| Our final phase in learning to be a sophisticated writer is that of
sentence complexity. Most professional writers would agree that "good"
writing contains a variety of sentence constructions.
Look at these next two paragraphs and think about which is more appealing.
1. Juanita went to the store. She bought kumquats and melons. She took her
purchases home. She placed them on the counter. Her toucan flew out of its
cage. It landed upon the melon. It started pecking at the kumquat. It made a loud squawk
at the funny taste. It then flew into the living room before Juanita could scold it.
She figured the taste was enough punishment.
2. After purchasing kumquats and melons at the store, Juanita took them home and
placed them on the counter. Her toucan flew from its cage, landed on the melon and
preceded to peck at the kumquat. Before she could scold it, it gave a loud squawk and flew
into the living room. The unusual taste, she figured, was enough punishment.
If you are like most people, you had a difficult time reading #1. If you go back
and read it, you will see that it is entirely made of a subject - verb - complete
thought construction. Boring. The second makes use of many sentence combining
devices.
Read the suggestions below to help you understand sentence combining better, and then
rewrite two paragraphs from previous essays using some of the suggestions.
Ways to Combine Sentences
Ways to combine sentences:
1. -ING Phrases - Present Participle Phrases
The man counted his change. The man smiled at the clerk.
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