II. Composition components

1. Sentence of different types

　　Functionally, declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences; Grammatically, simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences; Rhetorically, loose, periodic, (long, short), and balanced sentences
A) The simple sentence
Subject(s) + verb(s)e.g.
The party ended early last night.
He lost his wallet yesterday afternoon.
The city was destroyed in the earthquake.
The teachers and the students are sitting under the tree.
Her speech and performance moved the audience.
He is reading and writing at the same time.
The factory chimney smoked and polluted the air.
The mechanic and his assistant lubricated my car, replaced the oil filter, and cleaned the spark plugs.

B) The compound sentence
simple sentences + simple sentence (of equal weight / importance) e.g.
　　Jane works at the Family Planning Clinic and her husband Smith does research work for the same unit.
The heavy rain started suddenly, so we stopped planting our trees.
　　Frank wanted to go swimming, but Mary decided to go shopping.
　　Mary had to give up sewing, for her arthritis had become very painful.
C) The complex sentence
main clause + subordinate clause (to emphasize one idea over another) e.g.

　　Because I forgot the time I missed the play.
While Susan was eating the fish, she began to feel sick.
　　I checked my paper again before I handed it to my professor.
　　Father was reading a letter when the telephone rang.
　　Although Tom practiced for two months, he failed his driving test.

D) The compound-complex sentence
simple sentence(s) + complex sentence(s)
Or, complex sentence(s) + complex sentence(s) e.g.　

       You will get well soon, but if you go on overworking yourself you will never be recovered.
　　I worried so much about my lessons, but when I hurried back to school the following week I found the school was on a two-week break.
　　Rhetorical modes are patterns of thinking that a writer may use to organize and write about a subject; and if you know how to write by the rhetorical modes, you'll automatically know how to think by the rhetorical modes.

E) The periodic sentence
　　Rhetorically, we have two types of sentences: periodic sentences and loose sentences. A periodic sentence is one in which the thought is not complete until the very end of the sentence. Often this type of sentence is more effective than one in which the main thought is given first, followed by one or more modifying clauses or phrases. It is because withholding the key word or words of the sentence until the end creates a sense of anticipation in the reader. Therefore, a periodic sentence is likely to be more emphatic than a sentence with a loose construction.
cf.
　　The history of English words is the history of civilization in many ways.
　　In many ways, the history of English words is the history of civilization.

　　She was offered a professional contract after winning the Olympic gold medal for figure skating, according to newspaper reports.
　　According to newspaper reports, after winning the Olympic gold medal for figure skating, she was offered a professional contract.

　　There have been many great discoveries made by scientists in the twentieth century.
　　Scientists in the twentieth century have been many great discoveries.

　　That the bookshelf is not painted is surprising.
　　What is surprising is that the bookshelf is not painted.

　　There is an alarm clock beside the ink bottle.
　　Beside the ink bottle is an alarm clock.

2. Common faulty sentences

A) Faulty Parallelism
　　By placing two or more ideas of equal value in the same grammatical form will enable us to express these ideas clearly and emphatically. However, to positio
parallel ideas properly, we must pay close attention to the logic of grammatical relationship.
1. Faulty coordination
　　When word groups are linked by a coordinating conjunction, they should each have the same grammatical construction. Consider the parallel structure of the following word groups:
　　Notice how awkward sentences look and sound when they contain unequal elements:
　　She works diligently and at night.
　　He spends a great deal of money and foolishly.
　　I was told to report to the supervisor and that I should bring my tools.

　　Two very common types of error in coordination involves the use of and who and and which construction and the use of correlative conjunctions.

　　(a) And Who, And Which Construction
　　And who / and which construction is one of the most common yet most serious errors made by the students, for it results in an illogical link between dependent and independent clauses. To avoid this error, follow this rule: Never use and who or and which clauses unless they are preceded by who or which clauses.

　　FAULTY Tom Clark, who is wise and intelligent, and who is our union representative, has been promoted to foreman.
　　CORRECTED Tom Clark, who is wise and intelligent and who is our union representative, has been promoted to foreman.
　　FAULTY James Joyce's Ulysses, a long and complicated novel and which is on our reading list, has been banned by the school board.
　　CORRECTED James Joyce's Ulysses, which is a long and complicated novel, and which is on our reading list, has been banned by the school board.

　　(b) Correlative Conjunctions
　　Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs as either ... or neither ... nor, not only ... but also; both ... and to introduce comparison or contrast of similar statements. They are followed by the same grammatical structures. Proper use of correlative conjunctions will enable you to write clear, well-balanced sentences.
　　Unbalanced: He wants either to study English Literature or study World History.
　　Balanced: He wants to study either English Literature or World History.
　　Unbalanced: Our new car not only is more economical but also it is more comfortable than our old one.
　　Balanced: Our new car is not only, more economical but also more comfortable than our old one.
2. Faulty sequential order
　　When words or groups of words are placed in a series, they must be parallel in both meaning and structure. See to the sequential order of the sentence structure and make the meaning clear and logical.
　　FAULTY When we arrived home, we unpacked our suitcases, took showers, and then we went to sleep after eating our lunch.
　　REVISED When we arrived home, we unpacked our suitcases, took showers, ate our lunch, and went to sleep.
　　FAULTY Many people choose air transportation because it is fast, offers convenience, and it is not very expensive.
　　REVISED Many people choose air transportation because it is fast, convenient, and inexpensive.
　　FAULTY You should strive to cooperate with your colleagues to bring about change, for improving communication and professional development.
　　REVISED You should strive to cooperate with your colleagues to bring about change, to improve communication, and to further professional development.
3. Incorrect omissions
　　Faulty omission occurs in a parallel construction when you force one word to serve the grammatical requirements of two different statements. To detect this kind of faulty omission, just test the verb with each of its auxiliary words and see if it appears in the wrong tense or the construction is unparalleled.
e.g.
　　He always has and always will compete for the highest honor.
　　I always have and always shall practice diligently.
　　Revised: He has always competed (not compete) and always will compete (not competed) for the highest honor.
　　I have always practiced (not practice) diligently and always shall. (Practice is understood.)
4. Illogical comparisons
　　Illogical comparison occurs when two or more different species are joined by such coordinate conjunctions as more … than…, as … as…
　　Illogical: The students attending our school are more intelligent than your school.
　　Logical: The students attending our school are more intelligent than the students attending your school.
　　Illogical His learning is as extensive as Paul.
　　Logical His learning is as extensive as Paul's (learning).
B) Misplaced Modifiers
　　Misplaced modifiers fail to describe the words the writer intended them to describe, and often confuse the meaning of a sentence.

1. Misplaced Words
　　Faulty: I nearly earned a hundred dollars last week. (You missed the chance of earning a hundred dollars?)
　　Revised: I earned nearly a hundred dollars last week. (You earned a little under a hundred dollars
　　Faulty: Tom shouted at the howling dog in his underwear. (Was the dog dressed in his underwear?)
　　Revised: Tom , in his underwear, shouted at the howling dog. (It was Tom who in his underwear.)
2. Other misplacement
　　Faulty: Claudia mentioned the operation she had had in the elevator. (Did she have the operation in the elevator?)
　　Revised: In the elevator, Claudia mentioned the operation she had had.
　　Faulty: She read a poem to the class that didn't seem to make any sense. (The class didn't seem to make any sense?)
　　Revised: She read to the class a poem that didn't seem to make any sense.
　　Faulty: I got on a bus that was going to the Ball Park by mistake.
　　Revised: I got on a bus by mistake that was going to the Ball Park.
Or, By mistake, I got on a bus that was going to the Ball Park.
　　Faulty: He crossed the stream in a canoe, which was recently stocked with fish.
　　Revised: In a canoe, he crossed the stream, which was recently stocked with fish.
　　Confusing: Students who study often get good grades.
　　Revised: Students who often study get good grades.
Or, Students who study get good grades often.
C) Dangling Modifiers
　　A dangling modifier is a phrase or an elliptical clause (a clause without a subject or verb or both) that is illogically separated from the word it modifies. Thus it appears disconnected from the rest of the sentence.
1. -ing Phrase
　　Dangling: Watching the parade, my wallet was stolen.
　　Revised: While I was watching the parade, my wallet was stolen.
　　Faulty: Going through a red light, the traffic police on duty stopped him.
　　Revised: Going through a red light, he was stopped by the traffic police on duty.
　　Faulty: Approaching the village, a vast expanse of farmland could be seen.
　　Revised: Approaching the village, we could see a vast expanse of farmland.
　　Dangling: Swimming at the lake, a rock cut Jim's foot.
　　Revised: Swimming at the lake, Jim cut his foot on a rock.
Or,
When Jim was swimming at the lake, he cut his foot on a rock.
　　Dangling: Getting out of bed, the tile floor was so cold that Maria shivered all over.
　　Revised: Getting out of bed, Maria found the tile floor so cold that she shivered all over.
Or,
　　When Maria got out of bed, the tile floor was so cold that she shivered all over.
2. Infinitive phrase and Prepositional phrase
　　Faulty: To appreciate the English language, a lot of reading must be done.
　　Revised: To appreciate the English language, we must do a lot of reading.
　　Dangling: To join the team, an MA degree is necessary.
　　Revised: To join the team, you must at least have an MA degree.
　　Or
　　For you to join the team, an MA degree is necessary.
　　Faulty: After four weeks at sea, my wife was happy to see me.
　　Revised: After spending four weeks at sea, my wife was happy to see me.
　　Dangling: After three hours of practice, a large mug of beer was what the thirsty dancers wanted.
　　Revised: After practicing for three hours, the thirsty dancers wanted a large mug of beer.
　　Dangling: Before submitting any written work, careful proofreading must be done.
　　Revised: Before submitting any written work you must carefully proofread it.
3. Elliptical clause
　　Faulty: When on the top floor of the tall building, the cars look simply like tiny fish in a stream.
　　Revised: When you stand on the top floor of the tall building, you will find the cars look simply like tiny fish in a stream.
　　Dangling: Although tired and hungry, the drill sergeant would not let us rest.
　　Revised: Although we were tired and hungry, the drill sergeant would not let us rest.
　　Dangling: While eating my sandwich, five mosquitoes bit me.
　　Revised: While I was eating my sandwich, five mosquitoes bit me.
　　Or,
　　While eating my sandwich, I was bitten by five mosquitoes.