1. The writer spoke of acute body illnessof a mental disorder which oppressed him and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady. BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX SENTENCES

2. Follow these steps : Focus on the main idea. Find the subject and verb. Cross out/eliminate modifying phrases that are not important to the main idea of the sentence. (Clue: usually these phrases are between commas and usually, in Edgars case, dashes). Keep reading. A confusing sentence may be followed by one easier to understand. BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX SENTENCES

3. Your sentence should look similar to this: The writer spoke of acute body illnessof a mental disorder which oppressed him and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady. BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX SENTENCES

4. Rewritten it should look like this: The writer spoke of acute body illness, and of an earnest desire to see me, with a view of attempting some alleviation of his malady. Is this version easier to understand? If not…. BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX SENTENCES

5. If you still have a problem comprehending the sentence, break it down further by eliminating describing words. For example, the sentence would now look like: The writer spoke of acute body illness, and of an earnest desire to see me, with a view of attempting some alleviation of his malady. BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX SENTENCES