Syntax AP Lexicon, Section 4

Syntax 0 The order of words in a sentence. 0 The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Declarative Sentence DefinitionExamples 0 A declarative sentence makes a statement 0 Declarative sentences suggest informative, analytical, and seemingly objective work. 0 “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.”

Imperative Sentence DefinitionExamples 0 Gives a command. 0 Often used for instructional, or didactic purposes. 0 Makes speaker seem authoritative. 0 “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell.”

Interrogative Sentence DefinitionExample 0 Asks a question 0 Creates more reader/audience involvement 0 “Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?”

Exclamatory sentence DefinitionExample 0 Sentence or fragment that is an exclamation 0 Conveys passionate emotion. 0 “Thou wast not bold! Thou was not true!”

Antecedent 0 The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun “But it is the grandeur of all truth which can occupy a very high place in human interests that it is never absolutely novel to the meanest of minds; it exists eternally, by way of germ of latent principle, in the lowest as in the highest, needing to be developed but never to be planted.” The antecedent of “it” (bolded) is...?

Subject Complement 0 The word, phrase, or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either: 0 (1) renaming it (the predicate nominative) 0 Example: Julia Roberts is a movie star. 0 (2) describing it (the predicate adjective). 0 Warren remained optimistic. Linking Verbs: Be (is, are, were, will) Become Seem And sometimes. appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn

All about clauses 0 Clause: a grammatical unit that contains a subject and a verb. 0 Independent/main clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. 0 Dependent, or subordinate clause, cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. 0 Consider what or why the author subordinates one element 0 Become aware of making effective use of subordination in your own writing. I went on the Ferris Wheel that went really high! The Ferris Wheel that I rode went really high!

Simple Sentence DefinitionExample 0 Contains a subject and a verb. 0 The adorable puppy curled up on Ms. Rudder’s lap. Totally Me.

Compound Sentence DefinitionExamples 0 Contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction (and, but, or) or by a semicolon 0 The ice cream was delicious; it was exactly what I wanted. 0 The puppy was cold and wet, but it was happy to be safe in my car.

Complex Sentence DefinitionExample 0 Contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses 0 I bet you’re expecting that this sentence is going to be about puppies or ice cream.

Compound-Complex Sentence DefinitionExample 0 Contains two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clause 0 After the play rehearsals end, Ms. Rudder won’t have to stay up late making power points and her presentations will be more interesting.

The Order

Natural Order DefinitionExample 0 Constructing a sentence so the subject comes before the predicate. 0 Oranges grow in California.

Inverted Order/ Sentence Inversion DefinitionExample 0 The predicate comes before the subject. 0 Order is reverse to create emphasis or a rhythmic effect. 0 Usually emphasizes first element 0 In California grow oranges.

Split Order DefinitionExample 0 Divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle. 0 In California oranges grow

Interrupted Sentences DefinitionExample 0 Subordinate clauses come in the middle, set off by dashes or commas 0 Interruption appears informal, but urgent 0 Even though she had warned him about the haunted house—perhaps, especially because she had warned him about it—he went in.

Length and Style

Sentence Length 0 Staccato: one to two words, abrupt 0 Telegraphic: shorter than five words 0 Medium: approximately eighteen words 0 Long and involved: thirty words or more The Super League of Frighteningly Happy and Odd Looking Animals to the rescue!

Loose Sentence DefinitionExample 0 The main idea (independent clause) comes first, then dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. 0 Informal, relaxed, or conversational 0 I arrived safely at work after being rescued by the amazing Super League of Frighteningly Happy and Odd Looking Animals.

Periodic Sentence DefinitionExample 0 Presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end, after a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone. 0 Add emphasis and structural variety 0 Stronger 0 After an inspiring rescue by the Super League of Frighteningly Happy and Odd Looking Animals, I arrived safely at work.

Techniques

Ellipsis DefinitionExamples 0 Deliberate omission of word/words implied by context 0 “My pen was blue; hers, red. 0 “He ate thirty doughnuts, but she ate fifty.”

Asyndeton DefinitionExamples 0 Deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series 0 Creates sense of speed and concision 0 Seems spontaneous 0 Lists don’t necessarily seem complete 0 Makes a phrase seem like an afterthought or completion/synonym of previous idea 0 She was obsessed with puppies, books, ice cream, sleep. 0 He was a soldier, a hero. 0 "In some ways, he was this town at its best-- strong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas- boastful."

Polysyndeton DefinitionExamples 0 Deliberately using many conjunctions 0 An attempt to encompass something complex 0 Emphasizes multiplicity and persistence or intensity 0 They read and studied and wrote and drilled. I laughed and played and talked and flunked. 0 "Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly--mostly-- let them have their whiteness." (Angelou)

Words to Describe Syntax Syntactic FluencySyntactic Permutation 0 Ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately complex and/or simple and varied in length. 0 Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved. They are often difficult for a reader to follow.