5.9 Self-Test on Sentence Organisation
Read the passages below and answer the questions that follow.
Passage A
He walked up the rise to the remains of the tea-tent. The tables and benches were weather-warped but still strong, and he sat where the last piece of worn cloth would shield him from the village. The breeze was very soft and steady, the sunlight yellow gold, the shadows long.
1. The sentence in italics is:
(a) a periodic sentence
(b) a convoluted sentence
(c) a loose/cumulative sentence
Passage B
(1) There was a boy who must never have slept, and whose ears must have been especially strong to know the Three so well before his middlehood. (2) Down at the river with the water to hide his voice he would hum Anneh, and b’dum Robbreh, on and on as he built jeeps and rocket-ships out of the mud. (3) Then one day, when spring was on the way and they were all excited for the coming plenty, this boy threw back his head and sang.
(Lanagan, M. Black Juice, p.89)
2. The writer has achieved variety in sentence structure in this passage and so
aroused reader interest. What would you label sentence 1?
(a) a periodic sentence
(b) a cumulative/loose sentence
(c) a hidden main idea sentence
3. How would you label sentence 2?
(a) a hidden main idea sentence
(b) a convoluted sentence
(c) a balanced sentence
4. How would you label sentence 3?
(a) a balanced sentence
(b) a periodic sentence
(c) a loose/cumulative sentence