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Sentence Variety

Sentence Variety. Intentionally controlling the rivers and drums in your writing. Jean Kanzinger Demo Lesson: 13 June 2012. Admitting you have a problem. Graphing sentence length Comparing variety of sentence starters Comparing variety of verbs. What did you discover?.

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Sentence Variety

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  1. Sentence Variety Intentionally controlling the rivers and drums in your writing Jean Kanzinger Demo Lesson: 13 June 2012

  2. Admitting you have a problem • Graphing sentence length • Comparing variety of sentence starters • Comparing variety of verbs

  3. What did you discover?

  4. Hearing the Variety in Sentences “…write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.” ~Roy Peter Clark This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important. from Writing Tools: 50 Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

  5. What if students varied their sentences with intention?

  6. Sentences as rivers and drums Read aloud to hear the music in a piece. Rivers Long “journey sentences” (R.P. Clark) “steady advance” (Don Fry) *list or catalogue of names or images *rationale *describe longer events/conditions [Best if S and V are up front] Drums Short the periods add stops a moment to think *insistent *simplify the complex *suspense *conclusion/bottom line *emotional truth [Subject + verb & intentional fragments are powerful drums.]

  7. Revise sentences for varied length with intention Let form follow function!

  8. Mentor texts to examine the function/purpose of varied sentence length From A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson From Marley & Me by John Grogan From I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron From Winterdance by Gary Paulsen

  9. What did you discover?

  10. Revision time Revisit the piece you brought. Take time to revise your sentences so that form follows function. You can rechart at the end.

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