Week of
January 20, 2013—Syntax Needn’t Be Taxing
Quote of the Week:
All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary—it’s
just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.
—Somerset Maugham
Last week we looked at my notes from Joyce Sweeney’s voice seminar. This week I’m going to address the last
element of voice—syntax. Here’s how Joyce defines syntax:
Syntax—the
devices used to encourage readers to read in a particular rhythm . . . includes
sentence length and type, word order, punctuation
—Joyce Sweeney
As a writing teacher, I
talk about all these things with my students—but I lump it all under the heading of
sentence variety. I think I need to start being more specific in how I talk about each example of syntax. I'll try doing that with you this week by using examples from picture books that model the various
components of syntax.
Remember this week’s
quote from Somerset Maugham— “All the words I use in my stories can be found in
the dictionary—it’s just a matter of arranging them into the right
sentences,” and let’s work on arranging our words into stellar sentences.
Monday, January 21— The Rhythm of Sentences
Tuesday, January 22— Sentence Length
Wednesday, January 23— Sentence Type
Thursday, January 24— Punctuation
Friday, January 25— Word Order
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