And commas. I would love to strangle the person who started the trend for displaying the phrase "Hello world" as a sample computer coding project. It should be "Hello, world!" Note that the phrase "Love, Dad" is not the same as "Love Dad."
Ahem. I digressed. Back to topic.
"Sentence fragment" is the term for a group of words, typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period, that lacks either a noun or a verb. The occasional use of a sentence fragment can add a staccato, emphatic note to your writing. But frequent use is a bit like shouting all the time, or else proves that you have not actually mastered (personed?) the language in which you write.
Examples:
He went on and on. And on.
I haven't died. Yet.
Living in central America, the constant expectation of mold and decay.
Jane stared at the tiny rose in his lapel. A deep purple rose.
The green awning, cracked in places from the sun, drooping from its supports.
Pop quiz: examples 3 and 5 are just illiterate, right? Right.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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