Syntactic Complexity and The Scarlet Letter n Hawthornes

“Kernel Sentences" n A kernel sentence is a sentence that contains only a noun

Sentence Patterns n 1: Subject-Verb (S-V) – Example: Dogs bark. n 2: Subject-Verb-Object (S-V-O)

Sentence patterns n 4: Subject-Linking Verb-Adjective (S-LV-A) – Example: Advice is cheap. n 5:

Sentence patterns n 6: Subject-Verb-Object Complement (S-V-O-OC) – Example: Jim called his sister a

Sentence Combining and Hawthorne Sentence 1 n The woman was tall. The woman was

Sentence Combining and Hawthorne Sentence 2 n n n She had hair. Her hair

Hawthorne's original sentence n She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it

Sample Imitation n n n The guitarist was talented. The guitarist was cool. (WITH)

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Syntactic Complexity and The Scarlet Letter n Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is typically one of the most challenging books secondary students read. n One common challenge to a modern reader is the typical length of Hawthorne's sentences. n His initial sentence is 45 words, and it is relatively simple to find many examples of sentences of more than 75 words. n Why we have come to expect shorter sentences?

“Kernel Sentences" n A kernel sentence is a sentence that contains only a noun and a verb. (I walk. ) n Expanded sentences are kernel sentences plus adjectives and adverbs (describing words). (I walk quickly. ) n These sentences help the writer express thoughts that make the sentences clear and interesting to the reader.

Sentence Patterns n 1: Subject-Verb (S-V) – Example: Dogs bark. n 2: Subject-Verb-Object (S-V-O) – Example: Boys meet girls. n 3: Subject-Linking Verb-Noun (S-LV-N) – Example: Tim is a secretary.

Sentence patterns n 4: Subject-Linking Verb-Adjective (S-LV-A) – Example: Advice is cheap. n 5: Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Object (S-V-IO-O) – Example: We gave the waiter a tip.

Sentence patterns n 6: Subject-Verb-Object Complement (S-V-O-OC) – Example: Jim called his sister a lady. n 7: Subject-Verb-Object-Adjective (S-V-O-A) – Example: Jim called his sister lazy.

Sentence Combining and Hawthorne Sentence 1 n The woman was tall. The woman was young. (WITH) The woman had a figure of elegance. The elegance was perfect. The elegance was on a large scale. n Hawthorne's original sentence: n n – The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale.

Sentence Combining and Hawthorne Sentence 2 n n n She had hair. Her hair was dark. (AND) Her hair was abundant. Her hair was so glossy it threw off the sunshine with a gleam. (AND) She had a face. (WHICH, BESIDE BEING) Her face was beautiful from regularity of feature, (and) Her face was beautiful from richness of complexion. Her face had the impressiveness. The impressiveness was belonging to a brow and eyes. Her brow was marked. Her eyes were deep (AND) Her eyes were black

Hawthorne's original sentence n She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.

Sample Imitation n n n The guitarist was talented. The guitarist was cool. (WITH) The guitarist had a style of blues. The blues was jazzy. The blues was from long ago. The cool guitarist was talented, with a jazzy style of blues from long ago.