 |
 |
And to add to Richard's good idea, I usually ask my students if all ideas in their more-than-three-line sentence really have the same importance. Usually one or more of the ideas can and should be subordinated to the others, the use of the complex sentence having become a lost art. Shirley Carnahan ***************************************************************** Dr. Shirley Carnahan Comparative Literature and Humanities Instructor/Undergraduate Advisor [log in to unmask] (303) 492-5444 Campus Box 331 University of Colorado at Boulder ***************************************************************** On Fri, 8 Jan 1999, Richard Rastall wrote: > One of the problems with students' writing is that they present ideas sequentially > (plus qualifications), so that sentences become too long and fail to show the > relationships between ideas. I have a three-line rule that I insist on with my > students (and myself): if a sentence is more than three lines long one should look > at it again with a view to unpicking the ideas in it. Some pruning of verbiage may > help, but the chances are that such a sentence will be improved if it can be divided > into two sentences. At the least -- and even if the sentence remains more than three > lines long -- the student will have reviewed it critically. > > Richard Rastall > *************** > Dr G.R. Rastall > Department of Music, > University of Leeds, > Leeds LS2 9JT > UK > > [log in to unmask] > Tel: +44 (0)113 233 2581 > Fax: +44 (0)113 233 2581 or 2586 > http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/DeptInfo/Staff/GRR/grr.html >