Sentence structure examples

Question 1

Short sentences

Answer 1

draw our attention to and emphasise the words/ideas in them. Suggest something is sudden, abrupt, final

Question 2

Long sentence

Answer 2

often build up to a climax, drawing our attention to and emphasising what is at the end of them, which is therefore emphasised. Sometimes used to suggest an idea/process is drawn out or complicated.

Question 3

Lists

Answer 3

often draw our attention to what is actually listed, often to emphasise how much of something there is. Polysyndetic listing uses multiple coordinating conjunctions, such as “and”, “but”, or “or”, to connect items in a list. Asyndetic lists use commas.

Question 4

Colons

Answer 4

ften create a pause for emphasis, drawing our attention to what follows immediately after the colon. They are also used to separate sentences into two equal parts, allowing us to compare or contrast different ideas or qualities mentioned in each half. They sometimes introduce a list.

Question 5

Brackets or dashes

Answer 5

are used to separate something from the rest of the sentence, thus emphasising what is in parenthesis, e.g. example, additional information, change of tone, important ideas.

Question 6

exclamation marks

Answer 6

The use of exclamation marks emphasises how passionately a writer feels about something.

Question 7

Questions

Answer 7

Using a series of questions might emphasise confusion. The use of questions that directly involve the reader can help emphasise the ideas in the question, as we pay more attention to them due to an increased sense of involvement. Look out for rhetorical questions, which are used to make a point and do not need an answer.

Question 8

Repetition

Answer 8

any word or phrases which are repeated, automatically stand out, emphasising certain ideas.

Question 9

Word Order

Answer 9

Another name for word order is syntax. Look out, in particular for a technique called inversion, which takes what would usually be at the end of a sentence and places it at the start, e.g. “Horrified I was.” or “Being two-faced was the thing she was best at”. We pay attention to the word “Horrified” in the first example and “being two-faced” in the second. This is mainly due to the fact that they are so clearly placed in a strange position within the sentence.