1、1Short sentenceDefinition:Short sentence refers to a sentence,either simple,compound or complex,that is not long in lengh.Functions: Apparently short sentences can be used in formal style for terseness.e.g. The war then brought the Keynesian remedy with a rush.Expenditures doubled and redoubled.So d
2、id the deficit.Before the end of 1942, unemployment was minimal.In many places labor was scarce.(from Keynesian in the United States by John Galbraith)In everyday talk or ordinary statement(description)for clearness,esp.in tense situation to show quick succession of thoughts.e.g. “Does your mother k
3、now?” she said.“I didnt come to see my mother,” he told her.“Who did you come to see?” she said.“You,” he said.“Why me?” she said.“Because I love you,” he said.(from Long Walk To Forever)A paragraph ending wih with a short sentence is more forceful.e.g. Still without speaking,the fat man licked his
4、lips.His beady eyes,as if unbelieving,were focused upon her own.The silence hung.(from Blackmail by Arthur Hailey)2 Long sentenceDefinition:A long sentence refers to a sentence which is relatively long in length no mater whether it is complex,compound or simple.Function:to show ones complicated ment
5、alily or various kinds of relationship of different things.e.g. He wishes to destroy the Russian power because he hops that if he succeeds in this he will be able to bring back tha main strength of his Army and Air Force from the East and hurl it upon this island, which he knows he must conquer or s
6、uffer the penalty of his crime.(from Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Winston S Churchill) Loose sentenceDefinition:A loose sentence is a sentence in which the main idea comes early,the subordinate ideas or modifiers following usually in a string.Function:This kind of sentence is easier
7、 to be understood for its important idea is in the first part,and is good for naturalness and clearness.e.g. And we will reduce taxes,to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprice of working Americans.(from George W.Bushs Inauhural Address)3Periodic sentenceDefinition:I
8、t is a sentence that delays its main idea until the end,or period,while presenting the surbordinate ideas or modifiers first.Functions: The periodic sentence,with its tight structure,is compact and coherent,and can be used for solemnity or dignity.e.g.Since women stepped into the majority on campuse
9、s in 1979,the college gender gap has widened at virtually every type of school:large and small,public and private,two-year and four-year.(by B.I.Koerner)The periodic sentence,with its delayed statement,is good for promoting suspense.e.g.Whether it is that they are as much bored with the day as their
10、 neighbours,or whether they are tired,or whether the cause may be,clergymen are seldom at their best on Sunday eveing.(from The Way of Flesh by Samuel Buyler)Seldom has a city gained such world renown,and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima,a town known throughout the world for itsoyste
11、rs.(from Hiroshimathe “Liveliest”City in Japan)When a loose sentence is turned to a periodic sentence,the last part of ithas been stressed.e.g.a.Read them loudly everyday if you want to improve your pronunciation.4b.If you want to improve your pronunciation,read them loudly everyday.a.It was really
12、an eduation to watch the faces of the crowd during the final minutes of the game.b.Towatch the faces of the crowd during the final minutes of the game was really an education.Elliptical sentenceDefinition:An elliptical sentence is a sentence containing an omission.Functions: In ordinary conversation
13、,elliptical sentences are freely used for naturalness and smoothness.e.g. It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight,with my head turned in whichever way is farthest from them. Dee, though.(=Dee is not,yet.Dee would always look anyone in the eyes with no hesitation.)
14、from Everyday Use for your grandmama)Have your people got a car?-Yes.-What sort of car?-Daimler.-How many house-power.5-Fifteen.-What kind of lights? (by George Orwell)In public signs and slogans,elliptical sentences are used for conciseness and emphasis.No Dogs!Poison,With Care!Attention,Sharp Turn
15、 Ahead!Elliptical sentences are used to express tense life,rich emotion,quick succession of thoughts,esp.in dangerous situation.e.g.The first blow in my face.Hard ehough to knock a man out.“Hands up!”Another punch,and another.This is just as I imagined it would be.The orderly apartment is now a pile
16、 of furniture and broken things.More blows and kicks.“March!”They drag me into an automobile.Pistols aiways pointing at me.They start on me in the car.6from Twenty-Four Hours by Julius Fuchik) Inverted sentenceDefinition:An inverted sentence refers to a sentence in which a certain part is transposed
17、 from its normal order.Grammatical inversion:is required by the grammatical rules or the grammatical structure.A sentence where grammatical inversion takes place cant be replaced by normal order,for the inversion now is a necessary factor of correctness of that sentence.We can say:What a forlorn sce
18、ne it is.But we cant say:It is what a forlorn scene.Rhetorical inversion:is employed only for the sake of retorid.In a sentence containing retorical inversion,the inversion is not a factor of correctness,but effectiveness of that sentence.Therefore,normal order may also bu used as in:a.In no area of
19、 American life is personal service so precious as in medical care.(inverted order)b.Personal service in no area of American life is so precious as in medical care.(normal order)7Functions:function of emphasisWhen a word or a phrase is inverted at the very beginning of a sentence (or a clouse),it,som
20、etimes,has emphatic force.For example,At no time and in no circumstances will China be first to use nuclera weapons.So long and so weary was the pressure of the terrible times.Deeper and deeper still sank the poor;it showed how much lingering suffering it takes to kill men,that so few died during th
21、ose times.(from Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell)function of vividnessRhetorical inversion also has a special function to make a descriction vivid.For example,Up went the spaceship into the sky.Following the roar,out rushed a tiger from among the bushes.function of balanceIn asentence when subject i
22、s too long,or subject is much longer than adverbial (or complement),inversion can be employed to balance that sentence.For instance,So crowd was their condition,and so long and so hard their experience of what such a man could do to them,within the law and beyond it,that not a voice,or a hand,or eve
23、n an eye was raised.(from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles 8Dickens)function of close connection and compactnessWhen an object is just mentioned in the preceding sentence,or when a object,with a complement or an adverdial,is too long,we use inversion for close connection and compactness. For example,
24、 They laughed together,and with that laugh ended the serious discourse in the army. He carried on his research work on modern history of Europe for years. When he wrote puite a few essays on this subject and,in 2000,attained degree.Such were the results.function of rytheing versesRhetorical inversio
25、n,in a poem,is often used to rhyme verses.For example,And what we getand what we give,We knowand we know our share.Were not to low the ckoth to weaveBut too low the cloth to wear.(from The Song of the Lower Classes)We sewed the sacks,we broke the stone,We turned the dusty drill;We banged the tins,an
26、d bawled the hymns,And sweated on the mill;But in the heart of every man9Terror was lying still.(by Oscar Wilde). Rhetocical questionDefinition:A rhetocical question refers to a forceful statement which has the form of a question but which does not expect an answer.Function:Such a question is chiefl
27、y used for emphasis in a speech, particularly in an argumentation,in which the speaker does not want a reply or expect that one will be given.What he really wants to do is to lure the audience or readers into hearing or reading that he is about to provide.For example,Who ever knew a Johnson with a q
28、uick tongue?Who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eyes?(from Everyday Use for your grandmama by Alice Walker)I have to make the declaration,but can you doubt what our policy will be?(from Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Winston S. Churchill). ParallelismDefinition:
29、It is a structure in which idea of equal value are parallel,or expressed in the same grammatical formFunction:Parallelism,sometimes,embraces antithesis or repetition.It can 10be used to create a pleasant rhythm in a prose passage and lead to clarity in our writing.Single words ,for example,He imagin
30、ed himself as a rich,handsome,successful man of the world.I went about amongst the methe preachers,the politicians,the businessmen,the professors,and the editors.(by Jack London)Phrases,for example,One cannot think well,love well,sleep well,if one has not dinned well. (by Virginia Woolf) At diploma
31、mills throughout the country you can buy a bachelors degree for about $1500,a masters degree for $1600,or a doctorate for $1700. (from The Writers Option)Clauses,for example,If you write or if you telephone,wait for tow weeks until I return from Singapore.We shall fight him by land, we shall fight h
32、im by sea, we shall fight him in the air,until,with Gods help,we have rid the earth of his shadow and liberated its peoples from his yoke.(from Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Winston S. Churchill)Sentence,for exampleHe(Prometheus) taught people how to make their own tools and how to b
33、uild homes for themselves.He taught them how to plant and grow their own 11food,and how to use animals to make their worke easier.He even taught them how tp make music and how to paint.(by Margaret E.Price)In addition,parallel structures often cut down on the number of words needed to express an ide
34、a.In”Neither the students nor the professor attend the lecture” three words have been cut down as compared with”The students did not attend the lecture,and neither did the professor.”Sometimes it is impossible to avoid repeating an article,a preposition,a pronoun,a verb,or a phrase in a parallel con
35、struction.AntithesisDefinition:Antithesis is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words,ideas,or the balanceing of one thing against another opposing or contrasting thing.In short,antithesis is the placing of opposed ideas or characteristics in direct contrast with each other(by Christopher Gil
36、lie).Function:As a figure of speech,antithesis is often balanced in structure,contrastive in meaning,and tuneful in yhythm,which can achieve an effect of emphasis.For example,Fire and water are good servant,but bad masters.(by Swift)Any man or state who fights on against Nazidom will have our aid.An
37、y man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe(from Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Winston S. Churchill)12And so,my fellow Americans ask what not what your country can do for you;ask what you can do for your country.(by Kennedy).RepetitionDefinition:Repetition is the saying of the
38、same thing again though perhaps with a difference.Forms:There are dozens of forms of repetition.Lets scan several frequently used forms.Ploce:is the emphatic repetition of the same word in a different sense.This kind of repetition is the same as pun,which can call for deep thouht. Dishonorable boyTh
39、at lie shall lie so heavily on my sword,That thou the liegiver and the lie do lieIn earth as quiet as thy fathers skull.(by Shakespeare) We must all hang togrther,or we shall all hang separately.(by Benjamin Franklin)Tautology :repeats what is explicit,as if the writer were unware of the import of t
40、he words.In fact,it is the needless repetition of an idea in different words.Mrs.Sigh told Jack to divide the cake equually into halves to give to the two 13boys.(from Oversea Students Companion to English Studies)The captain rode first at the head of the company.Similar examples are:”heavy in weigh
41、t”,”short in length”,”red in colour” This kind of repetition is often used for emphasisi or humour.In most cases,the words or phrases are of the same grammatical function.Pleonasm:repeats what is implicit by adding a word or phrase that could be cut away.It is the unnecessary repetition of an idea i
42、n different words,which is also called”redundancy”.He is only a beginner who has just started.Divide the cake into two halves .(from Oversea Students Companion to English Studies)Here the words or phrases repeated have different grammatical functions. This device can also be used for emphasis or hun
43、our,.Similar examples are:”invited guests”,”needed prerequisistes”,”youthful teenager”,etc.A pair of synonyms:the repeating of the same idea with different words in pairs as one semantic unit for emphasis.In this structure the second word is used to reinforce the first one. My tone is frank and open.I seek to call things by their correct names (by Ralph Fox)You cant pick and choose.Its not a policy from which you can extract the parts you like and reject the parts you dont. (from The Guardian)Similar examples are “aches and pains”,”fair and square”,”really and 14truely”,”ways and means”,etc.
