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S2 Exercise 20: Sentence Structure

 

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: INFORMATION

 

When you analyse a text, you tend to focus most heavily on the content of the sentence.   The importance of the language and imagery used are not in doubt, however, the structure of the sentence is absolutely crucial to your understanding of what the writer is trying to convey.   The length of a sentence and its division using punctuation marks help support the intended effect of the language used within the sentence.

 

TYPE OF

SENTENCE

EXPLANATION

EXAMPLE

STATEMENT

This is a simple announcement or declaration.

“I went to the shop”.

 

 

QUESTION

This is where something is asked of a character or of the reader.   Sometimes a question will be posed that requires no answer;  it is intended to make the reader think.   This is known as a rhetorical question.

“Have you been to the shop”?

EXCLAMATION

An exclamation communicates a sense of shock, amazement or anger.

 

“The shop’s closed”!

COMMAND

These are used in instructions and in persuasive writing.

 

“Get on down to the shops if you want to be cool”.

MINOR SENTENCE

This is where the verb is left out for dramatic effect.

 

“Water.  Water.  No!  Shop closed”.

 

SHORT SENTENCES

Not every sentence is worthy of detailed analysis but you will find that sentence length is sometimes a good indication of the author’s intended purpose.   A short sentence may be used for one of the following purposes:

  • To make a simple statement
  • As part of a list of similar sentences, to reinforce a point
  • To build pace
  • To help create suspense

 

LONG SENTENCES

A long sentence may be used for one of the following purposes:

  • To make a complex point
  • To convey a comparison or a contrast
  • To explain a point in detail
  • To offer a description of a scene or a particular mood
  • To decrease the pace

 

 

WORD ORDER

Sometimes a particular word is placed at the beginning or end of a sentence to give it extra emphasis.

 

PARENTHESIS

A Parenthesis is an extra piece of information inserted into a sentence and enclosed by a pair of commas, dashes or brackets.   The sentence would still be grammatically complete without the parenthesis.

 

ELLIPSIS

This involves the omission of words from a sentence, leaving the sentence grammatically incorrect.   The technique is often used at the end of a sentence to suggest a sudden interruption in the narrative or to suggest that a list is limitless.

 

PUNCTUATION

Punctuation helps support sentence structure and indicates to you the intended effect of the content of the sentence.

TYPE OF PUNCTUATION MARK

SYMBOL

EXPLANATION OF ITS USE

COMMA

,

Commas are used to separate phrases and clauses within a sentence.   A number of commas may indicate a list.

COLON

 

:

Colons are used to introduce lists;  quotations;  a summing up;  an explanation or an elaboration.    If it is used to divide a sentence, there will often be a balance between the two parts it divides.

SEMI-COLON

;

A semi-colon finishes off one part of a sentence.  It may be used instead of a conjunction to separate two principal clauses.

INVERTED COMMAS

“  ”

These are used to mark quotations, direct speech, foreign words or the titles of texts.

DASH

-

A dash can be used to introduce the same things introduced by a colon.   Two dashes can mark off a parenthesis.

HYPHEN

-

A hyphen joins two words to make a compound word.   It is shorter than a dash and, unlike a dash, is used without a space before or after

SENTENCE STRUCTURE HOMEWORK

 

TASK:

 

Use what you know about SENTENCE STRUCTURE  and PUNCTUATION to answer the following questions.   All of the questions are based on Chapter One of Philip Pullman’s “Northern Lights”.

 1) “More old Scholars, probably:  robed, bearded and gloomy, they stared out of their frames in solemn disapproval.”                                                                                           (P4)

 

  1. a) Explain the function of the colon (:) in the quotation above.
  2. b) What does this sentence reveal about Lyra’s perception of the Scholars?

 

2) “It wasn’t the best one for hiding behind, she’d chosen one in the very centre of the room, and unless she kept very quiet ...”                                                                            (P5)

 

  1. a) What is unusual about the way in which the sentence above ends?
  2. b) What is this punctuation called? Why has it been used in this instance?

 

3) “As Lyra held her breath she saw the servant’s daemon (a dog, like almost all servants’ daemons) trot in and sit quietly at his feet”.                                                      (P5)

 

  1. a) What is the correct term for the use of brackets as in the example above?
  2. b) Explain the use of brackets in the example above.