Writing Analytically, 6th Edition - Rosenwasser, David & Stephen, Jill [34]
Step 2: Describe the structure of the sentence: its basic shape. Identify what you think are the sentence’s most distinctive features.
Step 3: Decide how this particular sentence shape reveals tendencies of the way the writer thinks. Consider sentence structure, word order, kinds of words, etc.
Discussion All of us have “go to” sentences that we fall back on in daily life—in speaking as well as writing. It is illuminating (and fun) to try to become aware of these. Our choice of sentence shapes is influenced by how we tend to think, but the shape we go to also varies according to the subjects we are writing and talking about and the rhetorical situation in which we are doing so.
A sentence is the shape thought takes. That is a mantra already offered in the discussions of grammar and style in Chapter 1, and it bears repeating. The particular ways of ordering words that each of us habitually goes to are actually features of who we are; our “go to” sentences embody how we characteristically respond to the world.
Some Examples of “Go To” Sentences
For example, if a person’s “go to” sentence takes the form “Not only x, but y,” he or she is inclined to define things thoroughly by contrasting what something is with what it is not. A person who says “I am not unhappy” is a person who wishes to avoid blunt claims and prefers subtler descriptions of mental states. A person who is not unhappy differs from a person who is happy and willing to say so. Note, by the way, how little technical vocabulary you actually need to talk about the shape and effect of these sentences.
Here’s another example: “Although x, the fact is that y,”
Although the President raised the number of troops in Afghanistan, the fact is that he presented a timetable for complete troop withdrawal.
Although the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network decadently panders to pop culture, the fact is that I cannot watch it without wanting to bake cupcakes.
With this sentence type, some technical vocabulary would help. The sentence begins with what is known as a subordinate or dependent clause. Subordination usually indicates a desire to qualify (put limits on) one’s claims. The use of the phrase “the fact is” in the second half of the sentence, the independent clause, indicates a less qualified and more certain way of thinking. This is an interesting tension between the two halves of the sentence and thus the two different ways of thinking they suggest.
Here’s one more example, taken from a student’s memoir, of how sentence shape matches subject matter:
I wish I could tell you more about that night, but it’s kind of blurry. What do I remember? My father’s voice, “Mommy passed away.” I know I cried, but for how long I don’t remember. My boyfriend was there; he only heard my end of the conversation. He drove me home from college. I guess that took a couple of hours. There was a box of tissues on my lap, but I didn’t use any. He smoked a cigarette at one point, and opened up a window. The black air rushed in and settled on me like a heavy cloak.
Notice how flat and largely unembellished these statements are: “He drove me home from college”; “He smoked a cigarette at one point, and opened the window.” Here again it is useful if you have a little technical vocabulary, but you don’t need much.
It will help if you know the difference between coordinate sentences, in which everything is treated at one level of importance, and subordinate sentences in which some things depend upon and are set up as less important than other things. This writer and her sentences are shell-shocked by an unexpected tragedy that renders everything that happens the same, basically meaningless. The passage contains virtually no subordination and instead a number of short declarative sentences.
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Try This 2.8: Identify the Features of “Go To” Sentences
Below are examples of “go to” sentences