Monday, May 2, 2016

Post #11: Syntax Variety

Though it may seem enough to have sentences that are free of grammar or mechanics errors, effective writers know how to combine different types of sentences in order to build rhythm and tension within a paragraph.  This tension keeps the reader interested on a subconscious level, and the end result is that the reader will be more invested in reading what you have to say.  As a general rule of thumb, use short, simple sentences for emphasis or when you want to clarify an otherwise confusing concept.  Use long, complicated sentences to establish connections between ideas and develop the broad context or worldview.  What writers should avoid is a paragraph (or essay) in which every sentence is the same general type or the same general length; this monotony is death.

In terms of the four basic types of sentences, there are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.

1.  A simple sentence (also known as an independent clause) is one complete thought.  In other words, there is a subject and predicate.  Here is an example: "Photographs surround us."

2.  A compound sentence is when the writer uses two complete thoughts (two independent clauses) linked with either a comma and coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or a semicolon.  Here are two examples: "Photography can be an art form, or a photograph can be a commercial mode of advertising" and "Photography can be an art form; conversely, a photograph can be a commercial mode of advertising."  In that second example, "conversely" is a conjunctive adverb.  Other examples of conjunctive adverbs include furthermore, however, and nonetheless.

3.  A complex sentence is when the writer uses a complete thought combined with a thought made incomplete through the use of a subordinating conjunction (such as while, since, after, although, because, and even though).  In other words, a complex sentence has an independent clause paired with a dependent clause.  Here are two examples of a complex sentence: "Because photographs surround us, we often take them for granted" and "We often take photographs for granted because they surround us."  A writer can either begin the sentence with the dependent clause (in which case a comma would come at the end of that introductory dependent clause) or with the independent clause (in which case there would be no comma).

4.  A compound-complex sentence is when the writer has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.  Generally, these are the longest sentences.  Here is an example: "When we take and post a selfie to Instagram, we are sharing a vision of both ourselves and how we see the world; this vision can be empowering, but for teenagers these images can also lead to bullying and insecurity."

For this assignment, review your essay's use of syntax, and make sure each paragraph has an effective combination of short, medium, and long sentences.  Finally, choose one paragraph to revise and ensure it has an example of a simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence.  Post those four sentences to the blog.

23 comments:

  1. Photograph is a captured art. The images represent us at our best and worst times, yet it presents our most flattering moments. Since these images present us at our most pleasurable moments, we forget its form of art. When home photos are hanged on the walls, we tend to forget the reason for the picture; the photo becoming home art, yet we pose no importance of its technique as it fades into the distance behind our shoulders.

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  2. Everyone has seen an action shot picture of a sports athlete, but not many have seen or thought about the person taking those pictures. Taking a photograph of a moving person is not easy. Photographers who take these type of pictures not only need to have a certain camera meant for capturing moving objects, but they need to be very in touch with the game. The pictures we see on advertisements seem to be taken at the perfect moment because the photographer was part of the experience and knew when to take the snapshot. Action shots are seen everywhere in today’s world, so we tend to overlook what feeling they bring to people; these pictures bring excitement, and for photographers they create pride for being able to capture a moment of excitement with a camera.

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  3. Photos that are used for education purposes are also very important, and without photos in certain classes, it would be impossible to teach a class. For example, math classes provide multiple pictures for us to understand but are not always used. Science classes also provide images for us to gain a better understanding of what we are learning. We have gained knowledge to certain artists growing up that have made a big impact on the world and have inspired us all in some way, but there is more to learn just from their artwork.

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  4. Photography has become a vital tool in social commerce to engage consumers. This could be achieved by paying attention to content building; nonetheless, the photography has to speak to a particular audience. Although we do not see the audience, taking them into consideration is key to the success of a brand’s campaign. When powerful image is sent out, it tells a story about the product, and people are engaged to the extent that they want to deal with the brand; thus a lot of brands are reinventing their businesses and are achieving their goals.

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  5. Photography is the world's best pastime. Because photographs circumvent us, we are able to utilize photography to explore the world. Susan Sontag, author of On Photography, has an alternate point of view on photography. When Sontag infers that photography lets us know how we think about the world, we acknowledge it as the camera records it; this is essentially what photography is all about, but it involves the photographer's view utilizing a camera to record both a physical reality and an internal reality. Sontag's claim that photography constrains our comprehension of the world is a great observation; conversely, today’s current photograph manipulation makes it difficult to see what reality truly is.

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  6. Cameras and photographs have evolved throughout the years. In the beginning, photographers were not able to preserve their images. Cameras were huge, and it needed a tripod to keep it stable. The person who was getting their pictures taken had to stay in place for hours, because of the slowness of the shutter speed. Photographs back then were black and white, and their quality was not as clear due to the movement and slow shutter speed. Now, both cameras and photographs are more convenient; cameras are smaller making it easier to carry around, and photographs are more affordable and available in colors.

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  7. Photographs are capable of bringing an emotional attachment to the viewer. Social media is the place where we constantly observe photos being uploaded with a special meaning behind it. Photos are valuable, so they become detailed memories of our life throughout the years. While in a photograph is easy to remember the key people in our lives, it is much more difficult to hold onto the image. Photographs hold our precious moments; when we look back at it, we begin to feel the emotions of that moment again.

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  8. Technology has helped with the evolution of photography. Applications like Photoshop, editing programs, and even filters have decreased credibility and originality of photography but despite the technological advances photography shouldn’t lose its appreciation as a form of art. Because people are so caught up in trying to fit in with society and gain acceptance among the people they consider friends, people are pushed to changing their figure simply to get the “likes” they want. Nowadays you see girls posting pictures on Instagram or Facebook that look nothing like what they do in reality because technology has facilitated the way to change your look and prove to society you meet the standards to “fit in”.

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  9. Photography can draw out emotions. Photography is able to send a message and invoke an emotion beyond what is obvious. Sontag states that the photographer was once a simple reporter; but as the evolution of photography occurred, it became more common for photographers to create a feeling of empathy in the viewer in newspapers and other publications (Sontag, 1978). Sontag uses an example of sharecroppers because the photographer placed an emphasis on showing the pain in their faces (Sontag, 1978).

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  10. The photographer has a lot to do with the meaning behind a photograph. For example, the photo taken by one of my fellow class mates E. Mullin’s “Take Home Exam” show the back of a babies head at the lower end of the photo, in the middle shows an open book on a desk along with a lit up computer screen. It could be assumed that in this photo Mullins wanted to portray that she or he is a parent or care giver of a very young child. Who, at times has to juggle taking care of the child as well as doing their homework.

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  11. Overall, photographs are all different. Since context matters in each photograph, there is a form of expression behind it whether it is to be objectified or express uniqueness. Some photographs are meant to simply give an identification of a person such as in the case of a license or a mug shot. These photographs matter in society for identification purposes and become crucial in cases when a crime is committed; in other cases, photographs are meant to express uniqueness and the beauty of the photograph. These are the still moments in life that really hold an emotion within the photograph. These are the photographs with a beautiful purpose behind them. Family portraits, traveling photographs, achievements and photographs of ourselves are the unique still moments that cannot be replicated because they are the unique moments that tell a story. As beautifully expressed by Sontag “A photograph is not just the result of an encounter between an event and a photographer; picture-taking is an event in itself, and one with ever more peremptory rights—to interfere with, to invade, or to ignore whatever is going on” (11).

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  12. Overall, photographs are all different. Since context matters in each photograph, there is a form of expression behind it whether it is to be objectified or express uniqueness. Some photographs are meant to simply give an identification of a person such as in the case of a license or a mug shot. These photographs matter in society for identification purposes and become crucial in cases when a crime is committed; in other cases, photographs are meant to express uniqueness and the beauty of the photograph. These are the still moments in life that really hold an emotion within the photograph. These are the photographs with a beautiful purpose behind them. Family portraits, traveling photographs, achievements and photographs of ourselves are the unique still moments that cannot be replicated because they are the unique moments that tell a story. As beautifully expressed by Sontag “A photograph is not just the result of an encounter between an event and a photographer; picture-taking is an event in itself, and one with ever more peremptory rights—to interfere with, to invade, or to ignore whatever is going on” (11).

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  13. To photograph is to provide evidence of a moment. It may be evidence of a memorable moment event or a regretful moment in your life. "No moment is more important than any other moment; no person is more interesting than any other person (Sontag 28).” A photograph may capture special moments in your life: maybe the birth of your fist born, the marriage of your best friend, the last moments spent with a love one and maybe the first time you traveled out of the country. Whatever the moment might be a photograph is evidence of your life experience and your history.

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  14. Capturing a moment is the purpose of photography. A captured moment is usually printed on material such as paper, to present what has been caught. Although the moment is confined; when a photograph is published, it gets a distinct freedom as it is no longer being in the machine it was once in. This moment, with the right conditions, can becom a symbol by confining an action and/or environment into a fragment. The photographic fragment of a past reality develops the function of a symbolic tool for the audience. Famous photographs are known to be utilized as symbolic tools; whether it be to manipulate, persuade, entertain, reminisce, etc. A famous photograph known as "raising the flag on Iwo Jima is a great example of a photograph becoming a symbol. Even though sixty plus years has passed since it was published; the photograph has become one of the greatest (if not the greatest) symbol for the United States militia, patriotism and to an extent, propaganda.

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  15. Photographs are also used to present the truth. A photograph is a perfect example to reveal hidden truths and let individuals see the reality. Since everything stays recorded on the picture, individuals can go back and refer and take a close look at it. Individuals will be amazed to see certain things that they weren’t able to see if it wasn’t for the picture; they will see many imperfections, and they can even become very disappointed after observing the photograph.

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  16. Electronic communication, including photographic images, isn’t always an authentic footprint of our lives; yet it is a persistent one. As we document our lives electronically, through photographs and social media, it is prudent to keep that in mind. In some instances we cannot control who obtains a photographic image of us, or what they do with it afterward; in others, we are the ones publishing the mementos of our lives. Nevertheless, we seem to frequently operate under the assumption that our privacy is ours to control.

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  17. The duration of time is uncontrollable in the human life. Many things change as time passes, but some things change faster than others. The development of photography is constantly advancing in purpose and quality. Quality improvements can be seen from comparing the photographs that were first taken to newer photographs taken today. The visual quality improvements validates the changes that have occurred with time. The practice of photography and the ability to capture still moments of life are used as a documentation of time. Experiences and moments of time captured in a photo are memories that can be cherished. Photographs that illustrate a particular piece of time and may be a more remarkable memory than an ongoing images developed in a video form (Sontag 17). Capturing a specific moment, such as the first image taken of the results of a physical weight loss, makes the photograph worth much more than a video.

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  18. 1. There is so much meaning behind a picture that there are not enough words to explain it thoroughly.
    2.At first, we may have our minds set into an objective view, so we see what we want to see.
    3.In a photo, one can adjust their angle to show how he or she would like to be seen, thus creating their own image and limiting what viewers see.

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    1. 3. Each individual has his or her own perspectives when he or she views a photograph, whether it is how he or she wants to see others or how he or she want others to see them.
      4.In a photo, one can adjust their angle to show how he or she would like to be seen, thus creating their own image and limiting what viewers see.

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  19. A picture is an object that can be capturing in a second. Taking a picture can be a memory, but capturing your own masterpiece with a picture is a great accomplishment. One of my classmates captured an image of his creation allowing the rest of us to see not just a picture, but two things at the same time. The image that captured my attention was "Eye See the City," because the author of the picture drew an eye, but inside was a city.

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  20. Simple 1) An individual would be hard pressed to find a person that did not suffer from momentary or long-term body image issues in the U.S.

    Complex 2) Those issues stem from experience with a magazine or an add campaign, because billboards of men and women showing off their name brand undergarments can have harmful effects.

    Compound 3) These effects include the development of eating disorders, unrealistic beauty standards, and even self-hatred; these maladies are based on the inability to embody what a Photoshop master took hours to create on a computer.

    Compound Complex 4) While teenagers can come face-to-face with these issues, it is commonplace for adults to feel inferior to these type of models; these photos become tools of self-destruction and even degradation when others adopt them as a set of standards when looking for a partner, and it is important to note that trends caused by the popularity of a photograph of a human being exclude the subject’s personality as a source of attraction.

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  21. Screw sintaxx, dear. Life is too short to worry bout sintaxx. Lemme add summore thots...

    If 'freedom lies in being bold' (Robert Frost), doesn't pushing-the-envelope also result in the Elysian Fields of Utopia? If I'm the sower, we plant the Seed; if I'm an artist, we RITE the symphonies heard Upstairs ☆IF☆ we accept His lead withe orchestra...

    Wanna find-out the fax, Jak, in a wurld fulla the 'power of cowards'? Wanna wiseabove to help a 'Plethora Of Wurdz' [POW!] which are look'n for a new home in thy novelty?? Yay!

    Q: But [gulp] can anyone tell me the difference between K2/IQ? A: Nthn. In Heaven, we gitt'm both for eternity HA! Need a few more thots, ideers, wild wurdz (whoa, Nelly! easy, girl!) or ironclad iconoclasms?

    VERBUM SAT SAPIENTI (Latin: words to [the] wise): As an ex-writer of the sassy, savvy, schizophenia we all go thro in this lifelong demise, I just wanna help U.S. git past the ping-pong-politixx, the whorizontal more!ass! we're in and wiseabove to 'in fine sine fine' (Latin: in [the] End without End -Saint Augustine).

    "This finite existence is only a test, son," God Almighty told me in my coma. "Far beyond thy earthly tempest is where you'll find tangible, corpulent eloquence". Lemme tella youse without d'New Joisey accent...

    I actually saw Seventh-Heaven when we died: you couldn't GET!! any moe curly, party-hardy-endorphins, low-hanging-fruit of the Celestial Paradise, extravagantly-surplus-lush Upstairs (awww! baby kitties, too!!) when my o-so-beautifull, brilliant, bombastic girly passed-away due to those wry, sardonic satires...

    "Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the expanse of the Heavens, and those who have instructed many in uprightousness as bright as stars for all eternity" -Daniel 12:3, NJB

    Here's also what the prolific, exquisite GODy sed: 'the more you shall honor Me, the more I shall bless you' -the Infant Jesus of Prague.

    Go gitt'm, girly. You're incredible. You're indelible. Cya Upstairs. I won't be joining'm in the nasty Abyss where Isis prowls
    thesuperseedoftime.blogspot.com
    infowars.com
    -YOUTHwitheTRUTH:
    Revelation 14:13
    -------------------------------
    PS Need summore unique, uncivilized, useless names?? Lemme gonna gitcha started, brudda:

    Oak Woods, Franky Sparks, Athena Noble, Autumn Rose, Faith Bishop, Dolly Martin, Willow Rhodes, Cocoa Major, Roman Stone, Bullwark Burnhart, Magnus Wilde, Kardiak Arrest, Will Wright, Goldy Silvers, Penelope Summers, Sophie Sharp, Violet Snow, Lizzy Roach, BoxxaRoxx, Aunty Dotey, Romero Stark, Zacharia Neptoon, Mercurio Morrissey, Fritz & Felix Franz, Victor Payne, Isabella Silverstein, Mercedes Kennedy, Redd Rust, Phoenix Martini, Ivy Squire, Sauer Wolfe, Yankee Cooky, blessed b9... (or mixNmatch)

    God blessa youse
    (trustNjesus)
    -Fr. Sarducci, ol SNL

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