Community Contribution Reading Assignment

Rhetorical Grammar, Ch. 2: The Basic Sentence Patterns in Prose

In this chapter, they start off by explaining to us that it is not unusual for professional writers to introduce a paragraph topic with a short sentence such as:

• He had been a big success as a soldier.

It tells us that inexperienced writers believer that writing calls for long sentences rather than short ones, and also fancy words rather than plain ones. Both notions are incorrect.

We also learn in this chapter that a topic sentence can also be placed throughout the paragraph, not just at the very beginning; these are called internal topic sentences, which can also be placed in the middle or at the end of a paragraph. These internal topic sentences can also be extremely short, they are reffered to as focused sentences which are bound to draw attention from readers.

Chapter 2 also talks about special effects. Special effects are short sentences which fiction writers often use to evoke thoughts and/or feelings, or details. And even though these sentences are short and concise, I personally think that if repeated continuously; the story becomes dull. I prefer varying the lengths of my sentences when writing.

There is also another type of sentence pattern cleverly named the "something is something" pattern; also referred as linking-be sentences and/or categorical propositions (CP's). The term CP is mostly used by logicians and rhetoricians. The chapter shows us three different kinds of CP's (shown below).

1. Chunky Monkey is Ben & Jerry's most delicious flavor.
2. New York City is the largest city in the US.
3. Television is the cause of a great many social problems.

The sentences above all conform to the "something is something" pattern, but only one can be an effective topic sentence. CP's that make the best topic sentences are arguable propositions, meaning it tells the reader to argue or prove the CP's righteousness. Sentence 1 is simply an opinion; a matter of personal taste. Sentence 2 is a fact; facts tend to be weak paragraph openers, they give no clue as to their purpose. Sentence 3 is also an opinion, but one that is open to debate, meaning it is an arguable proposition.

The chapter also talks about short paragraphs opposed to long ones. Short paragraphs would automatically grab the reader's attention. Just like short sentences grabs a reader's attention in a paragraph of long sentences, a short paragraph is bound to do the same. Here's an example of a short paragraph:

• The woods were restless as birds.

I know, I can't believe it's a paragraph either, but it is. They are usually meant for the reader to pay attention.

This is my concluding paragraph for this chapter summary:

The end.