Defining Sentence Fluency
- When you read a particular piece aloud ask yourself, does it flow naturally? Does it keep moving forward smoothly, maintaining your interest?
- Sentence fluency is the natural, engaging rhythm of writing.
What Affects the Flow of Writing?
- Speed: long vs. short sentences
- Repetition: thoughtless or thoughtful
- Order of clauses and simple, compound, complex sentences
- sound devices to slow down of speed up your writing
- Varied transitions and beginnings
Which of the other traits can you see sentence fluency being most tied to?
Repetition is like IDEAS and ORGANIZATION, transitions is like IDEAS, sound devices is like WORD CHOICE issue.
Fried Fluency #1: Thoughtless Repetition and Choppy Sentences
Blah:
“Field trips are an important part of education. Field trips let students see how what they are learning matters outside the classroom. Students are actually able to see ideas in action. Field trips also provide a change in routine. Changes in routine can keep education exciting.”
With the choppy sentences and the word repetition of the section above, this essay is anything but interesting. It needs some revision.
- Can we change the fluency but keep the ideas and word choice almost the same?
Goal: change the lengths and types of sentences
Better:
“Because they let students see how what they are learning matters outside the classroom, field trips are an important part of education. Students are actually able to see ideas in action. Field trips also provide a change in routine, which helps keep education exciting.”
We began with a complex sentence, with a subordinate clause first. The next sentence is a simple sentence. Vary in you sentence structure!!!
