Pearson
Adult Learning Centre: Tips for Writers by Brad Hyde
Breaking
the Rules: Avoid "Short Choppy Sentences"?
You may have been told by your teachers to
avoid "short and choppy sentences." In this quote, however, notice how
Ethel Wilson uses choppy sentences for effect. The sentences mimic two
women taking a quick look around a rail car after boarding a train. For
even more fun, find the story and read it! "Even in the confusion of entering the
carriage at Salzburg, Mrs. Montrose and her cousin Mrs. Forrester
noticed the man with the blue tooth. He
occupied a corner beside the window. His wife sat next to him. Next to
her sat their daughter of perhaps seventeen. People poured into the
train. A look passed between Mrs. Montrose and Mrs. Forrester." —from
the story, "We Have to Sit Opposite" by Ethel Wilson.
(December 30, 2003)
See
our most recent tips.
Tips
from November 2001 to April 2002
Tips
from September 2000 to October 2001.
Tips
from January to August 2000
Tips from January to December 1999
Resources for
Adults Completing
High School