114. Unity In The Sentence

We have seen that the ideal paragraph, like the ideal composition, is a unit, and the definition of a sentence shows that the sentence, too, should be a unit. One of the hardest things for many young writers to learn is to stop when they have finished a sentence. Like fluent but careless letter writers, they ramble on from one subject to another without a period. Sometimes this dividing paragraphs into sentences is a very simple matter; at other times it is somewhat puzzling.

115. Simple And Complex Sentences As Units

Simple and complex sentences offer the best means of securing unity. You remember from your study of grammar that a simple sentence consists of a single statement, command, question, or exclamation. Such a sentence seldom lacks unity. Similarly, if your sentence is complex, - that is, if it consists of one main clause and' one or more subordinate clauses, - you have a good chance to put the important statement in a prominent position. If, however, your sentence is compound, - if it consists of two or more clauses of equal rank, - you will need to give special attention to unity.

It is not sufficient for these main clauses to refer to the same thing; as separate thoughts they must be parts of a greater thought. The following sentence is not unified, although both main clauses refer to Shakespeare:

Shakespeare was born in Stratfordon-Avon, and he wrote "Macbeth."

Notice that the statements may be put into a complex sentence; as, Shakespeare, who wrote "Macbeth," was born at Stratfordon-Avon.

But the following sentence, although similar in form to the compound one given above, is allowable because its main clauses merge in a greater thought:

Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on-Avon, and is supposed to have written "Macbeth" in that town.

The first two sentences in section 114 may be studied as illustrations of the differences between a compound and a complex sentence. The first sentence is compound. Each of the two main clauses discusses unity: the one, unity in the paragraph; the other, unity in the sentence. The "greater thought," binding the whole sentence together, is that unity is the fundamental basis of both the paragraph and the sentence. The second sentence is complex. The main clause states that it is hard for a young writer to do a certain thing; the subordinate clause explains when this is difficult.

Several separate thoughts may form a series or may constitute a group of details in a single picture. For example:

1. The smith, with the horse's heel in his lap, pauses as the vehicle whirls by, the cyclops round the anvil suspend their ringing hammers, and suffer the iron to grow cool; and the sooty specter in brown paper cap, laboring at the bellows, leans on the handle for a moment and permits the asthmatic engine to heave a long-drawn sigh, while he glares through the mirky smoke and sulphurous gleams of the smithy.

2. At this point I cannot keep out of mind the story of the preacher who divided his discourse into three heads. He declared it to be his intention, under the first head, to speak of some things that he knew all about, and of which his congregation knew nothing; under his second head, he proposed to deal with matters that both he and his hearers fully understood; and under the third head, he promised to discuss topics concerning which neither he nor they had any knowledge.

It is a good habit in revising your work to see whether you cannot improve sentences by making compound sentences either simple or complex.

Exercises

362. Point out the greater thought (1) in the last sentence of section 2, page 1; (2) in the first sentence of section 3. Turn to five other compound sentences in the book, and explain what you understand to be the greater thought in each.

363. Be prepared to make each of the following sentences complex. Emphasize the main thought. When it seems best, substitute a phrase for a clause.

1. I called this morning before school, and he was still asleep.

2. He rounded the corner and recognized his old master.

3. The bell rang, and the room became quiet.

4. We went into the kitchen and found Fred putting up the luncheon.

5. Night came on, and we hurried out of the wood.

6. We reached the mooring about five o'clock, and took the party ashore in the tender.

7. We returned to the boat and cleaned her deck and sides, and then went ashore.

8. I was skating on Jamaica Pond a few nights ago and saw a novel way of gliding over the ice.

364. Find in your writing five compound sentences. Turn them into complex sentences by using subordinate clauses, and point out. any improvement or lack of improvement.

365. Rewrite as many of the following sentences as you can improve, even if some of them are good as they stand:

1. I was alone at the time and was much frightened.

2. My father tried to take hold of the cat, and it jumped about five feet up into the air.

3. He asked them what they wanted, and they laughed at him.

4. We reached home about five o'clock, and we were so tired when we got off our bicycles that we could hardly walk.

5. Last summer, while spending a few weeks' vacation in Province-town, I built a raft and went rowing with the boys of the community.

6. I had no cartridges, so I went over to my chum's house and borrowed a few.

7. Several of the boys recited "Signior Antonio," and did so well that the teacher was greatly pleased.

8. I have not yet put all the themes in my notebook, but I have only two more to be put in.

9. As I entered the woods, I saw two high rocks.

10. The center of the island was high, and there was a very tall tree there.

866. Consider the unity of the following sentences, and rewrite wherever it is desirable. If the sentence is compound and does not seem to require rewriting, explain carefully the thought that unifies it.

1. Our school building is the oldest in the city, and it stands on Broadway.

2. Theodore Roosevelt has been twice President of the United States, and has made a famous hunting trip to Africa.

3. I like the Boston Tribune because it costs only one cent, contains reliable news, and has a good editorial page.

4. Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne," and is a famous poet who was a poor farmer in Scotland.

5. Front-de-Boeuf was very cruel, and was the largest of all the knights at the tournament where Ivanhoe won the victory and made Rowena the Queen of Love and Beauty.

6. London is the largest city in the world, and is situated on the river Thames.

7. Monsieur Defarge was an able-bodied man of about thirty years of age, and was rather good-natured.

8. Jerry Cruncher was the messenger at Tellson's Bank, and was fond of fishing.

9. The Mississippi, which is the most important river in the United States, flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

10. I like "Ivanhoe" as a story, but "A Tale of Two'Cities" is much harder to understand.

11. The Crusades were great military expeditions, and the Christian people of Europe carried them on with the aim of rescuing the holy places of Palestine from the hordes of the Mohammedans.

12. The courage of the common soldier is officially supposed to be beyond question, and, as a rule, it is so.

13. Every timber in the vessel was of oak, and she had been built in Maine.

14. The soldiers stepped from the trenches into the furrow, horses that had charged federal guns marched before the plow, and fields that ran red with blood in spring were green with harvest in June.

15. All this time it was snowing harder than it had ever snowed before, so far as a man might guess at it; and the leaden depth of the sky came down like a mine turned upside down on us.