Sentence Fluency

1. Sentence Fluency I can write a variety of sentence structures.

2. Building Fluency • Revise the following sentence using the beginnings indicated. Feel free to combine sentences or word things differently: Many writers become discouraged when critics fail to see the true value in their work. When________________________ The failure ___________________________ The true value ________________________ Discouragement _______________________

3. Building Fluency • Share your sentences with your partner. • What do you think of these options, too? When critics fail to see the value in a writer’s work, the writer often becomes discouraged. The failure of critics to see value in a writer’s work can lead to discouragement. The true value of a writer’s work is often misjudged by critics. Discouragement in writers is derived from critics’ failures to recognize true value.

4. What is “Sentence Fluency?” • Sentence fluency is the term that refers to way a writer’s sentences sound together. • Writing that is “fluent” has good rhythm and flow • Writers achieve fluency through the following strategies: • Varying sentence length • Varying sentence beginnings • Reading aloud their own work to hear if it flows

5. Two of the Greats! • The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. • Hemingway; The Old Man and the Sea, p. 10 • Not a flat. Not an apartment. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes waiting beside the bed. Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after. • The House on Mango Street, p. 108

6. How did they do it? The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. Hemingway; The Old Man and the Sea, p. 10 Not a flat. Not an apartment. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes waiting beside the bed. Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after. The House on Mango Street, p. 108 Similar sentence beginnings Creative use of sentence fragments The first sentence is compound, while the second is a fragment. Creative use of a simile to make a comparison.

7. Off you go!!! • Read your essay aloud to your partner. Using their guidance, select a paragraph that sounds dull and/or choppy • Rewrite the paragraph using two or more of the following techniques: • Each sentence is a different length (number of words) • Each sentence is a different sentence type (Simple, Compound, Complex) • Add a sentence fragment OR start with an “If, Or, And, But” • Start several sentences with the same word/group of words Staple your revised paragraph to your draft