A superior essay incorporates different types of sentences into a cohesive, edifying text. A few simple tips for writing essay sentences can take an essay from passable to extraordinary. When writing essay sentences, keep the following tips in mind to achieve a successful essay.
Purpose
When writing essay sentences, determine what purpose each sentence has in the essay. Writers use sentences for four different purposes:
A declarative sentence makes a statement: I ran the Boston Marathon.
An imperative sentence issues a request or command: Have a seat in the waiting room, sir.
An interrogative sentence asks a question: Who will lend me 500 dollars?
An exclamatory sentence forcefully issues a declarative, imperative or interrogative sentence: I ran the Boston Marathon! Have a seat in the waiting room, sir! Who will lend me 500 hundred dollars?!
A combination of these four types of sentences will effectively communicate the writer's ideas and result in a successful essay.
Active Voice
Use of the passive voice is a common and easily correctable error made by essay writers. A superior essay uses sentences with vibrant, active verbs. When writing essay sentences, begin with the subject that is performing the action, use active verbs and limit forms of the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, were).
Passive sentence: The fly ball was caught by Jeff.
Active sentence: Jeff caught the fly ball.
Shifts
Shifts within a sentence cause the reader confusion and result in a choppy, poorly constructed essay. When writing essay sentences, keep point of view, verb tense, mood and voice consistent.
Examples:
Shift in point-of-view: In cooking class, when we learned to bake bread, you were also graded on cleanliness of your work area.
Consistent: In cooking class, when we learned to bake bread, WE were also graded on cleanliness of OUR work area.
Shift in verb tense: I couldn't stop the car in time. Just as I was about to hit the curb, my son jumps in the front seat and takes the wheel.
Consistent: I couldn't stop the car in time. Just as I was about to hit the curb, my son JUMPED in the front seat and TOOK the wheel.
Variety
Besides the four purposes of sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory), sentences also differ in their structure. Sentences are structured in four ways, depending on the number and types of clauses they contain:
Simple--one independent clause, no dependent clauses: Life would be boring without music.
Compound--two or more independent clauses, no dependent clause: Life would be boring without music, but life would be meaningless without books.
Complex--one independent clause, one or more dependent clauses: To please the children, we played music during the assembly.
Compound-Complex--at least two independent clauses, at least one dependent clause: The thunderstorm raged overnight, and the dog, who was terrified, hid under the bed.
The tendency when writing essay sentences is to rely on simple and compound sentences. For a more articulate essay, incorporate complex and compound-complex sentences. Try inverting sentences. (Without music, life would be boring. We played music during the assembly to please the children.) Use a variety of sentence openings. (Frequently, we played music during the assembly to please the children.)
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