英语专业写作专题 The sentence-level Writing.pptVIP

4. Short and long sentences According to the length, short sentences are usually emphatic, whereas long sentences are capable of expressing complex ideas with precision, because it may contain many modifiers. Short sentences are suitable for the presentation of important facts and ideas , and long sentences for the explanation of views and theories, or the description of things with many details. Long sentences are common in legal, political and theoretical writing, which depends on modification for accuracy. In fiction long sentences are sometimes used to describe a person, a thing or a scene. Various sentences have been discussed. The basic principle is that the structure should fit the idea being expressed. In other words, the idea determines the choice of the structure, not the other way round. III. Effective sentences 1. Unity: is the first quality of an effective sentence. A unified sentence expresses a single complete thought. It does not contain ideas that are not closely related, nor does it express a thought that is not complete by itself. Faulty: Born in a small town in South China in the early 50s, he grew up to be a famous musician. Faulty: Du Fu was one of the greatest poets. Revised: Du Fu was one of the greatest poets of the Tang period. 2.??Coherence Coherence means clear and reasonable connection between parts. A sentence is coherent when its words or parts are properly connected and their relationships unmistakably clear. It is not coherent if it has faulty parallel constructions, pronouns with ambiguous reference, dangling or misplaced modifiers, confusing shifts in person and number, or in voice, tense, and mood. Faulty: a man is judged not only by what he says but also by his deeds. Revised: A man is judged not only by what he says but also by what he does. A man is judged not only by his words but also by his deeds. Faulty: We thought she was charming, intelligent, and a very capable young man. Revised: We thought she was a charming, in