THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT FRAGMENTS
Reading with an eye for fragments
Identify the fragments in the following passage. What effect does the writer achieve by using fragments rather than complete sentences?
On Sundays, for religion, we went up on the hill. Skipping along the hexagon-shaped tile in Colonial Park. Darting up the steps to Edgecomb Avenue. Stopping in the candy store on St. Nicholas to load up. Leaning forward for leverage to finish the climb up to the church. I was always impressed by this particular house of the Lord.
—KEITH GILYARD, Voices of the Self
Question
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Identify the fragments in the following passage. What effect does the writer achieve by using fragments rather than complete sentences? On Sundays, for religion, we went up on the hill. Skipping along the hexagon-shaped tile in Colonial Park. Darting up the steps to Edgecomb Avenue. Stopping in the candy store on St. Nicholas to load up. Leaning forward for leverage to finish the climb up to the church. I was always impressed by this particular house of the Lord. —KEITH GILYARD, Voices of the Self
Thinking about any fragments in your own writing
Read through some essays you have written. Using the guidelines in 47a, see whether you find any sentence fragments. If so, do you recognize any patterns? Do you write fragments when you’re attempting to add emphasis? Are they all dependent clauses? phrases? Note any patterns you discover, and make a point of routinely checking your writing for fragments. Finally, revise any fragments to form complete sentences.
Question
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Read through some essays you have written. Using the guidelines in 47a, see whether you find any sentence fragments. If so, do you recognize any patterns? Do you write fragments when you’re attempting to add emphasis? Are they all dependent clauses? phrases? Note any patterns you discover, and make a point of routinely checking your writing for fragments. Finally, revise any fragments to form complete sentences.