own criterion:
By varying the length
When comparing the two paragraphs in the Warm-up Activities, we find several differences. One is related to sentence length. Now return to these paragraphs, and make some simple calculations.
|
Paragraph
|
Word count of the shortest sentence |
Word count of the longest sentence |
Average sentence length |
Sentence
difference |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
*This refers to the difference between the word counts of the longest and the shortest sentence.
What can you find from the table?
Conclusion: _____________________________________________.
Most writers find it easy to write short sentence, but writing long sen-tences is, though tempting, not always manageable. The sentence expand-ing strategies we have discussed in Unit 5 through 8 can help you write long sentences. Now you may check the table of contents of this book, and sum up the strategies covered in those units.
Unit 5: _________________________________________________
Unit 6: _________________________________________________
Unit 7: _________________________________________________
Unit 8: _________________________________________________
Classroom Activities
Improve sentence variety of the following paragraph by its sentence lengths.
The boys leaned against the willow tree. The willow tree grew next to the stream. Their fishing poles rested on sticks. Their eyes gazed at the bobbers. The bobbers floated on the ripples. The morning had been cool. The morning had been comfortable. But the afternoon was becoming very hot. Both boys looked forward to Friday. It was their only day off in the whole month.
By varying the pattem
By sentence patterns, we mean sentences of different functions and structures. Study the following paragraph carefully. How many types of sentences are used? Write down your answers in the space provided below.
(1) Piet Van de Mark conducts ocean tours off the coast of Baja California. (2) He claims that grey whales like to watch people. (3) These whales often observe the boats from afar, and when the boats approach, they touch them with their snouts and wait to be petted by the usually started tourists. (4) “Oh, how incredible these fish are!” some of them may exclaim. (5) The whales’ friendly behavior convinces de Mark that nature is not necessarily hostile. (6) What does he mean? (7) Well, if you step on a rattlesnake, you’d better watch out, but if you smile at a whale, it will smile at you.
Sentence function:
Grammatical structure:
Your findings:
Classroom Activities
The following sentence is very long. Can you break it up into a short paragraph by using sentences of different patterns? You may add more sentences if you like.
When he opened his first restaurant in 1995, Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, gambled his life savings on the belief that Americans would rather wolf down a meal than linger over it, as the Europeans do, and his gamble paid off because in 1978 Kroc opened the 5,000th store in his chain—a chain that sells nearly one billion hamburgers every three month—and Kroc has revolutionized the food industry with food that is clean, rich, and quick—the Big Mac.
By varying the emphasis
Besides varying sentence lengths and sentence patterns, you can also achieve sentence variety through varying the emphasis in your sentences. As has been discussed in the previous units, you can create different emphatic patterns with coordination and subordination. In addition to these two strategies, these are two other ways.
Classroom Activities
1. Compare the following groups of sentences, and tick (√) those in which the underlined idea is emphasized. Compare your answers with those of your partner’s, and then discuss what the first strategy for emphasis is and how it works.
1) I saw a cat in the garden yesterday.
In the garden yesterday I saw a cat.
2) The boys reluctantly left the playground.
The boys left the playground reluctantly.
Reluctantly, the boys left the playground.
3) That a single man with a good fortune must want a wife is a truth universally acknowledged.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man with a good fortune must want a wife.
4) Don’t believe the stranger if he comes up to you in the street and offers you a well-paid job together with a car and a house.
If a stranger comes up to you in the street and offers you a well-paid job together with a car and a house, don’t believe him.
The first strategy for emphasis:
2. Of the two sentences in each group, one is a natural statement while the aims at emphasis. Can you indentify these emphatic sentences, and tick (√) besides them? Check your answers with your partner after you finish.
1) Their newspapers never report their weapon dealings with other countries.
What their newspapers never report is their weapon dealings with other countries.
2) I hate her foolishness.
It is her foolishness that I hate.
3) Few teachers would criticize a colleague.
There are few teachers who would criticize a colleague.
4) I know what you mean.
I do know what you mean.
5) AT&T, the American Telephone and Telephone Company, dominates the telephone industry in the United States.
The telephone industry in the United States is dominates by AT&T, the American Telephone and Telephone Company.
The second strategy for emphasis:
By varying the beginner
A. Subject
As you might know, the typical sentence pattern in English is subject-verb-object/complement, which means that we usually put the subject at the beginning of a sentence. Nouns and pronouns are usually used as subjects. But what else can be used as subjects? Now work with your partner to write at least three sentences whose subjects are neither nouns nor pronouns.
Your findings:
Besides nouns and pronouns, ______________________________
________________________ can also be used as subjects. By us-ing different kinds of subjects to begin sentences, we can also achieve sentence variety.
B. Adverbial
We can also begin our sentences with other sentence elements, one of which is the adverbial. Now write a few sentences that start with adverbials.
Your findings:
Besides beginning sentences with subjects, we may also put _____
___ at the beginning, and ______________________________can all be used as _____________.This can also improve sentence variety.
Classroom Activities
1. Write ten sentences that do not use nouns or pronouns as their subjects.
1) ______________________________________________________.
2) ______________________________________________________.
3) ______________________________________________________.
4) ______________________________________________________.
5) ______________________________________________________.
6) ______________________________________________________.
7) ______________________________________________________.
8) ______________________________________________________.
9) ______________________________________________________.
10) _____________________________________________________.
2. Write ten sentences that begin with different kinds of adverbials.
1) ______________________________________________________.
2) ______________________________________________________.
3) ______________________________________________________.
4) ______________________________________________________.
5) ______________________________________________________.
6) ______________________________________________________.
7) ______________________________________________________.
8) ______________________________________________________.
9) ______________________________________________________.
10) ______________________________________________________.
3. Go over your short composition for the Warm-up Activities, and improve sentence variety.
Class Activities
1. Some of the following sentences are incorrect because of misuse of inversion. Identify the mistakes and make appropriate changes.
1) Only on weekends I can find time to watch TV.
2) Seldom they can find their boss in his office.
3) Never can I understand why those people lie to their children.
4) Never can you find how did they get their money.
5) Sometimes does he get late for school.
6) Only when am I free can you come to see me.
7) Only when you see him you will believe what I said is true.
8) Hardly had I opened the door when the telephone rang.
9) Hardly had she turned on the TV did the telephone rang.
10) Rare precious stones have been found in this valley.
11) Rarely have precious stones been found in this valley.
2. Improve the following sentences.
1) We wear clothes are made from plastics.
2) This machine can use not only to print words but also to listen to music.
3) Your English level is higher than my English level.
4) I felt the study of university students is very busy.
5) Women usually like sports which need pay more attention.
6) I think her father, her mother and her grandma do are mistake.
7) My parents were always afraid of me to have any accidents.
8) This article doesn’t limit to environmental protection.
9) He wants to say about is the Chinese population problem.
10) Now people’s life doesn’t leave television.