英语写作 - lesson 2-loose, periodic, balanced sentences

Lesson 2

Loose, Periodic， and Balance Sentences

From a rhetorical point of view, sentences are loose, periodic, or balanced. ? A loose sentence:松散句puts the main idea before all supplementary information; ? first things first

? A periodic sentence:掉尾句,尾重句，圆周句the main idea is expressed at or near the end of it;

? it is not grammatically complete until the end is reached.

a. She decided to study English though she was interested in music.

b. Although she was interested in music, she finally decided to study English.

? Loose sentence: a sentence that may be brought to a grammatical close before the end is reached.

? 特点：结构松散，它的组成部分可以比较自由地拆散，在句中的某些地方，可以随时停顿，而且语法上具有一定的完整性。 ? He will go abroad if he has enough money.

? She decided to study English though she was interested in music.

? Periodic sentence: a sentence that is not grammatically complete until the end is reached.

? 特点：结构紧凑,句末所讲的一般是最重要的，语义和语法结构要到最后才完整清楚。

? If he has enough money, he will go abroad.

? Though she was interested in music, she finally decided to study English.

? Just before I went away to college, my father took me aside, as I had

expected, and said, as I had not expected, “now, son, if a strange woman comes up to you on a street corner and offers to take your watch around the corner and have it engraved , don’t do it.”

? 这个长句是尾重句，一直要读到最后才能明白全句的意思，而其父亲对儿子的话也是一个尾重句，只有听他讲到，“don’t do it” 才能明白他要说什么。

? 尾重句能够始终抓住读者的注意力，句子不完，就不能得到一个完整的思想。随着句子的一步步展开，一层层深入，在句末形成一个高潮，有力的表达了关键的意思，给人留下深刻的印象。

? It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. ? ——Jane Austen

? This is the sentence with which Jane Austen begins her Pride and

Prejudice. It’s a periodic sentence because the last word being the most important, and because many words are piled up before the key word.

The methods of making loose sentences and periodic sentences ? 1.Preposing or post-posing the adverbial clause

? (1) Loose ( postposition): The world won’t end even if we fail again

and again.

? Periodic (preposition): Even if we fail again and again, the world

won’t end.

? (2) Loose ( post-position): Bill had cleaned the room before Tom

returned.

? Periodic (pre-position): Before Tom returned, Bill had cleaned the

room.

? 2.Preposing or post-posing the adverbial phrase

? (1) Loose ( pos-tposition): Bill started to write his composition early in

the morning.

? Periodic (pre-position): Early in the morning, Bill started to write his

composition.

? (2) Loose ( post-position): We feel much honored to have you come to

visit our country.

? Periodic (pre-position): To have you come to visit our country, we feel

much honored.

? 3. Preposing or postposing the participle phrase

? (1) Loose ( postposition): She came up shouldering a spade. ? Periodic (preposition):Shouldering a spade, she came up. ? (2) Loose ( postposition): He came back, utterly exhausted. ? Periodic (preposition): Utterly exhausted, he came back.

? 4. Preposing or postposing the prepositional phrase

? (1) Loose (postposition):Tom was cutting a piece of metal with great care.

? Periodic (preposition):With great care, Tom was cutting a piece of metal.

? (2) Loose (postposition): This was done without my knowledge and without my consent.

? Periodic (preposition):Without my knowledge and without my consent, this was done.

? 5. Preposing or postposing the apposition

? (1) Loose (postposition): Tom became fond of Bill, a cheerful, hard-working apprentice.

? Periodic (preposition): A cheerful, hard-working apprentice, Tom became fond of Bill.

? (2) Loose (postposition): He read all kinds of books, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign.

? Periodic (preposition): Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, he read all kinds of books.

? 6. Preposing or postposing the adjective or adjective phrase

? (1) Loose (postposition): She took down what he said, conscientious and eager.

? Periodic (preposition): Conscientious and eager, she took down what he said.

? (2) Loose (postposition): Bill was cleaning the lathe full of energy. ? Periodic (preposition): Full of energy, Bill was cleaning the lathe.

Loose: easier, simpler, more natural

and direct. Smooth flowing and conversational

naration and description

periodic: more complex, emphatic,

formal, or literary.

The difference lies in the order of the main structure and the subordinating structure

The rhetoric function of loose sentence and periodic sentence 1. loose sentence

? (1) loose sentence gives prominence to emphases and comes straight to

the point, it fits writing in a flat way most.

? She was offered a professional contract after winning the Olympic gold

medal for figure skating, according to the newspaper reports.

periodic sentence causes anticipation and suspense in readers because the important information readers are eager to know is post-posed at the end of the sentence.

? Though Jim Thorpe had brought great glory to his nation, though

thousands of people cheered him upon his return to the United Stages and attended banquets and a New York parade in his honor, he was not a citizen.

? During the course, readers follow the anticipation-suspense-suddenness track and this is the charm of periodic sentences. Please compare:

? There was a lamp burning on the table in the empty room and a little cat lying near the lamp.(loose)

? On the table in the empty room burned a lamp, and near it lay a little cat.(periodic)

– periodic sentences can focus on expressing the sadness and happiness of the writer and strengthen the power of the words.

? The one absolute, unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world,

the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous,

?

is his dog.

Balanced sentence

? When a sentence contains two or more parts of the same form and grammatical function, it is one with parallel construction:

? Let us be ruthless in our criticism, cruel to personal vanities, indifferent to age, rank or experience if these stand in our way. ? Such parallel sentences are emphatic and forceful.

? When a sentence contains two parallel clauses similar in structure but contrasted in meaning, it is a balanced sentence.

? On hearing the news, he was angered, and I was saddened.

? In Plato’s opinion man was made for philosophy; in Bacon’s opinion philosophy was made for man.

? In a word, a balanced sentence is one in which sentence elements (words, phrases, clauses) of equal importance are set off against each other. ? Thus it is impressive, pleasing to hear; used in formal writing: expository, argumentative prose, & speeches, etc.

? It is particularly effective for comparisons and contrasts, as well as for emphatic statements.

? The President wanted an increase in taxes to reduce the national debt; the Congress wanted a reduction in taxes to stimulate business.

Short and Long Sentence

? Short sentences are usually emphatic,

? Short sentences are suitable for the presentation of important facts and

ideas,

? long sentences are cable of expressing complex ideas with precision, because it may contain many modifiers.

? long sentences for the explanation of views and theories, or the description of things with many details.

? 短句结构简单，语法关系明确，明白易懂，使文章具有通俗，自然，

流畅的风格，同时还具有速度和力度感，在描写紧张激烈的场面时更

显适宜

? 长句结构复杂，容量大，可以表达复杂的思想，常出现在政论文和科

技文章中，时叙事具体，说理严密，透彻；在文学作品中，长句擅长对人物和事件进行细腻的描写。

? Our city is on the threshold of a great era. Of this we can be sure. We must be willing to work—and to spend in order to fulfill the promise of the future. We need a large police force for public protection. We need a modernized fire department. We need an enlarged library. We need to improve our water supply. For all these needs there is but one solution. We must see that the bond issue is approved by the voters in the November election.

? Long sentences are common in legal, political and theoretical writing, which depends on modification for accuracy.

? Art, in the sense here intended—that is, the genetic term subsuming painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, literature, drama, and film—may be defined as the practice of creating perceptible forms expressive of human feeling. I say “perceptible” rather than “sensuous” forms because some works of art are given to imagination rather than to the outward senses. A novel, for instance, usually is read silently with the eye, but is not made for vision, as a painting is; and though sound plays a vital part in poetry, words even in poetry are not essentially sonorous structures like music…..

Summary

? Various sentence structures have been discussed. The basic principle is that the structure should fit the idea being expressed. In other words, the idea determines the choice of the structure, not the other way round.

? good sentences are more than grammatically correct.

? They are varied in length, in word order, and in their rhetorical patterns.

? As you read essays, consider the sentence structure of each selection. ? And as you write your own essays, apply the techniques for attaining sentence variety that we have discussed.

Thank you!

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