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-Sentence ImitationsThe idea of sentence imitation is to try to mimic, as closely as possible, the grammatical structure of the parts of a sentence.
This is a way to practice grammar without “studying” grammar—a pursuit that causes many to whiten with fear.
How to proceed? I will provide a sentence for you that happens to fall under a heading—a grammar heading. Peruse the text
on grammar. Really, though, growth as a writer comes not so much from knowing what to call a grammatical structure but
rather from figuring out what each word is actually doing in the sentence. After you’ve figured this out, you will write a new
sentence, one where you plug in new words for the old; the new words must function in the same ways as the old. In the end,
you will have created a new sentence.
The point? New talents emerge from studying the techniques of the old crusty guys and gals who were masters of their craft.
Simply by practicing different sentence structures, you will learn new ways of phrasing your own smart ideas. Let’s give this a
try and see if we can’t make it work. By the way, much of the information for this handout is being shamelessly stolen from
the following source:
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for High School. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 1998.
1) The Simple Sentence
Simple Sentences contain a subject (a noun) and a predicate (a verb).
i. The simple sentence can be short, with one word as a simple noun and one word as a simple verb.
Example: John hiccupped.
My Try: Paco sneezed.
Your Try:
ii. The simple sentence can be long, although it still consists of one subject (a noun and modifiers) and one predicate
(a verb and other elements). The noun is still a simple subject and the verb is still a simple predicate.
Example: The clueless, lost, amped-up drunk with the unsteady walk tumbled stupidly into the empty pool.
My Try: The short, exotic, long-haired cat with the angry eyes screamed piercingly at the shaved Shitzu.
Your Try:
iii. The simple sentence can be declarative (i.e., making a statement) or interrogative (i.e., asking a question).
Example: Frank should sleep for twelve hours in a row.
My Try: Zane can juggle for twenty-three minutes without a break.
Your Try:
Example: Should Frank sleep for twelve hours in a row?
My Try: Can Zane juggle for twenty-three minutes without a break?
Your Try:
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iv. The simple sentence can have a verb in any tense (past, present, future), mood (indicative or imperative) or voice
(active or passive).
Example: Billy prances through the woods nightly. (present)
My Try: Margaret pukes on the bus everyday. (present)
Your Try:
Example: Billy pranced through the woods nightly. (past)
My Try: Margaret puked on the bus yesterday. (past)
Your Try:
Example: Billy will prance through the woods nightly. (future)
My Try: Margaret will puke on the bus tomorrow. (future)
Your Try:
Example: You bore your brother Phil with stories. (indicative)
My Try: You smother your pet rat with kisses. (indicative)
Your Try:
Example: Bore your brother Phil with stories! (imperative; the subject “you” is understood)
My Try: Smother your pet rat with kisses! (imperative; the subject “you” is understood)
Your Try:
Example: Wendy persuaded the client with a strong argument. (active)
My Try: Micha attacked the alien with a ray gun. (active)
Your Try:
Example: The client was persuaded by Wendy with a strong argument. (passive)
My Try: The alien was attacked by Micha with a ray gun. (passive)
Your Try:
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v. The simple sentence can have a compound subject.
Example: Sally and George ruled over a huge city.
My Try: Trent and Lucy tumbled into a tar pit.
Your Try:
vi. The simple sentence can have a compound predicate.
Example: Candy hunted, fished and fiddled with difficulty.
My Try: Bernard baked, sang and square-danced with passion.
Your Try:
vii. The simple sentence can have both a compound subject and a compound predicate.
Example: Brown bread, baked clams and steamed asparagus repulsed, sickened and also saddened Bernice.
My Try: Nose hair, large pimples, finger nails, and toe nails intrigued, captivated and even hungered Walter.
Your Try:
2) The Compound Sentence
The Compound Sentence is a sentence that contains two complete ideas (called independent clauses) that are related. A clause
is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb; in this case, the clauses—independent clauses—are complete thoughts
that can stand on their own. These two clauses are connected in a compound sentence by a conjunction. The coordinating
conjunctions follow: and, but, for, or, nor yet, or so. (A note here: another effective way to combine these two independent
clauses is by using a semicolon between them; the result is one sentence.)
Example: Manuel picks scabs daily, but I love only him still.
My Try: Portia plays harpsichord beautifully, for she practices nineteen hours everyday.
Your Try:
3) The Complex Sentence
In a complex sentence a conjunction is used to join together clauses (remember, a clause is a group of words that contains a
subject and a verb). Sometimes a clause is a complete (independent) sentence and sometimes it is not a complete sentence;
this is known as an dependent clause. In a complex sentence, at least one of the clauses will depend on the conjunction for its
meaning. In other words, if you take away the conjunction, the sentence will not divide into complete units that make sense
by themselves.
Example: Scotty forgot flowers because he did not give a hoot about Pamela.
My Try: Priscilla soiled herself because she did not find a bathroom in time.
Your Try:
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Example: Because I found a penny, I can begin to save.
My Try: Although I wear a cape, I am unable to fly.
Your Try:
4) The Compound-Complex Sentence
The compound-complex sentence includes at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
Example: Because Edna detests playing games, she always forgets PE, and she mocks all students who do play sports.
My Try: Though Vladimir prefers cooking borscht, he never eats soup, and he detests all people who do eat soup.
Your Try:
Example: Ruby complimented her boyfriend’s fashion, but she mocked his hairdo when he continuously styled it in class.
My Try: Rudolf repaired his auntie’s lawnmower, but he destroyed her shrubbery when he accidentally lit it on fire.
Your Try:
5) The Appositive Phrase:
Appositive phrases are noun phrases that identify or rename adjacent (next-door) nouns or pronouns.
The Model Sentence, from Jessamyn West’s, “A Time for Learning”:
That night in the south upstairs chamber, a hot little room where a full-leafed chinaberry tree shut all the air from the
single window, Emmett lay in a kind of trance.
My Try:
That morning on the steamy outdoor field, a trimmed rectangular pitch where a pony-tailed handsome man controlled none of
the attention in the general vicinity, I stood in a puddle of perspiration.
Your Try:
6) The Present Participial Phrase:
Participles describe nouns or pronouns. Present participles always end in ing.
The Model Sentence, from Ernest Hemingway’s, A Farewell to Arms:
Sitting up in bed eating breakfast, we could see the lake and the mountains across the lake on the French side.
My Try:
Leaping up on camels screaming insults, Rahul could sense the stares and the anger in the crowd at the camel fair.
Your Try:
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7) The Absolute Phrase:
Absolutes are sentence parts that describe the rest of the sentence in which they appear. Absolutes are almost complete
sentences. As a test, you can make any absolute a sentence by adding was or were.
Two Models below: You chose which one you want to imitate.
From Theodore Dreiser’s, An American Tragedy:
She returned to her bench, her face showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.
From John Steinbeck’s, The Red Pony:
Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard, their heads down, their forearms working, their breath
whistling. (this sentence contains three absolutes).
My Try for sentence #1:
Gonzalo stumbled to his car, his walk betraying all the wine that had slowly engulfed him.
My Try for sentence #2:
692 sloths crawled across the road half a day late that month, tractoring inexorably, their claws extending, their tongues
drooping, their fur dragging.
Your Try:
8) The Prepositional Phrase:
Prepositional phrases are sentence parts that describe people, things, or actions. Most begin with one of these prepositions: in
the beginning, before the fall, after the creation, at the game, down the aisle, across the street, inside the stadium, outside the store, between the posts,
within the den, behind the scenes, on the bridge, by the sea, under the boardwalk, around the park, down the road, into the woods, against the grain,
near the field, through the woods, to Grandmother’s house, like a bird, except the sophomores, over the rainbow, up the creek, without a paddle, with
malice, toward none, of the people, by the people, for the people.
Most prepositions are easy to identify because they are difficult to define. (Try defining of, in, off, by, through, between, and
so on.) Sentences can contain single or consecutive prepositional phrases anywhere in the sentence.
Two Models below: You chose which one you want to imitate.
From Zenna Henderson’s The Believing Child:
With a quick, guilty hand, she covered the tear, her shoulders bunching to hide her face.
(Do you also notice the Absolute Phrase here?)
From James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man”:
Across the street from their house, in an empty lot between two houses, stood the rock pile.
(Notice consecutive prepositional phrases.)
My Try for sentence #1:
Before a quiet, horrified audience, Henrietta flourished the booger, her mouth opening to collect her prize.
My Try for sentence #2:
In the dark of the bedroom, under the fluffy covers among stuffed animals, hid the terrified puppy.
Your Try:
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9) The Adjective Clause:
Adjective clauses are sentence parts that describe whatever is mentioned to the left of them in the same sentence. Most begin
with the words: who, which, whose, or where. They can occur as subject-verb splits, or sentence closers.
Two Models below: You chose which one you wish to imitate.
Subject Verb Splits
From Stephan King’s Needful Things:
Keeton, who overtopped Norris by five inches and outweighed him by a hundred pounds, gave the deputy a harsh little
shake...
My Try for sentence #1:
Sheldon, who dwarfed Mabie by two feet and outshone him by a thousand suns, handed the teacher a dried brittle
turd…
Sentence Closers
From Anne Tyler’s Saint Maybe
They dropped his belongings at the freshman dorm, where the only sign of his roommate was a khaki duffel bag and a
canvas butterfly chair printed to resemble a gigantic hand.
My Try for sentence #2:
Sanchez abandoned his turtle at the park pond, where the only memory of his pet was a dirty plastic terrarium and a
crumpled charcoal drawing left to recall a better time.
Your Try:
10) The Adverb Clause:
Adverb clauses are sentence parts that tell more about the rest of the sentence in which they appear. They usually tell why, how,
when, or under what condition something was done. Most begin with the words after, if, because, although, when, as before, until, for, or
since (subordinators). They can occur as sentence openers, subject-verb splits, or sentence closers. Examples here are
boldfaced, with the subordinator also in italics.
From Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
Because its primary reason for existence was government, Maycomb was spared the grubbiness that distinguished most
Alabama towns its size.
Your Try for Sentence #1:
From Bernard Malamud’s The Fixer
Raisl, before they were married, had made the bag out of a piece of her dress and embroidered it with the tablets of the Ten
Commandments.
Your Try for Sentence #2:
From Robert Lipsyte’s The Contender
Alfred quietly slipped out the back door and waited until Henry left.
Your Try for Sentence #3: