EF67 Class 29 - sentence combining

 

Good morning, everyone.

We will get started at 9:15.

 

Today’s agenda

·      Quiz#4-adjective clauses

·      Begin sentence combining

·      Begin business letters

 

Tuesday

·      Return test

-specific reference

-modals

·      sentence combining

·      Business letters

 

Wednesday

·      sentence combining

·      Business letters

 

Thursday

·      Easter lecture

 

Friday

·      Good Friday

·      NO SCHOOL

 

Monday

·      Easter Monday

·      NO SCHOOL

 

 

 

Quiz #4

Write a sentence with an adjective clause for each.

Submit it by 9:55

1.    alley            that

2.    slim             which

3.    upgrade     who

4.    roam           who

5.    struggle      who

6.    section       that

 

 

SENTENCE COMBINING – culmination of all of sentence work

culmination – using all the sentence knowledge that we have accumulated so far

put it all into practice

 

Next level of work for sentence writing – where the rubber hits the road- practical, real-life

 

SENTENCES:

*simple

*compound

*complex

 

**Practice these styles. Follow the patterns. If you follow these patterns, your writing will probably be ok.

If you don’t follow these patterns, your writing will likely be substandard.

When you are writing , use these styles. Stick to these styles.

 

 

 

Sentence combining

 

-very effective way to get better at sentence writing

-practical, useful

 

IMO (in my opinion)- the best way to get better at sentence writing

-at all levels – absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate, developing, advanced, expert

start basic level----- very high university-level exercises

 

Based on the sentence styles- simple, compound, complex

foundation of all writing and speaking in English

sentence combining – puts all of this knowledge into use

                                        

 

William Strong – university professor – taught university students how to be better writers, not ESL EAL, mostly native English speakers

GOAL- LEARN TO WRITE

o   higher-level sentences- stuctured

o   more prestigious English- sounds professional and competent

o   prestige English

o   beautiful, elegant, stylish writing

o   sounds good, reads well, smooth and beautiful to read

 

*** Sentence combining books are available if you dig for them. Keep your eyes open for this kind of sentence combining exercise books.

I have amassed a small collection of sentence combining books over the years.

 

Sentence combining – taking several sentences and combine the most important parts of them into one sentence

 

Easy example

a.     Bill felt hungry.

b.    Bill had no lunch today.          because

 

COMBINE a and b into one sentence

What kind of sentence would be best? simple   compound   complex

a.     Bill felt hungry.

b.    Bill had no lunch today.          because – complex, adv cl

 

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Bill felt hungry because Bill he had no lunch today.         

Because Bill had no lunch today, so he felt hungry.      

Because Bill had no lunch today, he felt hungry.   COMPLEX

Bill had no lunch today, so he felt hungry.   COMPOUND

Bill had no lunch today; therefore, he felt hungry.  

Bill who had no lunch today felt hungry. COMPLEX- adj cl

Bill who felt hungry had no lunch today. COMPLEX- adj cl

Bill had no lunch today. Bill felt hungry. SIMPLES

Bill had no lunch today and felt hungry. OK

Bill had no lunch today so that he felt hungry. COMPLEX – adv cl

 

Many options- many varieties to choose from if we have the knowledge.

The knowledge is of SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX

Stick to the basics. Get back to basics.

 

The goal is to write a rich variety of sentences. We can do that by sticking to the basics.

 

GOALS of sentence combining

-sentences that are dense with information, but not too much information (tricky balance)

-sentences that are as compact as possible (short, few words as possible), not too short (another tricky balance)

 

*** balancing competing interests/impulses- lots of information, short sentences

- VERY CHALLENGING

We are up for the challenge!

 

 

*PERSONAL ANECDOTE*

My first year in university-

I learned how to write well by working with style books.

 

CONSIDER WORKING THROUGH A GOOD STYLE BOOK

HIGHER-LEVEL WRITING – for the future, college

The Elements of Style Strunk and White CLASSIC

Style: Ten Levels in Clarity and Grace Williams ***

*These changed my writing world. The scales fell from my eyes.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/

Dig! Keep looking!

 

 

BASIC SENTENCE COMBINING

Beginner-level sentence combining – good for a little kid

 

Kai has a hat.

The hat is red.

The hat is for baseball.

 

1.    Start with the KERNEL-usually first sentence

2.    Choose the important new elements in each following sentences

3.    Combine all of the element together into one sentence- simple, compound, complex

 

Kai has a hat. KERNEL – centre, hub Usually the first sentence in an exercise

 

FIND JUST NEW INFORMATION IN THE OTHER SENTENCES, AVOID REPETITION

The hat is red.

The hat is for baseball.

 

Kai has a hat, and the hat is red. REP, NOT A GOOD STYLE

 

ELEMENTS to be combined

Kai has a hat

red

baseball

 

Choose what kind of sentence do you want to write to include all of these elements? simple compound complex?

-gut reaction, trust your instinct, feeling

You should have a feelin about it.

Make the desicion.

You have to decide.

 

*SIMPLE

Kai has a red baseball hat. MY CHOICE

Kai has a red hat for baseball.

*COMPOUND

Kai has a red hat, and it is for baseball. SEEMS LIKE TOO MUCH FOR SUCH A BASIC IDEA, A BIT OVERWRITTEN

Kai has a red hat; in fact, it is for baseball. SEEMS OVERWRITTEN

We don’t need that elaborate structure for such a simple idea.

*COMPLEX

Kai has a baseball hat that is a red colour red. ADJ CL  Overwritten?

because  since  SEEMS LIKE A LOT

Kai has a red hat which is for baseball. Maybe he has several special hats.

 

NOTE: prefix is the beginning part of a word ‘un’ unkind ‘im’ impossible

suffix is the end part of a word  ‘tion’ education  ‘ment’ employment

 

DETAILS OF THE STRUCTURE

META- level, above, higher level

Birdseye view of sentences

Next level of thinking about sentences

**

 

PROCESS of choosing sentences

 

For homework, try some of the sentence combining exercises. Email a few to me if you like.

At the Beach

 

1.    The group met at the beach. KERNEL

They met at 10:00 a.m.

They met every day.

The beach was public.

The group met if it was sunny.

 

The group met at the beach. KERNEL

10:00 a.m.

every day.

public.

if it was sunny.

 

SIMPLE? COMPOUND? COMPLEX

If it was sunny, the group met at 10:00 a.m. every day at the public beach if it was sunny.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

If it was sunny, the group met at 10:00 a.m. every day at the public beach.

 

Process – internal process, automatic with practice

I always frame my writing in terms of sentence styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.     The beach was hot.

The beach was crowded.

The beach was exciting.

There were children.

There were adults.

There were clowns.

There were lifeguards.

3.     Mr. Isaac sold ice cream.

It was packed in ice.

He was considered part of the beach.

The truck was small.

The truck was in the parking lot.

4.     The teenagers lay in the sun.

They played volleyball.

The children swam.

The children waded.

The children ran in the sand.

5.     A group of clowns juggled.

They played with children.

The children were laughing.

The clowns gave out balloons.

The balloons were filled with helium.

6.     The sand was white.

The white was glaring.

The sand emitted waves of heat.

The waves of heat blurred the water.

The water was beyond the beach.

The water was blue.

The blue was vibrant.