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“With sixty staring me in the face, I have
developed inflammation of the sentence structure and a
definite hardening of the
paragraphs.”
~ James Thurber (at age
59)
The grammar crime: Fragments are
incomplete sentences. Professors do not accept sentence
fragments in English papers.
Question: How do we know we have a
fragment?
Outlaw: Considering the theme of
imprisonment in Atwood’s Life Before
Man.
 |
Who/what is considering
the theme of imprisonment?
- The
sentence does not tell us; therefore, it has no
subject.
|
|
“Considering” as an -ing verb is not complete
without a helping verb. |
|
This sentence has
neither a subject nor a complete verb. This is a
fragment. |
Question: How do we catch sentence
fragment outlaws?
a. Examine all sentences. Do they contain
all the necessary sentence elements? To review the parts of
the sentence, check the glossary.
|
Is there a verb? If
not, supply one. |
|
Is there a subject? If
not, supply one. |
|
Is there a
subordinating conjunction? If so , remove
it. |
b. Try the “Yes/No
Question” Test. Can you
rephrase the sentence into a yes/no question?
|
If you can, then it is
a complete sentence. |
|
If you cannot, then it
is a fragment. |
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| I enjoyed reading
Wuthering Heights. |
Did I enjoy reading
Wuthering Heights? |
This question makes sense, so the word group is a
complete
sentence. |
| Reading Wuthering
Heights. |
Was reading
Wuthering Heights? |
This question does not
make sense, so the word group is a fragment. |
Clues: The following are five of the
types of fragments that occur in writing. Knowing these
possible errors will help you spot sentence fragments.
1. A group of words without a subject and/or a
verb
|
Sentences need both
subjects and verbs. |
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| Author of Midnight’s Children, the
Booker award-winning novel. |
Was
the author of Midnight’s Children, the Booker
award-winning novel? |
fragment |
| Salman Rushdie is the author of Midnight’s
Children, the Booker award-winning
novel. |
Is
Salman Rushdie the author of Midnight’s
Children, the Booker award-winning
novel? |
complete
sentence |
2. An -ing verb without a form of the verb “to
be”
|
These are known as
participial phrases. |
|
Without a form of the
verb “to be” these word
groups become
fragments. |
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| Reading Camus’s The
Plague. |
Was
reading Camus’s The Plague? |
fragment |
| Sarah
is reading Camus’s The
Plague. |
Was
Sarah reading Camus’s The Plague?
|
complete
sentence |
3. Dependent clauses
without an independent clause
There are
two types of dependent clauses:
|
beginning with a transitional
word
- e.g., although, because, if, when,
while
|
|
beginning with relative
pronouns
- e.g., who, whom, which, that
|
You must
attach dependent clauses to independent clauses.
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| While
Estragon and Vladimir were waiting for Godot.
|
Was
while Estragon and Vladimir were waiting for
Godot? |
fragment |
| While
they were waiting for Godot, Estragon and Vladimir met
Pozzo and Lucky. |
Did
Estragon and Vladimir meet Pozzo and Lucky while they
were waiting for Godot? |
complete
sentence |
4. Word groups beginning with co-ordinating
conjunctions (and, for, so, or, yet,
nor)
|
These are
fragments. |
|
Note: One can
begin a sentence with
“but.” |
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| So
Jane left the Reeds’ house. |
Did
so Jane leave the Reeds’ house? |
fragment |
| Jane
left the Reeds’ house. |
Did
Jane leave the Reeds’ house? |
complete
sentence |
5. Long phrases beginning with prepositions
(although, during, concerning, instead of)
|
To be complete,
prepositional phrases need to be connected to
independent clauses. Alone, they are fragments.
|
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| During the first act of Twelfth
Night. |
Was
during the first act of Twelfth Night?
|
fragment |
| During the first act of Twelfth Night,
Viola and Orsino meet. |
Did
Viola and Orsino meet during the first act of
Twelfth Night? |
complete
sentence |
Note: Fragments will often occur in the
context of other sentences.
Example: Findley’s Famous Last
Words features Mauberley. A fictional character in a poem
by Ezra Pound.
| word
group |
yes/no
question |
fragment? |
| Findley’s Famous Last Words features
Mauberley. |
Does
Findley’s Famous Last Words feature
Mauberley? |
complete sentence |
| A fictional character in a poem by Ezra
Pound. |
Who a fictional character in a poem by Ezra
Pound? |
fragment |
Question: How do we rehabilitate sentence
fragment outlaws?
You can fix
fragments in two ways. First, you can add the missing elements
to the sentence. Second, you can attach the fragment to a
nearby sentence, but only if this makes sense.
| Rehabilitated |
| I was considering the theme of imprisonment in
Atwood’s Life Before Man. |
| Findley’s Famous Last Words features
Mauberley, a fictional character in a poem by Ezra
Pound.
|
The Exception to the Fragment Rule:
Fragments are not outlaws in three cases.
1.
Fragments can be used in advertising for emphasis.
2.
Authors use fragments in creative
writing. Fragments imitate natural speech patterns.
They can also become a part of a writer's style.
Therefore, Margaret Atwood does not commit a grammar crime
when she uses sentence fragments in her
novels.
3.
Fragments are acceptable in informal
situations, such as personal letters and notes. A formal essay is not an informal
situation.
Quizzes: Now that you have read the
profile of sentence fragment outlaws, you can take the
quizzes.
|
To take the
quizzes, go to your English course in ACME. |
|
If you are not enrolled
in an English Course, you can take the tests at
1000
X0. |
Download the notes:
Microsoft
Word
Rich Text
Format
|
