What is a good sentence? How do we know one when we see one? What can we learn from good sentences? Can we become better readers and writers by stopping occasionally to notice sentences and to examine them? We address these questions here by examining sentences from all types of sources.
I teach English as a second language in a two-year college. My first teaching job was in the U.S. Peace Corps. Constructive uses of the Internet always attract my attention, especially uses to promote learning and understanding.
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Appreciating a Good Sentence
We are taught in American schools to analyze in order to understand; seldom are we taught to appreciate. When we are taught to appreciate, we often are taught to appreciate in a manner consistent with the teacher's; we are seldom taught to appreciate in our own way. Today, instead of analyzing a sentence, I choose simply to post one so that those who come by may enjoy it.
From time to time we all run across sentences that strike us in one way or another. Sometimes we are struck by the simplicity of the expression; sometimes we are struck by the form. Other times it is a combination of form and expression, and other times we are not really sure why the sentence strikes us. For however it might strike you, spend some time to appreciate this sentence from Anna Quindlen; it is a good one:
I have sat on the edge of several beds while Green Eggs and Ham was read, or recited more or less from memory; I read A Wrinkle in Time three times in a row once, when I was twelve, because I couldn't bear for it to end, wanted them all, Meg and Charles Murry and even the horribly pulsing brain called It, to be alive again as they could only live within my mind, so that I felt as if I killed them when I closed the cover and gave them the kiss of life when my eyes met the words that created their lives. (Quindlen, p. 52)
We see here a statement of the power of reading and the joy of re-reading. One book I have read at least a dozen times is Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. Sometimes when you know what's coming, you relish the event even more. Sometimes when you have read the chapters several different times, you begin to see the insight that the words carry. And sometimes it's not easy to put into words what happens. What books have you re-read and why?
If you enjoy this sentence from Anna Quidlen's book, perhaps you might enjoy reading her book; it's full of good sentences.
Reference:
Quindlen, A. (1998). How reading changed my life. New York: Ballantine.
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