The Art of Styling Sentences: 20 Patterns for Success

1. The Art of Styling Sentences: 20 Patterns for Success Improve your writing.

2. The Art of Styling Sentences • There are twenty patterns (with variations). This year, we will be learning eleven of these. • Practicing what these patterns can do will show you a way to improve your writing and understanding of correct punctuation.

3. What is a Sentence? -an effort to communicate a complete thought • What?(communicates the confusion or surprise of the speaker) • Stop! (issues a simple command to an intended audience) • Drats! (expression of emotion)

4. Basic sentences have a subject and verb. The cat ate. I fell. subject verb

5. Basic sentences have a subject and verb. The cat ate. I fell.

6. Single Modifier The gray cat ate. I fell awkwardly.

7. Phrases as modifiers with yellow eyes ate. The gray cat . I fell awkwardly to the stage

8. Phrases as modifiers ate. with yellow eyes The gray cat . I fell awkwardly to the stage

9. Clauses • Independent clauses--complete thoughts that can stand on their own as complete sentences • Subordinate clauses--may have a subject and verb, but are ultimately an incomplete thought

10. Dependent Clauses complex sentence: dependent clause + independent clause After the mean neighborhood dog left, the gray cat with the yellow eyes ate. complex sentence: independent clause + dependent clause I fell awkwardly to the stage when the choreography required me to spin in a circle. Subordinate Clause Test: Read it. If the thought is incomplete, then it is subordinate.

11. Sentence types Simple Sentence - a single independent clause I fell.

12. Sentence Types Compound sentence - has two independent clauses, makes two statements or has two or more subject/verb combinations I fell and I cried.

13. Sentence Types Complex sentence -contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses I fell awkwardly to the stage when the choreography required me to spin in a circle.

14. Sentence Types Compound complex sentence -has two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent ones. The crowd booed and then they threw rotten apples at me when I fell on the stage. independent clause + independent clause + dependent clause

15. Appositive - a word or description that renames something elsewhere in the sentence Bill tried to ask the new girl out.

16. Appositive - a word or description that renames something elsewhere in the sentence , my awkward cousin from Winnaleah, Tasmania, Bill tried to ask the new girl out.

17. You should be comfortable with: • subjects • verbs • dependent clauses • independent clauses • appositives • simple sentences • compound sentences • complex sentences • compound complex sentences

18. If you are not comfortable with any or all of these: Email your teacher listing those that are a problem for you.

19. PATTERN 1: Compound sentence: semicolon, no conjunction (2 short, related sentences now joined) SV ; SV . What precedes and what follows the semicolon must be capable of standing alone. Example: He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. –Lao-tzu *** Note: no conjunction joins the two clauses.

20. Pattern 1 Examples: • Try on this jacket; it seems to be your size. • Hard work is only one side of the equation; talent is the other. • Some people dream of being something; others stay awake and are. • “E.T., don’t phone home; it’s too expensive.” – El Paso Herald-Post • “Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.” – Aesop • “Forget defensive driving; practice paranoid driving.” – Jim Lanham, El Paso Herald-Post

21. A friend, whom you have been gaining during your whole life, you ought not to be displeased with in a moment.  A stone is many years becoming a ruby; take care that you do not destroy it in an instant against another stone. ~ Saadi (Sheikh MuslihAddin) Iranian poet; c. 1184–?1292

22. Pattern 1A

23. PATTERN 1ASV ; however, SV . Use a conjunctive adverb (connector) such as however, hence, therefore, thus, then, moreover, nevertheless, likewise, consequently, or accordingly. The comma after the connector is optional; however, I recommend using one if you use a polysyllabic conjunctive adverb.

24. Pattern 1A Examples: • David had worked in the steaming jungle for two years without leave; hence, he was tired almost beyond endurance. b. This gadget won’t work; therefore, you shouldn’t buy it.

25. Pattern 1B

26. PATTERN 1B: Use a coordinating conjunction (also a connector) such as and, or, for, but, nor, yet, or so. SV ; SV , and SV. or SV, but SV ; SV .

27. PATTERN 1B MODEL Examples: a. It was radical; it was daring, but mostly it was cheap. b. The snow fell rapidly, and in the building Harold felt safe; he dreaded leaving his shelter for the long, dangerous trip home.

28. Pattern 1C

29. PATTERN 1CSV ; SV ;SV. a. “Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control.” – Marcus Aurelius • “Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.” – Stanley Ullman, 15th-century French essayist

30. Pattern 2

31. PATTERN 2 Compound sentence with elliptical construction S V DO or SC ; S , DO or SC. ^ (comma indicates the omitted verb) Elliptical clauses add elegance and efficiency to your sentences.

32. Elements of elliptical clauses: • grammatically incomplete • missing either the relative pronoun (dependent word) that introduces it . . . • . . . or something from the predicate in the second part of a comparison • missing parts are understood in context • reader probably not aware that anything is missing

33. PATTERN 2 • This is really the same as Pattern 1, but here the verb in the second clause is omitted BECAUSE and ONLY IF it would needlessly repeat the verb of the first clause, which must be exactly the same. • If you leave out more than the verb, you may need to insert a word, such as one, here. • It is also possible to omit more than just the verb; sometimes you may even omit the subject.

34. Pattern 2 Models Examples: • Jessica had five dollars; Monica, three. (The verb had was dropped from the second clause, but the meaning is still clear.) • A red light means stop; a green light, go. • For many students the new math crusade of the 1950s was a disaster; for others, a godsend. d. Tom played a musical number by Bach; Jed, one by Mozart. e. An artist’s instinct is intuitive, not rational; aesthetic, not pragmatic. f. Washington, D.C., has 92 police officers per 10,000 people; New Jersey, 41; West Virginia, 16.

35. Pattern 3

36. PATTERN 3compound sentence with an explanatory statement SV : SV. General statement (idea) specific statement (example) _____________________ : _________________________ (an independent clause) (an independent clause)

37. When he is dying, Giles Corey murmurs these famous words: “More weight.” • “Adultery, John”—Elizabeth reminds John of his broken commandment. • I take the fifth commandment a step farther: Honor your teachers.

38. Examples: • Darwin’s Origin of Species forcibly states a harsh truth: only the fittest survive. • A lizard never worries about losing its tail: it can always grow another. • Don’t forget what the old saying prudently advises: Be careful what you wish for because you may actually get it. • When you are faced with hard times, remember Edwin Markham’s inspiring words: “Sorrows stretch out places in the heart for joy.”

39. SP 3 • A colonsignals that something important or explanatory will follow and indicates that the second clause will specifically explain or expand an idea expressed in the first clause. • Capitalization of the first word after the colon is a matter of personal taste and style; however, do capitalize the first word when quoting someone. • Remember the test for every compound sentence: both clauses must be full statements and capable of standing alone as sentences.

40. PATTERN 3 MODEL Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance: they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

41. Pattern 3A

42. PATTERN 3Acompound sentence using a dash SV – SV. A. Specific statement (example) general statement (idea) ________________________ – _________________________ (an independent clause) (an independent clause) • The second statement may also signify a break in thought. Because a dash is more informal, use this structure sparingly.

43. What is the difference between a semicolon, a colon, and a dash? • The semicolon is the neutral choice. • Use a colon to amplify or illustrate the first clause (general > specific). • A dash signals an abrupt change of tone or thought; a dash gives force to an added idea.

44. PATTERN 3A MODELS • Only one man knew the safe’s combination – he was out of town. • Eva said nothing could stop her from attending college – she meant it. • “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” – Following this commandment might keep teens from gossiping about their peers.

45. Complete the best punctuation (; or :) • We do not ride upon the railroad __ it rides upon us. • Minds are like parachutes __ they function only when open. • Half of all advertising is wasted __ no one knows which half.

46. PATTERN 3A MODEL • Where and how would you connect these two independent clauses? • “All successful men have agreed in one thing they were causationists” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

47. Pattern 4

48. PATTERN 4: A series of parallel items (in any part of the sentence) separated by commas but without a conjunction A, B, C S V. S V A, B, C.

49. A term to know: asyndeton - the deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses Effect: • may speed up the pace of a work • may add emphasis to text • adds a degree of equality to the terms

50. PATTERN 4 MODEL • The coach is loud, profane, demonstrative; he has again been trapped, caught, humiliated. • With wisdom, patience, virtue, Queen Victoria directed the course of 19th-century England. c. “And [the film star] looks every inch the actor: painted, powdered, affected, vain, insecure, unreal, quite frightening, grotesque.” – DundanFallowell, European Travel and Life, Sept. 1990 • “Our priorities run to safety over style, value over flash, comfort over speed.” – Caroline Miller, Lear, April 1993 e. “She was attentive, friendly, even casual – not really different from her demeanor at any other meeting, though her mind must have been racing.” – Gregory Curtis, Time, Jan. 8, 2001