sentence-variety

SentenceVarietyVarietyisthespiceoflife.SentenceVarietyThedefinition:Thegroupofsentencesinaparagraphshouldberegardedasawholeandshouldbedifferentenoughintypestoavoidboredom.Thisiscalledsentencevariety.Hewasborninasmallvillage.Hisfatherwasateacherinthevillageschool.Hismotherdidthehousework.Hebegantogotohisfather’sschoolatseven.Hegraduatedfromitsixyearslater.Thenhewenttothejuniormiddleschoolinanearbytown.Hestudiedataseniormiddleinthecountyseat.Hewasagoodstudentthere.Hegotgoodmarksatthecollgeentranceexaminations.Heenrolledinauniversityintheprovincialcapital.Hestudiedcivilengineeringthere.Hewantedtobuildahighwayforhishomevillageinfuture.Helovedhisvillageverymuch.SentenceVarietyWaystoachieveSentenceVariety:2.Variedsentencestructure1.Variedsentencelengths3.Variedsentencebeginnings4.OthertechniquestovarythesentenceSentenceVarietyWaystoachieveSentenceVariety:1.Variedsentencelengths1.1Shortsentences1.2LongsentencesShortsentencesareusuallyemphatic,whereaslongsentencesarecapableofexpressingcomplexideaswithprecision,becauseitmaycontainmanymodifiers.Shortsentencesaresuitableforthepresentationofimportantfactsandideas,andlongsentencesfortheexplanationofviewsandtheories,orthedescriptionofthingswithmanydetails.•Thefirstrequirementonsentencevarietyislength.SentenceVarietyPrinciplesinvaryingsentencelengtha.Aseriesofshortsentencesoftengivestheeffectofspeedandisthereforeappropriatefordescribingatenseordramaticmomentinastory.Otherwisesuchaseriesmightmakeyourproseseemchoppy,almostchildish.b.Theuseofasingleshortsentenceamongaseriesoflongonesisavaluablewaytochangetherhythm,andifitcomesattheendofaparagraph,itgivesemphasis.SentenceVarietyPrinciplesinvaryingsentencelengthExampleShesatatthewindowwatchingtheeveninginvadetheavenue.Herheadwasleanedagainstthewindowcurtainandinhernostrilswastheodorofdustycretonne.Shewastired.(JamesJoyce:“Eveline”)SentenceVarietyWaystoachieveSentenceVariety:c.Longersentencesareoftenappropriatefordetaileddescriptionandformoreleisurelyexplanationsandarguments.Buttheyarealwaysachievedbyaddingnew,moreprecisedetailsorpushingtheideastoastilldeeperandmorethoughtfullevel.Butifallthesentencesarelong,thewholearticlewillbehardtounderstand,andsoundveryboring.Principlesinvaryingsentencelength•Longsentencesandshortsentencesshouldbeusedalternativelysothatthereadercangetasenseofchangeandrhythm.SentenceVarietyWaystoachieveSentenceVariety:2.VariedsentencestructureBasicknowledge:sentenceclassificationApplication:variedsentencestructureSentenceVarietySentenceclassificationwithdifferentcriteriasentenceSentencefunctionGrammaticalstructureRhetoricalsentenceSentenceVarietyWaystoachieveSentenceVariety:2.VariedsentencestructureBasicknowledge:sentenceclassificationApplication:variedsentencestructuresentencevariety•Thewaystoachievevariety1.Fortheshortandchoppysentences2.Forrepeatedsubjectsortopics3.Alternatetheloosesentenceandperiodicsentence1.ForshortandchoppysentencesJohnlikesfootball.Hiswifelikesfootball.Conjunction(用并列的连词)CombineSentencesWithConjunctions.Joincompletesentences,clauses,andphraseswithconjunctions:and,but,or,nor,yet,for,soOriginal:Johnlikesfootball.Hiswifelikesfootball.Revised:Johnlikesfootballandhiswifelikesittoo.Waystoachievesentencevariety•2.ForRepeatedSubjectsorTopics(Subordination替换为从属关系)A.Relativepronouns（关系代词）:Embedonesentenceinsidetheotherusingaclausestartingwithoneoftherelativepronounslistedbelow.•which,who,whoever,whom,that,whoseoriginal:Oneofthecameraswasnotpackedverywell.Itwasdamagedduringthemove.revised:Thecamerathatwasnotpackedverywellwasdamagedduringthemove.Original:Dazhaiusedtobemainlyanagriculturalcounty.Ithasrecentlyattractedmoreindustry.Revised:Dazhai,whichusedtobemainlyanagriculturalcounty,hasrecentlyattractedmoreindustry.Original:Therainwasheavy.Wecouldnotgooutoftheroom.Revised:Wecouldnotgooutoftheroombecausetherainwasheavy.(adverbialclause)B.Participles（分词形式）Original:WeiXiawassurprisedtogetaphonecallfromhissister.Hewashappytohearhervoiceagain.Revised:Surprisedtogetaphonecallfromhissister,WeiXiawashappytohearhervoiceagain.3.AlternatetheloosesentenceandperiodicsentenceItisatruthuniversallyacknowledgedthetasinglemaninpossessionofagoodfortunemustbeinwantofawife.Let’strythesetogether:1–Carrotsgrowincoolclimates.2–TheyarehighinvitaminvitaminA.Carrots,whicharehighinvitaminA,growincoolclimates.1–Hefinallysubmittedthetermpaper.2–Itwasduesixdaysago.Hefinallysubmittedthetermpaperthatwasduesixdaysago.1–MycousinwillspendthesummerhikingintheRockyMountains.2–ShelivesinIndiana.Mycousin,wholivesinIndiana,willspendthesummerhikingintheRockyMountains.Now,trytheseonyourownanddon’tforgettopunctuatethemcorrectly.1–Thehouseisforsale.2–Iwasborninit.1-Hedescribedanattitude.2–Ihaveexperiencedit.1–Jobhuntingcanbefun.2–Manypeopledislikeit.Comparethefollowingpassage,anddecidewhichisbetter.Whatmethodisbeingusetoachievesentencevariety?Theoldmanbegantotellusthestoryofhislife.Hewasfifteen.Heranawaytosea.HetravelledtoSouthAmerica,Africa,andAustralia.Hetoiledatallsortsofservice.Hesufferedagreatdeal.Thenhereturnedtohisnativeland—China.