(Practice with Sentence Style: periodic sentences, loose sentences, balanced sentences, and parallelism.)

> A long sentence that has the main point at the end,

Periodic Sentence

> A long sentence that has the main point at the beginning.

Loose Sentence

> A sentence that uses parallel structure and has clauses that are equally long and equally important.

Balanced Sentence

> The grammatical or rhetorical framing of elements (words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs) to give structural similarity.

Parallelism

Every day she thought about him. Every hour she remembered the time they had spent together. Every instant she missed him.

Parallelism

Happy and unaware, the goldfish swam through the pond. Tired and warm, the cat slept on the rug. Slow and slick, the snail inched along the path.

Parallelism

Without an education, without a home, without a single positive influence in their lives, these youth will suffer.

Periodic Sentence

Jenny studied every once in a while. Jeffrey didn't stay out past midnight every once in a while.

Parallelism

Sharpened pencil by sharpened pencil, piece of looseleaf by piece of looseleaf, little Anna eagerly prepared her supplies for school.

Periodic Sentence

Not knowing what her fate would be that day, Jenna jauntily stepped onto the doorstep, took three steps down the path, and was sucked into a warp in the time-space continuum. (Hint: Remember zeugma.)

Periodic Sentence

On account of the variable arrival times, the stickiness that coats the floor, and the abundance of overly talkative freshmen, riding my bus isn't always the greatest experience.

Periodic Sentence

Allison pulled her hat down over her forehead, picked up the dusty shovel, removed another clod of earth, and made what could be called the most important archaeological find of the century.

Periodic Sentence

Although I sincerely regret having to tell you this and really hope that you will understand, I'm afraid to inform you that I've broken your favorite antique vase.

Periodic Sentence

Because of the annoying ringing alarm, the knowledge that I'll have to unearth myself from my covers, and the realization that I have to go to school again, I find waking up to be one of the most unpleasant parts of the day.

Periodic Sentence

I've inferred that my brother likes adventuresome activities, based upon his ventures into skydiving, a plunging descent off a bridge as he bungee jumped, and a bike trip across Europe.

Loose Sentence

The Internet provides an endless source of entertainment, because of the variety of websites, fun games, entertaining videos, and Wikipedia.

Loose Sentence

The stack of books fell off the edge of the desk, and math textbooks, novels, and graphing calculator manuals tumbled to the floor.

Loose Sentence

This book deserves no accolades because the plot is cliche, the characters are stereotypes, and the prose is littered with grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Loose Sentence

The speaker sent forth a passionate plea to the audience, making use of dramatic language, extended metaphors, and pauses for emphasis.

Loose Sentence

She walked into the job interview as she imagined herself walking into a new life.

Balanced Sentence

The rooster crowed eagerly as the Johnsons rose begrudgingly.

Balanced Sentence

The textbooks did contain much knowledge, but they contained too much to actually fit in a backpack.

Balanced Sentence

The rickety cart squeaked to a stop, so eager customers squealed and gathered round.

Balanced Sentence

After leaving for college, the sisters did escape their parents, but they did not escape each other.

Balanced Sentence

The telephone rang continually, but continually the assistant was asleep and did not answer.

Balanced Sentence

She enjoyed sweet; she hated umami.

Balanced Sentence

(Also known as a loose sentence.)

Cumulative Sentence

I like ice cream, and you like candy.

Balanced Sentence

Through the hall she crept.

Periodic Sentence