For some writing, sentence variety will not matter as much. In short emails, in short memos, in some policy writing or some technical documents (especially instructions). However, writing that is longer and writing that you might worry people will stop paying attention to? Sentence variety is one trick you have as a writer to keep readers engaged.
On the last page, you got to take a brief look at some of your writing. To keep your reader engaged, varying your sentence lengths can wake them up a bit. If every sentence is about the same length, your writing could read like a song that always has the same exact beat…and that can be kind of boring, you know?
Varying sentence length at a key moment can emphasize something, too, that you want to be emphasized. For instance, perhaps you have several long sentences, and then all of a sudden have a sentence of three words. That violation of a pattern can emphasize whatever you put in that three word sentence.
Varying Sentences: Length and Using Phrases and Clauses
One way to vary sentences is to make them different lengths. You can do this by cutting or adding to them. You may intuitively have a sense to do this. Whether you do or do not, though, knowing the units of words is one way to help: adding/removing phrases, expanding a dependent clause into an independent clause as a new sentence, combining sentences into one sentence with multiple independent clauses, etc.
Click here to learn more about phrases and clauses, and how to manipulate them in different ways to help the ways in which you can vary your sentences. Please read! It will help in understanding the below.
Sentence Types
The four types of sentences, based on structure, are (more at Purdue OWL with examples):
- Simple
- Compound
- Complex
- Compound-Complex
- [Also, the fragment–which is completely legitimate to use, especially to emphasize something since readers often don’t expect fragments]
Varying your sentence types can create a different rhythm. Dependent clauses or phrases, for instance, can interrupt a sentence in ways that a simple sentence only made up of an independent clause cannot.
Compare:
-He went to school.
-He went, after he dropped off library books at the library, to school.
Sentence Types and Proximity
Varying sentence types can draw ideas both closer together and further apart, which can have rhetorical effects:
Very Far: It was a rough day for Melissa. She had to cover a second shift for her friend at work. And now she was stranded. Because her car broke down. Great.
Far: It was a rough day for Melissa. She had to cover a second shift for her friend at work. Plus, now she was stranded at work because her car broke down.
Close: It was a rough day for Melissa, especially since she had to cover a second shift for her friend at work. Plus, now she was stranded at work because her car broke down.
Very Close: It was a rough day for Melissa, especially since she had to cover a second shift for her friend at work; now she was stranded in her broken down car.
Using em-dashes, along with semicolons and colons, can utilize proximity for purposes of emphasis.
–Very close with greater pause for dependent clause: It was a rough day for Melissa–especially since she had to cover a second shift for her friend at work; now she was stranded in her broken down car.
–Very close with longer pause for rhetorical triplet: It was a rough day for Melissa: she had to cover a second shift for her friend, her car broke down, and now she is stranded.
This punctuation guide website is a wonderful resource.
Much of this, too, depends on position in the sentence. Generally, the ranking of position of emphasis in English is:
- End of Sentence
- Beginning of Sentence
- Middle of Sentence
Generally speaking, whatever you want to emphasize should come at the end of the sentence. If you want to de-emphasize something, bury it in the middle in a dependent clause or some other way.
Keeping an idea by itself is more likely to be emphasized, especially if you are engaging in a good variety of sentences (otherwise, if just a bunch of simple sentences, the monotone rhythm will lose the emphasis).
Task
Choose 2 paragraphs from your literacy narrative draft (you can choose the same 2 paragraphs from the activity on the last page if you want) and mark each sentence as a sentence type.
You can use the comment function in Word or Adobe Reader. You could also use a separate piece of paper and use this template: Sentence 1 = [insert sentence type]. Count sentence types for each of 4 sentence types in those 2 paragraphs.
Think about the following:
- Do you notice any patterns? Do you tend to use a certain combination of types or is there a repetitive pattern that tends to happen (e.g., you often follow a complex or complex-compound sentence with 1-2 simple sentences)? If so, why do you think you do that? What does that do rhetorically? How does that pattern influence your reader?
- Do you notice any violations of patterns? (e.g., do you all of a sudden have a string of 6 simple sentences or two consecutive compound sentences somewhere but do there nowhere else?) Does that violation of a pattern do something rhetorically? How? Why?
Comment below with the following information:
- The number of sentence types for each sentence in those 2 paragraphs you selected.
- Note anything that stood out to you in terms of both the amount of each sentence type and the ordering of those sentence types (e.g., was there interesting placement of different sentence types next to each other?)
After commenting below, click on the “Click here to continue” button below.
1. Five simple sentences. Six compound sentences. One complex sentence. One complex compound sentence.
2. I have noticed that most of the variety in my writing is made up of simple and compound sentences. Regarding the order, it was usually no more than two of the same type of sentences before changing to a different structure.
1) Five simple sentences, no compound sentences, nine complex sentences, and six complex-compound sentences.
2) I tend to use simple sentences towards the middle of the paragraphs while opening and ending with a complex or complex-compound sentence. I found it surprising that I did not have any compound sentences at all in my writing.
Three simple sentences, five compound sentences, five complex sentences, and three complex compound sentences. I noticed that my compound and complex both average about the same in my paragraphs.
1. Six simple sentences, seven compound sentences, three complex sentences, and one complex compound sentences.
2. I noticed that I mostly use simple and compound sentences. There are compound sentences in the beginning, middle and end and I should try to add more complex and complex compounds.
I found I use simple sentences early and near the end of my paragraphs but fill the middle with longer more complex sentences. I think narratively this is to add drama and movement to the story. Starting strong, with emphasis, then moving with the words in the middle and rounding out the paragraph with a simpler phrase.
1. I tend to use simple sentences when starting and ending paragraphs, but I use longer and more complex sentences within the body of the paragraph.
2. I think I do this because generally early on in paragraphs I preface what I will be writing about with some sort of context which tends to be something that does not require much development of thought. Deeper in the paragraph I will analyze ideas more thoroughly because I feel that analysis is more important to a reader than summary.
1. I usually use simple sentences in the beginning and end of my essays. I use more complex sentences during the body paragraphs
2. I think this is just something I always did because I’m trying to properly explain my experiences and what I am writing about so that the reader understands more. The body paragraphs are where the readers usually learn most so that’s were I keep most of my focus to make sure the reader is not getting bored of reading. Keeping them interested.
1)2 simple sentences, 3 complex sentences, 4 compound sentences, and 2 complex compound sentences.
2)I noticed I usually start and end my paragraphs with a compound sentence and I have simple sentences preceding the last sentence and after the first.
1. 6 simple sentences, 4 complex sentences, 3 compund sentences
2. I found out that i use alot of simple sentences in my literacy narrative
1. 1 simple sentence, 5 compound sentences, 6 complex sentences, and 0 complex compound sentences.
2. I noticed that I rarely do simple sentences while writing.
Throughout my first two paragraphs, I have 7 simple sentences, 6 compound sentences, 4 complex sentences, and 5 complex-compound sentences. I noticed that throughout my writing I tend to use more simple sentences rather than using complex sentences.