The evening sky opened calm and benedictive, and the green country flowed on, the boat passed by ruins, castles and churches, and every day was alike until they reached the Shannon.1 EMPHASIS Sentences written according to the principles of unity and coherence will undoubtedly be clear and correct, but they may be dull and flat. Clearness is not enough: you must arouse interest, hold the attention, and drive home your point; in short, be emphatic. The use of vigorous language, specific words, and vivid figures is naturally the simplest way of being emphatic. For the present, however, we are dealing not with the choice of words (see p. 286), but with the structure, the architecture, of sentences. There are many structural devices for securing emphasis, — length, repetition, subordination, position, inversion, periodic form, climax, and balance. - 156. Length. If a sentence is noticeably longer or shorter than other sentences near it, it makes the idea stand out conspicuously. The mere bulk of a sentence gives weight and momentum to the thought. (See the sentence by Bernard Shaw, p. 258.) On the other hand, a very short sentence flashes out a thought with sudden brilliancy. Note the surprising force of the last sentence in this little article, which is the briefest dramatic criticism on record: Jerome K. Jerome's new piece, Robina in Search of a Husband, was produced last night. It is described on the program as an absurd play. It is. LONDON DAILY EXPRESS. 1 George Moore, The Untilled Field. A crisp, compact sentence is effective in introducing a subject, as Good English is exact English. or in summing up a subject, as G. H. PALMER. Who raises woman raises mankind. — C. W. ELIOT. Adages, pithy comments on life, witty sayings, epigrams, are more emphatic the briefer they are: Hitch your wagon to a star. - EMERSON. All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his. OSCAR WILDE. A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust. - JAMES STEPHENS. Several short sentences together stir the feelings: they are particularly effective in persuasion and narration. 157. Repetition. One of the simplest methods of gaining emphasis is to repeat a word or phrase which you wish to echo in your reader's mind. The drowsy diligence lumbers along, amid drowsy talk of politics. CARLYLE. Men are born into the State, are members of the State, must obey the laws enacted by the State, in time of danger must come to the defence of the State, must, if necessary, hazard their lives for the State. - LYMAN ABBOTT. Repetition is so powerful a weapon that you should not dull its edge by repeating words aimlessly just because your vocabulary is limited. 158. Subordination. You should be on guard against the continual use of compound sentences. Nothing is more irritating than such a primer-like style. The various parts of a sentence are not of equal importance, as was explained in the section on connectives. The most important idea in a sentence should be expressed in the main clause, and the less important ideas should be put into dependent clauses, or participial or other phrases. By this means the construction of the sentence will emphasize the chief idea. Reread Section 154 now, and note the list of subordinate clauses by means of which various relations of place, time, cause, etc., may be made clear. Compare these forms: Baseball is one of my favorite sports, and every Saturday I go to the Braves Field to see a game. Since baseball is one of my favorite sports, I go to the Braves Field to see a game every Saturday. In the first sentence, made up of coördinate clauses, neither idea is thrown into relief. In the second, the cause is properly subordinated to the effect. The use of participial phrases in subordination calls for special attention. When a part of a sentence which deserves to be put into the main clause has been put into a phrase, the sentence, though it may be grammatically correct, is faulty in emphasis. For example, let us take this sentence: The rain increased, driving the people indoors. 66 Here the main idea would seem to be the rain increased "; that the people were driven indoors would appear to be an incidental or minor fact accompanying the main action. But in all probability that is not what the writer meant. He probably meant to lay the emphasis upon the fact that the people were driven indoors. If he did, he made a great mistake in putting that idea into a participial phrase. He should have said, “The increasing rain drove the people indoors." Here the form of the two ideas is made exactly the opposite of what it was in the original sentence. The participial phrase, then, is not the appropriate form for one of the main ideas in the sentence. The chief kinds of ideas which should find their way into participial phrases are: 1. Causes. In this sentence, " Opening the window, he soon cooled off the room," we have the participle properly used to express cause or means. Notice that to put the result of the action in a participial phrase (" He opened the window, cooling off the room") would misrepresent the values of the ideas and destroy the emphasis. 2. Minor Accompanying Actions. The chief office of the participle is to express the action which (a) precedes or (b) accompanies the main action. Of the former sort (a) the following sentence will serve as an example: "Opening the book, he began to read aloud." Of the latter (b) an example is, "Lying upon the sofa, he read all the morning." Note in the next sentence how illogical and weak it is to put the events that happen after the main action in the trailing participles "catching" and "holding ": " Arnold mounted a horse and galloped after the animal, catching him by a tender part of the nostrils and holding him until he was tied." Common sense, therefore, assisted by the constant recollection that the participle has always the office of an adjective, will enable you to avoid marring the emphasis of your sentences by putting into participial phrases ideas which deserve to be put into clauses. 159. Position. Try to place important words in positions where they will catch the eye, that is, at the beginning and the end. An interesting illustration of the effect of this principle is a sentence which Professor Wendell 1 tells us he wrote only to find that it violated the very rule it expressed : Be sure that your sentences end with words that deserve the distinction you give them. On looking over the sentence he discovered that the unimportant words "be" and "them" were in the most emphatic positions. What were the most important words? he asked himself. Clearly, "end" and "distinction." Consequently, he struck out unnecessary words and rearranged the rest so that "end" and " distinction' should have proper emphasis: End with words that deserve distinction. The ideal expressed in this sentence you should always have in mind. In practice, however, there is often a conflict between this ideal and the idiom of the language. Since English in an uninflected tongue, it is sometimes impossible to put words in the most important positions. Idiom has the right of way. But after all, it is surprising to find how often idiom and emphasis go hand in hand. 1. The notable fact about the applause was its genuineness. 2. The thing that he least expected was ridicule. 3. Great as was the affection in which he was held, the affection which his father inspired was even greater. 4. If you want to see a big dog, you should see mine. 1 Barrett Wendell, English Composition, pp. 102-103. |