Phrase Heres a list of sentences all written by professional writers but with some parts deleted 1 She returned to her bench 2 The boy watched 3 About the bones ants were ebbing away ID: 936031
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Slide1
Sentence Composing
Absolute
Phrase
Slide2Here’s a list of sentences, all written by professional writers, but with some parts deleted.
1. She returned to her bench.
2. The boy watched.3. About the bones, ants were ebbing away.
Absolute Phrase
Slide3Now compare those sentences to the originals.
1. She returned to her bench, her face showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.
-Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy2. The boy watched, his eyes bulging in the dark.
-Edmund Ware, “An Underground Episode” 3. About the bones, ants were ebbing away, their pincers full of meat. -Doris Lessing, African Stories
Absolute Phrase
Slide4Absolutes are sentence parts that describe the rest of the sentence in which they appear. Absolutes are
almost
complete sentences. As a test, you can make any absolute a sentence by adding was or
were.
Here are two absolutes from the previous examples, changed into sentences.1. Her face was showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.2. His eyes were bulging in the dark.
Characteristics of the Absolute Phrase
Slide5Another way to identify an absolute is that many absolutes begin with the words
my, his, her, its, our, their
(possessive pronouns).Absolutes can occur as sentence openers, subject-verb splits, or sentence closers.
Characteristics of the Absolute phrase
Slide61. His hands raw, he reached a flat place at the top.
-Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game”
2. Each child carrying his little bag of crackling, we trod the long road home in the cold afternoon. -Peter Abrahams,
Tell Freedom
Sentence Openers
Slide71. Miss Hearne, her face burning, hardly listened to these words.
-Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne2. High in the air, a little figure, his hands thrust in his short jacket pockets, stood staring out to sea.
-Katherine Mansfield, “The Voyage”Subject-Verb Splits
Slide81. She screamed for Klaus-shrieked for him-and Klaus came on the dead run, his work boots whitened by the half-full pail of milk he had spilled on them.
Stephen King, “The Two Dead Girls”2. He walked with a prim strut, swinging out his legs in a half-circle with each step, his heels biting smartly into the red velvet carpet on the floor.
-Carson McMullers, “The Jockey”
Sentence Closers