Transcript Introduction to Syntax

Introduction to Syntax
Honors English 2012
TASK 1:
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NEATLY AND CLEARLY LABEL YOUR
NOTES WITH:
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TITLE
NAME
DATE
PERIOD
Definition
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Syntax is the way words are arranged in
sentences. In other words, syntax is
sentence structure. Syntax includes:
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Sentence Parts
Word Order
Sentence Length
Punctuation
TASK 2:
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WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF SYNTAX?
WHAT FOUR MAIN ELEMENTS MAKE UP
SYNTAX?
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM LEARNING
ABOUT SYNTAX?
Seriously, Ms. Schumacher, haven’t
we been tortured enough?
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NO!
Syntax is important because expert writers
understand how our language is put
together.
They learn about language and experiment
how we express ideas
Experimenting with syntax is playing with the
foundation of communication
TASK 3:
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WHY IS SYNTAX IMPORTANT?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “EXPERIMENT”
WITH SYNTAX?
THINK OF AT LEAST ONE EXPERT
WRITER (AUTHOR) WHO HAS
EXPERIMENTED WITH SYNTAX?
Let’s get started…
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First: you need to understand basic sentence
vocabulary (subject, verb, clause, phrase,
and fragment).
Second: you need to understand how writers
use these sentence parts to get the effects
they want.
Third: you need to have basic understanding
of special punctuation (semicolon, colon,
dash, and italics)
TASK 4:
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WHAT THREE THINGS MUST YOU KNOW
TO UNDERSTAND SYNTAX?
LIST ONE THING YOU ALREADY KNOW
ABOUT EACH TOPIC.
SUBJECTS AND VERBS
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The subject is the part of the sentence that
expresses what the sentence is about. It’s
the topic. It’s the do-er. It’s the be-er
The verb is the part of a sentence that
expresses action or connects the subject with
the other words in the sentence. It’s the right
side of those crazy diagrams.
TASK 5:
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WRITE A QUICK DEFINITION OF SUBJECT
AND VERB
WRITE A 5 WORD SENTENCE THAT
CONTAINS ONLY A SUBJECT AND A
VERB (A VERY SIMPLE DIAGRAM)
CLAUSES AND PHRASES
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In addition to subjects and verbs, you should
be familiar with the larger parts of a
sentence:
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CLAUSES: a group of related words that has a
subject and a verb.
PHRASES: a group of related words that has no
subject or verb.
TASK 6:
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WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A
CLAUSE AND A PHRASE?
WRITE AN EXAMPLE OF A CLAUSE
WRITE AN EXAMPLE OF A PHRASE
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
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A sentence fragment is a group of words that
is punctuated like a sentence but is not really
a sentence. It’s missing one or more
components of a complete sentence.
EX: The lion is a wild animal. Really wild.
*NOTE: You’ve likely been told not to use
fragments. This is true in formal writing.
However, expert authors use them all the
time. In other words, don’t break this rule
until you really know what you’re doing,
and only in the right context.
TASK 7:
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WHAT IS A SENTENCE FRAGMENT?
WHY IS THE UNDERLINED EXAMPLE
CONSIDERED A FRAGMENT?
WHO GETS TO USE FRAGMENTS?
WHAT EFFECT DOES A SENTENCE
FRAGMENT HAVE?
WORD ORDER
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Normal word order = subject-verb-object
This can change, and indeed, change
meaning:
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Jim said that he drives only a truck.
Jim said that only he drives a truck.
Jim only said that he drives a truck.
Only Jim said that he drives a truck.
WORD ORDER, CONT.
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Word order is inherent. We don’t really have
to think about it as native speakers of
English.
Word order basics are fairly inflexible;
however, some expert writers change order
for special effect:
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Am I ever happy about my report card!
Pizza I want—not soup!
TASK 8:
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WHY DOES WORD ORDER MATTER?
COME UP WITH YOUR OWN SENTENCE
AND REARRANGE IT THREE WAYS. TRY
TO CHANGE THE MEANING IN ONE OF
THE ARRANGEMENTS.
CAN YOU THINK OF AN EXAMPLE WHERE
WORD ORDER HAS BEEN
INTENTIONALLY CHANGED?
SENTENCE LENGTH
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Basically:
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Sentences come in all shapes and sizes
Varied sentence structure keeps readers
interested
Varied sentence structure can control what
readers really pay attention to
Sentence length is a tool. You should really use it!
Chop some sentences; glue them back together
in a new way.
TASK 9:
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WHY IS VARIED SENTENCE STRUCTURE
IMPORTANT?
Partner 1: Write a sentence containing at
least 10 words.
Partner 2: Change the sentence so that it
become longer, or break it up into two
shorter sentences.
PUNCTUATION
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Punctuation is power in writing.
The following are the most basic pieces of
punctuation that help develop voice:
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SEMICOLON: joins two or more clauses
COLON: something important will follow
DASH: sudden change of thought or sets off a
summary (two—count them, two—hyphens)
ITALICS: used to talk about a word as a word or
for emphasis
TASK 10:
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EXPLAIN THE FOUR BASIC PIECES OF
PUNCTUATION
LIST AT LEAST THREE OTHER PIECE OF
PUNCTUATION. HOW DO YOU USE
THEM? WHAT EFFECT DO THEY HAVE?
SYNTACTICAL SENTENCE PATTERNS
Please be familiar with the following:
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TELEGRAPHIC: Shorter than five words in length
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DECLARATIVE: Sentence makes a statement
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Brianna must sing.
EXCLAMATORY: Sentence provides emphasis or
expresses strong emotion.
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Megan is a cheerleader.
IMPERATIVE: Sentence gives a command
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David couldn’t wait.
Kanye West is so cool!
INTERROGATIVE: Sentence asks a question
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Does Tasha love Lady Gaga?
TASK 11:
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BORING, I KNOW:
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SIMPLY COPY DOWN THE INFORMATION ON
THIS SLIDE
TASK 11.5:
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Run in place for a moment
Shake out your hand
Talk to your buddy about bowling.
SYNTACTICAL SENTENCE PATTERNS
Please be familiar with the following:
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SIMPLE: Contains one independent clause
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COMPOUND: Contains two independent clauses joined by a
coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon
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Isaac waved at the crowd from the field; Kyle scored the last goal of the
season.
COMPLEX: Contains an independent clause and one or more
subordinate clauses
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Jackson waved at the crowd from the dugout.
Because it greatly upset her, Ms. Schumacher sincerely apologized to
Ms. Kitchens about her “very punny” sentence.
COMPOUND-COMPLEX: Contains two or more independents
clauses and one or more subordinate clauses
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Although she dearly love llamas, Megan has stopped hassling the class
about them, but the pony-loving-Brandi continues to taunt poor Derek
without letting up.
TASK 12:
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BORING, I KNOW:
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SIMPLY COPY DOWN THE INFORMATION ON
THIS SLIDE
SYNTACTICAL SENTENCE PATTERNS
Please be familiar with the following:
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LOOSE: Sentence makes complete sense if brought to a close before
the actual ending
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PERIODIC: Sentence makes complete sense only when the end of the
sentence is reached
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Ms. Schumacher arrived at school after dodging angry road raccoons,
hiding from mischievous truck drivers with silly string, and avoiding a five
car pile up that included the Oscar Meyer wiener-mobile.
After dodging angry road raccoons, hiding from mischievous truck drivers
with silly string, and avoiding a five car pile up that included the Oscar
Meyer wiener-mobile, Ms. Schumacher arrived at school.
PARALLEL STRUCTURE: Similarity between sentences or parts of
sentences. It involves arrangement of words, phrases, sentences, and
paragraphs so that elements of equal importance are equally
developed and similarly phrased.
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Ethel the Bulldog loves to wake up, loves to run outside, loves to relieve
herself, and loves to tap-dance when I get home from work.
TASK 13:
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BORING, I KNOW:
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SIMPLY COPY DOWN THE INFORMATION ON
THIS SLIDE
SYNTAX PRACTICE 1
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“He was a year
older than I, skinny,
brown as a
chocolate bar, his
hair orange, his
hazel eyes full of
mischief and
laughter.”
–
Esmeralda Santiago, When
I Was Puerto Rican
1.
2.
TALK ABOUT IT: Consider
the way the sentence is
written. What do you notice
about word order? What
effect does this word order
have on the meaning of the
sentence?
Placing all of the adjectives
and adjective phrases one
after the other is called
layering. What effect does
layering have on the impact
of the sentence?
NOW YOU TRY IT:
Fill in the blanks to create a sentence similar to
Santiago’s:
He (she) was
than I,
comparative of an adjective
,
adjective
, his/her hair
Simile that describes the subject
, his/her eyes
adjective
.
adjective phrase
SYNTAX PRACTICE 2
“But once I spread my fingers in the dirt and crouch over the Get
on Your Mark, the dream goes and I am solid again and am
telling myself, Squeaky you must win, you must win, you are
the fastest thing in the world, you can even beat your father up
Amsterdam if you really try. And then I feel my weight coming
back just behind my knees then down to my feet then into the
earth and the pistol shot explodes in my blood and I am off and
weightless again, flying past the other runners, my arms
pumping up and down and the whole world is quiet except for
the crunch as I zoom over the gravel in the track.”
-Toni Cade Bambara, Raymond’s
Run (Creative Short Stories)
SYNTAX PRACTICE 2, CONT.
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How is this excerpt written
(syntactically)? How does
the sentence structure
emphasize the meaning of
the sentence?
What do you notice about
the sentence beginnings?
What is the purpose of this?
Why would the author
choose to do this?
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NOW YOU TRY IT:
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Write a sentence describing
getting a phone call you are
really excited about. Try to
capture your excitement
through your sentence
structure, as Bambara
does, using short clauses
connected by commas.
Begin your sentence with a
conjunction.
SYNTAX PRACTICE 3
“When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without
hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little—a
very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened
it—you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily—
until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of a
spider, shot from out the crevice and full upon the
vulture eye.”
-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale
Heart,” The Tell-Tale Heart and
Other Writings
SYNTAX PRACTICE 3, CONT.
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TALK ABOUT IT: Look
carefully at the first
sentence. There are several
phrases that interrupt the
flow of the sentence. Why
would Poe write the
sentence like this?
Look at the second
sentence. What is the
purpose of the dashes? How
do they involve the reader in
the action of the passage?
NOW YOU TRY IT:
Write a sentence about doing
your homework. Try to
imitate the way Poe uses
phrases to slow down the
way you read the sentence.
Use at least one dash.
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When I
.
SYNTAX PRATICE 4
“When I woke up it was light. It was awfully quiet. Too
quiet. I mean, our house just isn’t naturally quiet. The
radio’s usually going to full blast and the TV is turned
up loud and people are wrestling and knocking over
lamps and tripping over the coffee table and yelling
at each other. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t
quite figure it out. Something had happened…I
couldn’t remember what.”
-S.E. Hinton,
The Outsiders
SYNTAX PRACTICE 4, CONT.
Hinton starts the passage with two short sentences, a sentence fragment
and another short sentence. Then he writes two longer sentences.
Contrast the purposes of the short sentences and the long sentences.
Use the chart to jot down your ideas.
Purpose of the short
sentences and fragments
Purpose of the longer
sentences.
HOW DOES THE SENTENCE LENGTH REINFORCE THE MEANING OF THE PASSAGE?
HINTON USES ELLIPSES IN THE LAST SENTENCE TO SHOW THAT SOMETHING HAS
BEEN LEFT OUT. WHAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT? HOW DO YOU KNOW?
SYNTAX PRACTICE 4, CONT.
NOW YOU TRY IT: Think about a time when
you got a present you knew you wouldn’t
like—you knew it even before you opened it.
Now write a sentence about this experience.
Create tension by using ellipses to show that
some important words have been left out.