Tasks: Varying Your Sentence Structure - English 1 - NDLASkip to content
Oppgave
Tasks: Varying Your Sentence Structure
Write:
Individual work: Below, you will find sentences about three topics: Elvis Presley, William Shakespeare, and London. Choose one of the topics. Use the sentences, and write a coherent paragraph about your topic.
How can you improve your text? Give each other peer feedback. Image: Maskot / CC BY-NC 4.0
Before you start writing, try to organise the information in a logical manner. Look for ways to combine sentences and to emphasise the things you find most important. You are free to add or delete information as you see fit. Your text should include at least 2 simple sentences, 2 compound sentences and 2 complex sentences.
Group work: Form groups of 3. Proof read and revise each other's rough drafts. Give each other feedback on the different texts before you write your final version.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was American.
He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
He was born on January 8, 1935.
He was a singer and actor.
He was famous for rock-and-roll.
He started singing in church.
He taught himself to play the guitar.
He came from a poor family.
He sang romantic songs.
He danced erotically.
Teens loved him for his new style.
He had many hits.
He sang 'Love Me Tender', 'All Shook Up', and 'Don't Be Cruel'.
He died on August 16, 1977.
He was 42 years old when he died.
He died in Memphis, Tennessee.
He might have died of drug and alcohol abuse.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor.
He was born in 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
He died in 1616.
He was 52 years old when he died.
He is regarded as one of the most important literary figures of the English language.
His parents were called John and Mary.
He had seven siblings in total.
When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway was 26 when she got married.
They had three children: Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith.
Hamnet died when he was eleven years old.
By 1592, Shakespeare had moved to London.
He was a member of a company of actors called 'The Lord Chamberlain’s Men'.
He was a member of this company for the rest of his life.
He wrote 138 plays and 154 sonnets.
No original manuscripts of Shakespeare's plays are known to exist today.
His plays were published after his death.
London
London is in the south of England.
It is the capital of Great Britain.
It borders the English Channel.
There are more than 9 million people living in London.
It was founded by the Romans.
The Romans called the town 'Londinium'.
It is one of the largest financial centres of the world.
It is important for commerce.
It has many national and international banks.
London is one of Europe's cultural centres.
There are more than 170 museums in London.
At night, you can see musicals and theatre performances.
It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
More than a third of Londoners are foreign born.
You can find more than 270 nationalities in London.
There are 17 football clubs that are based in London.
Among the most famous football clubs are Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham.
Rewrite:
How can you add more variety to the language of the following two texts?
Text a)
The pizza is ready. It is sitting on the kitchen table. The pizza smells good. It looks delicious. The pizza toppings are bacon, mushroom, and ham. John refuses to eat the pizza. John is a vegetarian. He decides to order a vegetarian pizza. He prefers pizza with cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and red onion. It is also good. I prefer homemade pizza.
Suggested answer
Note that this is just one way to solve the tasks; there are many possibilities, so don't think that your solution is wrong just because it is not identical to this one.
Finally, the pizza is ready, sitting on the kitchen table. It smells really good and looks delicious. And best of all - it's my favourite pizza with bacon, mushroom, and ham. John, however, refuses to eat the pizza, because he's a vegetarian. He decides to order a vegetarian pizza with cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and red onion. It is also quite good, but I much prefer homemade pizza.
Text b)
I love living in the city. I have a wonderful view of the entire city. I have a flat. I can see the Opera House. I can see many small and large boats and ships on the fjord. I like the restaurants in Oslo. I can find wonderful food from all over the world. I don’t like the traffic in the city.
Suggested answer:
Note that this is just one way to solve the tasks; there are many possibilities, so don't think that your solution is wrong just because it is not identical to this one.
I love living in the city of Oslo. I have a wonderful view of the entire city from the window in my flat. In addition, I can see the Opera House and the harbour, buzzing with activity, with small and large boats and ships coming and going. I also like Oslo because I can find wonderful restaurants with food from just about every corner of the world. There is just one thing I don’t like about Oslo, and that is the heavy traffic.
Discuss:
By varying the beginning of a sentence, you can easily change the emphasis and tone of what you are trying to communicate.
Go through the sentence pairs below and discuss the difference in meaning. When do you think this technique can be used most effectively?
Sentence pairs
a) Starting a sentence by inverting the subject and verb
A Lamborghini was parked in the driveway. Parked in the driveway was a Lamborghini.
I realised the importance of the subject only after the meeting. Only after the meeting did I realise the importance of the subject.
John will never again run another marathon. Never again will John run another marathon.
b) Starting a sentence with an adverb
The red lorry sped furiously past the camper van, blaring its horn. Furiously, the red lorry sped past the camper van, blaring its horn.
Chris privately acknowledged that he had not done a very good job. Privately, Chris acknowledged that he had not done a very good job.
Mary snatched at the bread hungrily, polishing off three slices in under a minute. Hungrily, Mary snatched at the bread, polishing off three slices in under a minute.
c) Starting a sentence with a prepositional phrase
The terrified boy hid in the basement. In the basement, the terrified boy hid.
My bus leaves at 8:55. At 8:55, my bus leaves.
The girl sat crying in the headmaster's office. In the headmaster's office, the girl sat crying.
Write:
Choose one of the tasks below and write a text where you try out different techniques to vary your language. Your text should contain simple, compound, and complex sentences, and you should also try out different ways to start your sentences.
