Goal - Improve our individual creative writing skills.
Outcome - produce and revise a 1500-word narrative. Future Problem Solving Scenario Writing
Ways to Vary Your Sentence Structure
Simple Sentence – Contains one subject and one predicate. Example: "Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time." – Mark Twain Compound Sentence – A sentence with 2 independent clauses joined together by a conjunction. Example: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." George Orwell Complex Sentence – A phrase that starts with a Gerund (-ing word) and acts as the noun for your sentence. Example: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” – Henry David Thoreau Adjective Clause – A phrase that describes the preceeding noun, often separated by commas. Example: "He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead." - Albert Einstein Participle Clause – a dependent clause that starts with a participle (-ing or –ed word, plus irregular verbs) that adds a secondary action to the sentence. Example: Walking through the forest, Jake notices he is lost and night is falling. Adverb Clause – A dependent clause that describes the verb by describing the time, place, condition, contrast, concession, reason, purpose, or result. Example: “ . . .as he stared through the dull square of the window of the schoolroom, he felt his belly crave for its food." – James Joyce Noun Clause – A dependent clause that acts as a noun Example: "When Mrs. Frederick C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse." - E.B. White Prepositional Phrase – A phrase that begins with a preposition and modifies the noun or the verb. Example: "On the counter near the stove in a silvery pan was a deep-dish berry cobbler." - Toni Morrison Gerund Phrase – A phrase that starts with a Gerund (-ing word) and acts as the noun for your sentence. Example: “Shooting paintballs in not an art form.” – Bart Simpson Infinitive Phrase – A phrase that begins with “to” followed be a verb. Example: “In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.” – Winston Churchill Compound Complex – A sentence with two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. Example: “"Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law." - James Baldwin |