Making Sentences More Interesting!

1. Making Sentences More Interesting!

2. Sentences made short and choppy from chapter one of Harry Potter, and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling. Recombine into more smoothly flowing sentences.

3. It was nearly midnight. He (Harry Potter) was in bed. He was lying on his stomach. The blankets were drawn over him. They were over his head. It looked like a tent. He had a flashlight in his hand. He had a leather-bound book with him. It was titled A History of Magic. It was written by Bathilda Bagshot. It was propped open against the pillow. Harry moved his quill down the page. His quill was an eagle feather. He frowned as he looked for something. He was looking for something to help him write his essay. The essay assignment that he had to write about was: “Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless—Discuss.”

4. SENTENCE COMBINING Sentence combining helps you develop more varied and more interesting sentences, and gives you more dexterity in your writing style. Sometimes combining two or more sentences into one can actually be more concise, using fewer overall words. Three main methods

5. Merge the sentences as they are: using because, while, since, etc. Example: The dog chased the cat. The mice laughed. The dog chased the cat while the mice laughed. • Make one of the sentences “incomplete” and put the incomplete section at the beginning or the end: Example: The dog growled at the mailman. He turned and ran. The dog growled at the mailman, who turned and ran.

6. Make one of the sentences incomplete and put it in the middle of the other one: sometimes using who/which/that, but not always. Example: The dog growled at the mailman. The dog was a terrier. The dog, a terrier, growled at the mailman. Example: The dog chased the cat. The mouse was delighted. The dog, to the delight of the mouse, chased the cat.

7. Try and combine these 6 sentences into 1! • I live in a house. • The house is made of brick. • The brick is red. • The house has a garage. • The garage is brown. • The garage is made of wood.

8. Using Quotes in Your Essay • It is your responsibility to tell the reader why the quote is there. • Explain the significance of the quotation.

9. Quotes and Commas • Use a comma to separate quoted material from the rest of the sentence that explains or introduces the quotation. • “That was a great concert,” said Joe. • If an explanation of who said the quote comes in the middle of the quotation, two commas will be required. • “Be careful,” my mom said, “or you might burn your hand.” • Be careful not to use commas to set off quoted elements introduced by the word that. • Joyce commented that “the lost lizard is on your head.”

10. Pin the Comma on the Quote

11. Rules • There will be two teams. • One person from each team will come up to the board at a time. • You will have to decide if and where the comma should be placed in the sentence. • The team cannot help. • Person who gets it correct first, receives one point! • If there is any cheating, yelling, or unsportsmanlike conduct we will stop immediately.

12. Round 1 Summing up his argument, James states “The reason we need new volleyballs is so we can become a better team.” Summing up his argument, James states “The reason we need new volleyballs is so we can become a better team.”

13. Round 2 “What I want to know is” said Allison “whether you can make me some hot chocolate.” “What I want to know is” said Allison “whether you can make me some hot chocolate.”

14. Round 3 Joy shouted that “we should start folding the clothes before Mom gets home.” Joy shouted that “we should start folding the clothes before Mom gets home.”

15. Round 4 Before he takes the stage, Billy Bob always whispers “It’s game time!” Before he takes the stage, Billy Bob always whispers “It’s game time!”

16. Round 5 “If I were you, I wouldn’t touch that” warned Uncle Brady. “If I were you, I wouldn’t touch that” warned Uncle Brady.

17. Round 6 “If you want” offered Jackson “we can go get ice cream before the game.” “If you want” offered Jackson “we can go get ice cream before the game.”

18. Round 7 That girl over there told us that “you should watch where you walk!” That girl over there told us that “you should watch where you walk!”

19. Round 8 “She ate that grasshopper for a dollar” Mark gasped. “She ate that grasshopper for a dollar” Mark gasped.