Sentence+Imitations

=** Sentence Imitations **=

Sentence Imitations are exercises in which an original sentence is given and then you, the student, imitate the syntax (structure) of the original with your own material. The goal of this exercise is designed for a twofold purpose: to make you aware of the complexity and variety of sentences, and to apply to your own writing this very diversity. While this is similar to passage copying, it is both harder and equally rewarding.

Follow the sentence patterns closely, as closely as you can. Attempt to observe at least the same kind, number, and order of clauses and phrases. If the model sentence has an adverb clause, you should write an adverb clause. If the model sentence is introduced by a participial phrase, you should put a participial phrase at the beginning. If the model sentence has three noun clauses arranged in parallel structure, you should write a sentence containing three noun clauses in a similar structure.

The aim of this exercise is not to achieve a word for word correspondence with the model but rather to achieve an awareness of the variety of sentence structures of which the English language is capable. The reason why many students never venture outside their puerile, monotonous sentence structure is that they have never attempted sophisticated sentence patterns. Writing such patterns according to models will increase their syntactical resources. And with more resources at their command, they will acquire more confidence in their writing ability.

No one, of course, says while he or she is writing, “I just wrote a compound sentence interspersed with gerund phrases. This time I think I’ll begin my sentence with an adverb clause and use a series of noun clauses as the object of the main verb.” Such a self-conscious approach to writing would undoubtedly result in some monstrous prose. No, our prose must come naturally. The kind of prose we write cannot be arbitrary; it is governed by the subject matter, the occasion, the purpose, the audience, and the personality of the writer. If it is true that matter and form are intimately related, then there must be one best way in which to say a particular thing for a given audience and purpose. But as a practical matter, what we manage to achieve most of the time is one of a number of better ways to say something.

We will start with some simpler sentences to practice, then each week more difficulty will be added.

You have all week to work on the sentence. Use the first few minutes in class to work on your sentence. Sentences are due at the beginning of class on Fridays. Save all of your Sentence Imitations in a Google Doc that is shared with me titled **Hour, Last Name, SI**. In the document, please copy and paste the Week and Original Sentence. Yours may go underneath. If you like, you may use color coding to help you imitate the sentence.

A ½ point will be taken off for each error.

Some Examples:

Original Imitation
 * 1) 1. __ She sits __ there, //swinging violently// for a time, and then suddenly drops without a jar - **indeed,** //descends// as lightly as a feather might float to the ground . – Marianna Moore, “What there is to see at the zoo”
 * 1) 1. __ Billy Bob climbs __ the tree, //ascending rapidly// up the branches, and then surprisingly stops with a clatter -**actually**, //stalls// as abruptly as a car would halt at a red light.

Original Imitation
 * 1) 2. __ I went __ to the woods //because I wished// to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts //of life//, and see //if I could learn// what it had to teach, **and not, when I came to die**, discover that I had not lived. – Henry David Thoreau //Walden//
 * 1) 2. __ Sally proceeded __ to the studio //because her mother wanted// her to learn ballet quickly, to gain strength //in her legs// , and see //if Sally could make// friends with others at school, **and, when she had grown**, to become the dancer that her mother was not.

Original
 * 1) // 1. // __ The gallows __ //stood// **in a small yard**, separate **from the main grounds** **__of the prison__**, and //overgrown// **with tall prickly weeds**.—George Orwell, //Burmese Days//

Imitation
 * 1) 1. __ The dog __ //shivered// **in the background**, wet **from nosing his way** **__through the early-morning grasses__** and //covered// **with damp cockle-spurs**.

"This story begins within the walls of a castle, with the birth of a mouse. A small mouse." -Kate DiCamillo, //The Tale of Desperaux//
 * Week 1**

"The night breathed through the apartment like a dark animal." - //Reckless// by Cornelia Funke
 * Week 2**

"We are souls shut inside a cage of bones; souls squeezed into a parcel of flesh." - //The Book of Strange New Things// by Michel Faber
 * Week 3**

“In the deep gloom he could see the electric white gashes where the water boiled over the boulders.” – //Five Skies// by Ron Carlson
 * Week 4**

"Memory is a great deceiver, grief and longing cloud the past, and recollections, even vivid ones, fade."- Daniel Alarcon //-Lost City Radio//
 * Week 5**

"I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panisher on my lips. I ran." - T//he Kite Runner// Khaled Hosseini
 * Week 6**

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago." - //Pride and Prejudice// by Jane Austen
 * Week 7**

"Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in." --//The House on Mango Street// by Sandra Cisneros
 * Week 8**

"He felt she was walking in a circle about him, turning him end for end, shaking him quietly, and emptying his pockets, without once moving himself." - //Fahrenheit 451// by Ray Bradbury
 * Week 9**

"Calico-coated, small bodied, with delicate legs and pink faces in which their mismatched eyes rolled wild and subdued, they huddled, gaudy, motionless, and alert; wild as deer, deadly as rattlesnakes, quiet as doves." --"Spotted Horses" by William Faulkner
 * Week 10**

"Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, And so live ever—or else swoon to death." From "Bright Star" by John Keats:
 * Week 11**

"Our eyes are shining, our skin is rosy, our all-knowing smiles are back." --- LIbba Bray "A Great and Terrible Beauty"
 * Week 12**