Creating effects by the order in which parts of the sentence are put: Sentence Patterns Creating effects by the order in which parts of the sentence are put:

The main sentence patterns you will come across are: Inversion Repetition Climax and anti-climax Antithesis Long and short sentences

Inversion Inverting (reversing) the expected order of the words. The expected order of a simple sentence is subject, verb, object. E.g. Miss Hamilton is a teacher. The object is linked to the verb and gives information which completes the sentence. Verbs control the tense of the sentence and indicate the action The subject is the who or what in a sentence.

Why use inversion? Inversion alters the emphasis in any sentence. It tends to be used in shorter sentence – but not always. It is used to stress a particular word or phrase, however the dramatic impact will depend on the content. E.g: instead of “the teacher went on and on” a writer may say “on and on went the teacher.” Effect: throws emphasis on how tedious the teacher is. Eg: “Merrily, the carol singers harmonised” instead of “The carol singers harmonised merrily.” Effect: Throws emphasis on how merrily the singers were singing.

Repetition It is not just words or phrases that can be repeated; structures can be repeated too. Eg: “He hated spiders, he hated lemons, he hated television, he hated teachers, he hated children, he hated fools.” Effect: the repetition of the phrase “he hated” emphasises how complaining he is and makes him sound insufferable. NOTE: is always weak to give an answer like “the repetition emphasises it.” You must be specific about what is being emphasised.

Climax and anti-climax Climax :A number of items which are ordered in a way that leaves the most important/dramatic thing to last. E.g. “I trembled silently. My lip began to quiver. I began to whimper and sniffle before letting out an ear-shattering, purple-faced, fist-waving screech.” Anti-climax is the opposite (the items are in descending order.) Effect: depends on the example. Climax: often raises expectations/tension. Anti-climax: often disappoints/puzzles/creates humour.

Antithesis Putting 2 balanced opposites together to create a contrast. E.g: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Effect: depends on the example. Here, it sounds statesmanlike and impressive and “quotable”. It can also be used for comedy. It can create rhythm. Finally, it can often be used by journalists to try and persuade readers’ in some way.

Short/long sentences Effect: depends on the example. Often: Long sentences: conveys a feeling of speed, continuous movement. Short: slower, more interrupted rhythm. Often, length of sentence mirrors what it is describing. E.g: long, stretched out sentence to describe a huge, massive sky. short sentence to describe a pause on movement or a shock.

What the examiner is looking for! Knowledge of different types of sentences. Understanding of how punctuation is used to break up sentences. Ability to identify sentence patterns and comment on the impact they have. Understanding of the impact of varied sentence lengths.

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