Lesson Four
Sentence Combining
Neijiang Normal University - Week Five - Brent A. Simoneaux
The Writing Assignment
Write one paragraph in which you describe your future career goals and intellectual interests to the faculty of the English Department. Write another paragraph in which you describe your future career goals and intellectual interests to a Canadian third-year university student. Length: 200 - 300 words total
Writing Advice
As a four years student in English Department, the English level must achieve the certain degree. According to my character and interests, I have many plans for my career. After I graduate, the Because my want to be dream was to be first two year Ichildhood a teacher in Middlea teacher, I want to be a middle school school. Because when I was young, my wish is to teacher for the future. be a teacher in myfirst two years after I
graduate.
Writing Advice
After two years later, I will spend half an year . From north to south, traveling around the China, from north to south, from west to east. The most place which I want to travel is Tibet, then Lijiang of Yunnan province. After I finish traveling, I'd like to get a guide certification. Then I can travel many places of interest freely.
After that
, thus allowing me to obtain certification as a guide. I would
Writing Advice
According to my character and interests, I have many plans for my career. Because my childhood dream was to be a teacher, I want to be a middle school teacher for the first two years after I graduate. After that, I will travel around China from north to south, from east to west. The places that I most want to visit include Tibet and Lijiang in Yunnan Province. After I finish traveling, I would like to obtain certification as a guide, thus allowing me to travel many places of interest freely.
Writing Advice
I am glad to talk about my future career with you. After I graduate, the first thing that I will do is to be a teacher. When I was young, I have a dream that is to be a teacher. I'm glad to talk with you about my future career. Because my childhood dream was to be a teacher, the first thing that I'll do after I graduate is teach.
Writing Advice
I like students, I enjoy the feeling that students respect you. I will gratitude that makes a student go from unknown to known. This is a sense of What is the achievement.
relationship between these sentences?
I like students and I really enjoy the feeling of respect that they will give me. In addition, when students go from not knowing to knowing, I feel a sense of achievement.
Writing Advice
The second thing that I want is to get a guide certification. Then I can travel many places of interests.
The second thing that I want to do is to get a guide certification which would enable me to travel many places of interest.
Writing Advice
Of course, the most reason is not that. The real reason is that I like communication, I like communicate with people, I want to guide every traveller to enjoy their travelling.
But of course, that's not the most important reason I want to get certified. The most important reason is that I like communication. I like to communicate with people so that every traveler can enjoy their travels.
Review
Sentence Bases
A sentence base is the minimum required for a sentence. The most basic sentence contains a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP).
Sentence Base
We can also add the following optional third elements to the clause: an object (O) a complement (C) and/or an adverbial (AV). We add these elements to the clause to make a more informative sentence
Sentence Expansion
Coordination means ―being of equal
structural rank.‖
Coordination occurs when we use a coordinator (or, and, but, nor, yet, so) to connect parts of a sentence together.
Sentence Expansion
Subordination means ‗being of lower structural rank.‘
Words that are added to the bare sentence base are said to be subordinate because they are grammatically secondary to the main elements.
Sentence Expansion
Subordination
1. Relative Clauses 2. Appositive Phrases 3. Adverbial Clauses 4. Participial Phrases 5. Absolute Phrases
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
Participial phrases are verb phrases headed by the –ing or the –en / ––ed form of the verb which function as adjectives.
They enable you to work concrete details into your sentences without actually increasing the number of sentences needed.
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
Example: 1. Brent stood next to Olivia.
2. Brent felt helplessly nervous.
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
We can combine these sentences:
Feeling helplessly nervous, Brent stood next to Olivia.
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
What happens when we move the participial phrase?
Brent stood next to Olivia, feeling helplessly nervous.
The focus of the sentence has shifted to the participial phrase.
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
It is important, however, to note that nonrestrictive participial phrases can open or close the sentence only if it modifies the subject—that is, when the subject of the participle is also the subject of the sentence and is in regular subject position. Otherwise, the participle will ―dangle.‖
Sentence Expansion
4. Non-restrictive Participial Phrases
Dangling participle:
Feeling helplessly nervous, the scene was suspenseful, as if it had been taken directly out of a movie.
Sentence Expansion
5. Absolute Phrases
An absolute phrase is a noun phrase—a noun headword with a post-noun modifier that adds specific, concrete detail to the idea of the whole sentence.
Sentence Expansion
5. Absolute Phrases
You must remember the following about absolute phrases:
1. They can consist of just subject and a participle 2. They do not modify any particular word, but instead, they modify the entire sentence to provide more information to the reader.
Sentence Expansion
5. Absolute Phrases
Example: Brent finally kissed Olivia, face blushing.
Legs running, Brent finally kissed Olivia.
Sentence Expansion
5. Absolute Phrases
Think of a movie camera focusing in on a specific detail in the scene.
Notice that the absolute phrase seems to be the focus of the sentence no matter where we position it in the sentence.
Olivia moved. The End
Sentence Combining Activity
1. The fire raced through the abandoned warehouse. The fire leveled it in an hour.
Example:
The fire raced through the abandoned warehouse, leveling it in an hour.
Next Week:
Sentence Expansion & Sentence Combining
Homework
Finish the Sentence Combing Worksheet. Write your answers in you exercise book.
The Writing Assignment
In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a good husband or wife? If you were looking for a spouse, what would you look for? Explain and support your opinion by giving specific examples. I am your audience. Try to experiment with different sentence patterns by creating more complex sentences than you would usually create. Try something new. Length: 200 – 300 words
Office Hours
Every Tuesday 1:00 – 3:00 pm Building 5, Second Floor
Radio show
Every Thursday 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Turn in your writing notebook. Class 1
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Turn in your writing notebook. Class 2
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Turn in your writing notebook. Class 3
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Turn in your writing notebook. Class 4
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Turn in your writing notebook. Class 5
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Turn in your writing notebook. Class 6