Fragments
Yes, that little green underline that we have all seen in MS Word (or whatever processor you use) is a sentence fragment. A fragment is an incomplete sentence, for example "Gunfire-everywhere!" . I have been a culprit of this grammar crime for many years, however I just learned that it is sometimes OK.
I was quite surprised to hear from the mini-podcast that fragments are acceptable in certain literary situations. Mostly- fiction (Ha! Here's another). The benefits of using it are stylistic and economic. By having short, choppy , fragmented sentences, the author can convey a dramatic mood or even alter the pace. In addition, the author can save space and let the readers imagination fill in the blanks.
The negatives are clear too. It is not traditional grammar and would likely not be acceptable in any academic form. Although, if I were to write my thesis in a narrative format, fragmenting for stylistic purposes might be possible. Even then, it still runs the risk of coming across as lazy or ignorant.
So, unless I start writing short fiction in my free time, this blog will likely be the only place I will be using fragments. And I'm sure they will never be done by accident and always done for style ;-)
Yes, that little green underline that we have all seen in MS Word (or whatever processor you use) is a sentence fragment. A fragment is an incomplete sentence, for example "Gunfire-everywhere!" . I have been a culprit of this grammar crime for many years, however I just learned that it is sometimes OK.
I was quite surprised to hear from the mini-podcast that fragments are acceptable in certain literary situations. Mostly- fiction (Ha! Here's another). The benefits of using it are stylistic and economic. By having short, choppy , fragmented sentences, the author can convey a dramatic mood or even alter the pace. In addition, the author can save space and let the readers imagination fill in the blanks.
The negatives are clear too. It is not traditional grammar and would likely not be acceptable in any academic form. Although, if I were to write my thesis in a narrative format, fragmenting for stylistic purposes might be possible. Even then, it still runs the risk of coming across as lazy or ignorant.
So, unless I start writing short fiction in my free time, this blog will likely be the only place I will be using fragments. And I'm sure they will never be done by accident and always done for style ;-)
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