Good Sentences

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.

To begin our review of sentence types, subject-verb combinations, and clause structure, read carefully the paragraph that appears here. Questions related to the sentences in this paragraph appear in other posts with today's date. The paragraph itself appears on page 12 of The Pen Commandments: A Guide for the Beginning Writer, written by Steven Frank and published by Anchor Books in 2003. So proceed to read the paragraph carefully.

What did you do today that you didn’t do yesterday? Did you wear mismatched shoes just for the fun of it? Did you sleep with your feet at the head of the bed and your head at the foot? Most likely you began your day with breakfast as usual. I know I began mine with a twenty-minute run with my dog Lucy, a shower, a shave, and a cup of coffee from the same mug I used the day before. Most of us are creatures of habit. We live by the clock, we learn by rote, we’re led by routine. It explains why we’re so starved for variety, and no one wants it more than your reader. (Frank, 2003, p. 12)

If you feel you understand the paragraph sufficiently, go on to the following items that relate to the paragraph. If you think you need to read the paragraph again, do that before going ahead.

posted by: sentenceguy at 07:26 | link | comments |

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