The Art of Styling Sentences

by Ann Longknife, K.D. Sullivan

A must-have for any student or aspiring writer, this book reviews the fundamentals of good sentence structure: Conventions of writing style change in subtle ways with passing years--a fact that prompts the need for periodic revisions of books like this one. The authors review the fundamentals of good sentence structure and then go on to describe twenty basic sentence patterns that encompass virtually every effective way of writing sentences in English. They also draw on passages by current prominent writers, using these examples to show how varying rhythm and sentence patterns can result in elegant writing styles that keep their readers interested. Exercises with answers and explanations appear throughout the text. Overflowing with practical and useful advice, this little gem will change the way people write.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Eileen Troemel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read initially but is information intensive. There are only five chapters in the book. The first chapter talks about what a sentence is. What makes a sentence? It also discusses the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory) giving a clear description of them. The authors discuss the different phrases and clauses which make up sentences. They also give the most common types of sentences. At the end of the chapter there's a list of suggested reading. Chapter 2 is about sentence patterns. There are twenty patterns included with some of the patterns having variations within them. Chapter 3 is about style and things to avoid. Chapter 4 is about figurative language in writing like allusion and hyperboles. At the end of this chapter there is another list of suggested reading. Chapter 5 is about seeing the sentence patterns in print. There are actual printed samples of the sentence patterns in order to illustrate how writing has to be a variety of these patterns. The appendix discusses punctuation. This is a textbook for a college level class so throughout there are exercises. There's a section in the beginning which addresses instructors and one which addresses students. Overall this is well written and easy to understand. Though meant for a college class, the readability is at a level most people will understand it. The style of writing in conversational but still informative.

[Jermaine Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a result of reading this book, I gained a better awareness of the various sentence patterns. In turn, I have increased my repertoire in writing skills, so that I can better convey my ideas and create the intended effects. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their writing.

[David]

More of a reference text than a conventional book. It identifies some interesting patterns in sentence structure, and after reading this, I'm interested in going back to some of my favorite authors and seeing how their sentences break down. I'm not sure this is the kind of book where you can read it and have some instant takeaway on improving your writing, but its approach was interesting enough and really appealed to my math brain.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the American English sentence, punctuation presents a set of signal systems for the readers. If your code is clear, the reader will get your signals. If it is faulty, the reader will be confused and you will have failed to communicate. Some marks guide the eye; others, the ear, that is, they indicate the mental intonation (pause, stress, pitch) the reader should use.

Pattern 1: In The Art of Styling Sentences, Longknife and Sullivan present twenty sentence patterns to analyze and mimic; they assure us mastery of these patterns will result in superior writing.

Pattern 1a: The bulk of the book is a discussion of "the twenty basic patterns that writers use to add style and variety"; however, there are more than twenty patterns presented.

Pattern 1b: We're told to examine twenty patterns; we receive more than twenty patterns; and we wonder why they advertised twenty patterns.

Pattern 1c: Notice we're still subdividing Pattern 1; we have not yet moved on to Pattern 2; we wonder if we should trust these authors.

Pattern 2: We view this methodology as anal and somewhat cumbersome; they, as thorough and systematic.

Pattern 3: They provide exercises for each chapter: practice with the pattern as well as a place to log instances wherein you identify these patterns in the wide world of print.

Pattern 4: The information presented can be insightful, enlightening, useless.

Pattern 4b: By useless, I mean at times the information is obvious and trite and hardly original.

Pattern 5: The book covers a wide range of topics--series and lists, appositives and modifiers--that keep it mostly practical.

Pattern 6: Blueprint, explanation, examples, and practice--these comprise each and every pattern.

Pattern 7: The underlying elements necessary to foster sentence variety--understanding of independent and dependent clauses, the judicious use of modifiers and appositives--is reviewed thoroughly through example and repetition.

Pattern 7a: Their love of travel articles--a surprise discovery as we wind our way through--is obvious in the plethora of bloated sentences culled from National Geographic and Conde Naste.

Pattern 8: That they continually pull inferior examples from disposable writing, that they do not quote literary sources more frequently, their methodology of elucidating their patterns is often more puzzling than enlightening.

Pattern 9: They reside in an academic world, an academic world not fully embedded in reality.

Pattern 9a: For students, their approach can be somewhat sterile, somewhat intimidating.

Pattern 10: We are honestly at the end of the first half of their patterns: the grammatical eye of the storm, where modifiers and appositives begin to whirl madly.

Pattern 10a: Midway, they begin to split stylistic hairs--creating patterns based on nothing more than using a dash rather than a colon.

Pattern 11: Longknife and Sullivan, focused on delineating patterns, tend to lose focus on improving style.

Pattern 11a: The authors' focus--they actually want students to identify the pattern numbers for sentences in the margins of their essays and readings--borders on the myopic and obsessive.

Pattern 12: Tasked with identifying pattern numbers, the student wastes time better spent simply identifying complex sentences or focusing on stylistic elements.

Pattern 13: Frustrated, the reader finds it difficult to remember so many similar sentence patterns.

Pattern 14: To most users of this book, the benefit of this book is exposure to a wide array of possibilities in manufacturing and not identifying sentences.

Pattern 15: Don't focus on classifying is my advice for all who take up this book.

Pattern 15a: Through the convoluted and at times overwrought examples, the reader seeks closure by reaching the elusive "20th sentence pattern."

Pattern 16: Not only do the patterns begin to congeal into a single lump within one's mind, but some of the patterns are almost entirely useless (like 15 and 15a).

Pattern 16a: We beg for more guidance, less patterns.

Pattern 17: How I made it through is still amazing to me.

Pattern 18: Hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I continued to read pattern after mind-numbing pattern.

Pattern 19: I finished.

Pattern 19a: Was it worthwhile?

Pattern 20: For most part.

[Jonathan H. MONTES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful book for writers!
This book, just think, is the golden ticket to vary your sentences in the proper way. You are told exactly how the sentences work, how they are used, by the writer and by professional writers. What more? You get examples, you get activities to learn how to use them and how to correct and how to locate them when reading. This book is packed full of information that is vital for making clear, beautiful sentences. Sentences that spark! Sentence that will come together in the making of a novel, or whatever else your projects may explore.
Highly, super-highly recommended to writers out there that don't know all the sentence types. Twenty sentence variations are shared in this book with thorough explanation of each structure. You literally can't get lost reading this book. The writers guides you with a careful leading hand.
Pick it up. Learn how to vary. Trust me, I've edited many works and read a lot of beta books; there are a lot of writers struggling with varying sentences. Don't be one of those writers.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring

[William Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a whole pack of Anki flashcards on this book. How studious I was back then hahaha. A good book on introducing different styles of sentences.

[S.W. Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a few pearls hidden in this book but I doubt reading this will make me a better writer. I suppose it's important to recognize various patterns of sentence so I'll probably review this in the future as I search for ways to expand the variability of my syntax. There are some valuable insights into the use of dashes, parentheses, semicolons, colons and commas. Perhaps I should develop my own set of rules, write them down and consistently follow them. It might work?

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book expanded my knowledge of sentence structure. It's not a gripping page turner with a surprise ending. But as far as delivering on it's promise, it was a complete success.

[Jamie Maltman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for what it sets out to do, with lots of examples and useful exercises, but only rarely entertaining.

[Chris Eakins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this out from there library, but bought as a reference book afterwards.