Sunday, 29 November 2015

How to write a sentence: And how to read one


I have decided to read some sections from this book, hoping it will help me write the essay that I'm going to write.
I looked at the contents and thought about which one I prefer to read and which one would help me so I decided to look at......

Chapter 4: What is a good sentence?
- The first I encountered was the word 'Content', which from the book, it states that 'the communication in a thrilling and effective way of ideas and passions, is finally what sentences are for.' and it says that I can't produce a powerful content without having a command of the devices, what I think it means is that the way I write the sentence like the end, the purpose and what I'm trying to say will be the measure of how good my sentence is.
As I read on, it says that even a bad sentence can be good if it is memorable and if it affects the readers mind in a good way, so basically, 'the success of a sentence is measured by the degree to which the desired effect has been achieved.'

This chapter gives me some advice which some of them relates to 'clipped writing' from the seminar like sentences can be short if they are direct, don't get lost in the maze of piled up causes, follows a good pace, avoid the passive voice, place myself in the sentence, it also gives me a question that I can ask myself when I'm writing a sentence like "What am I trying to do?" which makes me think "What am I trying to achieve?" and "What is the purpose of this sentence?", the goal is to not to cram everything I need to say in one sentence but the 'goal is to communicate forcefully whatever perspective or emphasis or hierarchy of concerns attaches to your present purposes.'

In reflection, what this chapter is saying is that pick something I want to talk about, figure out what I'm trying to convey and then figure out how to convey it.

Chapter 8: First Sentences
- This chapter is obviously about the first sentences and how important it is to have the right sentences written because it gives the audience an idea of what the story will be about, it sets the tone of it and it leans them forward to what they could expect in the near future. They may seem simple but they pack so much information in a brief space and it's important that the information is conveyed effectively.
An effective way to write a sentence is to give the readers information but also withhold some information which will get them to think of questions that they want answered so it will force them to read on to find out the answers.

Chapter 9: Last Sentences
- The first sentences are there to set the tone, establish moods or jump starts arguments, whatever it is but the purpose of last sentences is different, they are used to sum up whatever what was written, leaving you to want more or put everything into perspective.