SENTENCE VARIETY

“Variety’s the very spice of life That gives it all its flavour.”

- William Cowper

A GROUP OF WORDS THAT EXPRESSES A THOUGHT AND IS COMPLETE IN ITSELF.

Sentence (noun)

THE QUALITY OF BEING DIFFERENT; NOT HAVING UNIFORMITY OR SAMENESS

Variety (noun)

Poetry is difficult. I don't write it very well. My English professor in

college agrees with me. He sent me a book. He sent me Poetry for

Dummies. I felt stupid after seeing it. I still talk to the professor.

We don't talk much about poetry. He sent me that book, after all.

We do talk about our children. I asked for his recommendation on

poetry books for children. He suggested something to me. He

suggested they teach me poetry. He really humiliated me. I am

over it now. I talked to my therapist about it. I decided to do a

poetry extravaganza. I went to the library with my kids. I chose 20

poetry books. They voted on the top 5. That's why I'm writing this.

Poetry, the bane of my existence, is an activity enjoyed by my English

professor that tormented me, a college graduate, for many years. My

professor, still a good friend of mine who converses with me from

time to time about literature and other tidbits, told me I was not very

good at poetry, going as far as to send me a copy of a book, a rather

useful yet insulting book, entitled Poetry for Dummies, which,

although intended as humor, hurt my feelings. I talked to my

therapist, a rather good man who, like me, has a general disdain for

poetry, and he told me I should have a poetry extravaganza with my

children--Tom, Joe, and Mary--and let them see if they enjoy poetry.

Sentence Basics!

• It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question, or an exclamation point.– Declarative Sentence: The

sky is blue.– Interrogative Sentence:

Why is the sky blue?– Exclamatory Sentence:

The sky is blue now!– Imperative Sentence:

Don’t go outside!

Independent & Dependent Clauses

• A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. – Independent Clause: A complete sentence– Dependent Clause: An incomplete thought that

contains a subordinator• When… Since… After… If… Although… In… Because… While…

• A DEPENDENT CLAUSE MUST BE COMBINED WITH AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE TO AVOID THE SENTENCE BEING A FRAGMENT.

Independent & Dependent Clauses

• For example:– When Alexa gets here, let’s start the music.– If Danny comes to class late, he will stay after class

to get his assignment.– I’m going to take a walk because the weather is

beautiful.– Clare will go shopping after she makes a list.– Although the assignment is not due until next

Friday, the students will have all of their work done before the end of this week.

Independent & Dependent Clauses

• For example:– When Alexa gets here, let’s start the music.– If Danny comes to class late, she will stay after class

to get his assignment.– I’m going to take a walk because the weather is

beautiful.– Clare will go shopping after she makes a list.– Although the assignment is not due until next

Friday, the students will have all of their work done before the end of this week.

Compound & Complex Sentences

• Compound Sentence: Combining two sentences with a conjunction– For… And… But… Or…

Yet… So… etc.

• Complex Sentence: Using at least one dependent clause and one independent clause

Sentence Patterns

• The most common sentence pattern is subject-verb-object (SVO).– The boy ate pizza.– I play soccer.– Homework is boring.

• There are many ways to rewrite these simple sentences!

Spice up those sentences!• Turn it into a question:

– Do you know what the boy ate? Pizza.

• Turn it into an exclamatory sentence:– The boy ate pizza again!

• Combine it with your next sentence:– The boy wolfed down the pizza and

then ran outside to play.

• Other examples:– As fast as he could, the boy ate the

pizza.– Although the he wanted to keep

playing, the boy rushed in and wolfed down his pizza lunch.

The boy ate pizza.

Sentence Length

• Avoid using sentences that are all the same length. Your most important sentences should be clear and concise. Keep them short!– Short sentences are powerful. Combine short

sentences with long sentences to make your writing flow more naturally.

Which paragraph has more natural variety?

A. The boy’s mother called him inside for dinner. The boy ate his pizza. He was very hungry. He didn’t want to eat, though. He wanted to play outside with his friends.

B. The boy’s mother called him inside for dinner. It was pizza. Even though the boy was hungry and pizza was his favorite meal, he wanted to stay outside and play. He wolfed the pizza down and ran back outside.

“When you dip her in the middle of the dance floor, it is the color of her

dress. When she whispers in your ear, it is the color of her lips. When you

make love, it is the trace you want her to leave all over your body. When

she places her palm over your heart, it is the color that comes to the

surface as her fingertips trail like a sentence that can never be finished.

When you see her in the bedroom with another, it is the color of your

breath. When you smash the vase in the hall, it is the color that threatens

you to abandon the shattered pieces. When you scream at the top of

your lungs, it is the color that pierces the atmosphere. When she hears

you, it is the color of her pulse. When you look in her eyes for the last

time, it is the fading color of your heart falling to your knees. It is not the

color you see when she leaves.”

—Describing the color red without using the word ‘red’, by Tyler Ford

A WORD OR PHRASE NAMING AN ATTRIBUTE, ADDED TO A NOUN TO MODIFY OR DESCRIBE IT.

Adjectives (noun)

Spice Up Your Sentences

• One of the easiest ways to add a variety of details is by adding adjectives to your sentences.– The boy ate pizza.– The exhausted young

boy ate the cold, stale pizza leftover from yesterday’s dinner.

A VARIETY OF SENTENCES CAN HELP MAKE YOUR WRITING FLOW SMOOTHLY AND BEAUTIFULLY. ADDING DETAILS TO EXPAND ON YOUR EXPERIENCES CREATES A MORE REALISTIC STORY THAT READERS CAN CONNECT WITH!

REMEMBER!

As you are working on your first draft, take note of how you are writing your sentences, how they sound, and how they look!

Push through! You can do it! I believe in you

HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU REWRITE, EXPAND, REORDER, OR REWORD THESE BORING SENTENCES?

WRITING CHALLENGE!

How many ways can you rewrite these sentences?

1. I am sick.2. I have school

tomorrow.3. My room is small.4. Amanda is busy.5. It’s Wednesday.6. There’s nothing to do.7. It’s cold in this house.