SENTENCECLASSIFI
&wogreatclassesofsentencesagtothegeneralprinciplesuponwhichtheyarefouermedthelooseandtheperiodic。
Intheloosesehemaifirst,andthenfollowseveralfahit。Defoeisanauthorpartiotedforthiskiesoutwithaleadiiontowhichheaddsseveralattendaions。ForiheopenioryofRobinsonCrusoeweread:"Iwasbornintheyear1632iyoodfamily,thoughnotofthatyfatherbeingafnerofBremeledfirstatHull?hegotagoodestatebymerdise,andleavingoffhistradelivedafterwardatYork,fromwhencehehadmarriedmymother,whoserelationswerenamedRobinsoodfamilyiryandfromIwascalledRobizbytheusualland,wearenoway,wecallourselves,andwriteournamedsomypanionsalwayscalledme。"
Intheperiodicethemainideaeslastandisprecededbyaseriesofrelativeintrodus。Thiskieenintroducedbysuchwordsasthat,if,sihefollole:
"Thatthroughhisownfollyandlaspeheshouldhavebeeosuchcesastobeforeabeggaros,soligalmsfromthosewhohadformerlybeesofhisbounty,wasasorehumiliation。"
Onaemaothinktheloosesentendesirablefoodposition,butthisshouldakenfranted。Inmaispreferabletotheperiodi。
Asageneralruleinspeaking,asopp,thelooseformistobepreferred,inasmutheperiodicisemployedindiscoursethelisteettheintroductoryclausesbeforethefinalissueisreached。
Bothkindsarefreelyusedinposition,butiheloose,whichmakesthedirectstatementatthebeginning,shouldpredominate。
Astotheleencesmudsoureofthepositiohegeneralrulemaybelaiddownthatshortsentencesarepreferabletoloehebestwritersofthepresentdayistowardsshort,snappy,pithysentenceswhichrivettheattentionofthereader。Theyadoptastheirmottomultuminparvo(mulittle)aopackagreatdealinsmallspace。Ofcoursetheextremeofbrevityistobeavoided。Sentenbetooshort,toojerky,toobrittletowithstaofcriticism。Theloespladaveryimportaisindispensableiandoftenisveryodesandalseneralprincipleswhichrequireelaboration。Inemployingtheloheiershouldnotstraiheheavy,poype。JohnsonandCarlyleusedsuchatype,butremember,anordinarymortalotwieldthesledgehammerofagiant。Johnsonaelletsandfeetostaerarypedestal。Thetyroinpositionshouldheheavystyle。ThebestofalauthorsintheEnglishlayleisAddison。Macaulaysays:"Ifyouwishastylelearitbutious,simpleyetrefined,youmustgiveyourdaysandnightstothevolumesofJosephAddison。"Thesimplicity,apartfromthebeautyofAddisonscausesustoreiteratetheliteraryand—"Neveruseabigwordwhenalittleonewillveythesameorasimilarmeaning。"
Macaulayhimselfisaylisttoimitate。Heislikeaclearbrookkissedbythenoon-daysunintheshiningbedofwhiseeandtthebeautifulwhitepebbles。Goldsmithisaerwhosesimplicityofstylecharms。
Thebeginnershouldstudythesewriters,maketheirworkshisvademecum,theyhavestoodthetestoftimeandtherehasbeenupo,noristherelikelytobe,fisasperfectasitispossibletobeintheEnglishlanguage。
Apartfrrammatistruthereofixedrulesfortheformatiohebestplanistofolowthebestauthorsaersoflanguagewillguideyousafelyalongthe