Manipulating Sentence Parts
Building on what you’ve learned in previous videos about writing sentences and about phrases and clauses, in this video we’ll explore how these elements work while crafting sentences. Our goal here is to understand how we can manipulate the order and placement of these elements to achieve specific rhetorical effects. If you’re not completely confident in your understanding of phrases and clauses and how they work in sentences, make sure to go through the instruction on Phrases and Clauses that we have posted to the site.
Embedded Exercises and Resources
The files and links here are referenced in the video, and your instructor may ask you to complete these exercises and turn them in for credit.
- David Brooks’ essay, “The Solitary Leaker,” on the NY Times
- sentence combining exercise (docx format)
Suggested Exercises
While these exercises are not referenced in the video, they are provided for those who want additional practice with the concepts explained in the video. Sentence combining exercises, for instance, are great practice for the manipulation described in the video and would be a good fit for these concepts. Again, your instructor may ask you to complete specific exercises for credit. (If you’re unfamiliar with sentence combining, check out our video that explains the exercises.)