What Makes a Sentence a Masterpiece? Is it simplicity or style?

Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 7 months ago to Entertainment
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Anyone care to give it a try?

First comment will be my effort.
SOURCE URL: http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/what-makes-sentence-masterpiece


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  • Posted by unitedlc 7 years, 7 months ago
    As the horrendous miasma of what can only be described as liberal smugness and a hint of jasmine scented Bed Bath & Beyond body mist continued to permeate my olfactory membrane, I suddenly realized that, in my haste to leave this god-forsaken edifice emblazoned with the name "Democratic National Committee", I forgot to lock the doors of my trusty Ford truck, only to find a desolate region of blacktop once occupied by Old Red, leaving me isolated to only my wits in an attempt to leave this infestation once known as the great city of Chicago.

    or

    Since plastic dinosaurs are made from oil, and oil is made from dinosaurs, then plastic dinosaurs are made from real dinosaurs.
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  • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
    As I approached the stony path, canopied by natures grace, I caught, the sweet smell of wet wood and beach towels, the faint echoing of the days laughter splashing the sun; the lake, quiet now, I slowly sauntered, settling down on a wet bench in remembrance, of those cherished times past.

    Can you picture that? For me, it's comfort food for the mind.
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    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
      That one qualifies it's both and like music or singing draws a picture in your mind.
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      • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
        Give it a try, maybe a time on your boat?
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        • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
          Thanks. The truly hard part is having written the entire contents of your heart into something that brings laughter and tears one must often edit the best let it fall to the deck and standing walk over the emotions without slipping searching for a red pencil come back proofing and punctuating for it is final effort that makes a sentance and finds joy of watching others read and search for the mop..


          Which reminds me about the skeleton walking into a bar and askig for a beer and a mop.
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          • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
            Hmm...to drink with no throat to swallow.

            Perhaps, just a moment, a spec in time, needs only a sponge for the mopping of none.

            As I always have observed of self...proofing and punctuating, that final effort,.. while searching for: Edit post.
            I wonder sometimes of my ill chosen or mistaken words, conjunctions or adverbs, be they thoughts hidden over time.
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            • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
              laughing oceans of salt stinging tears until one is hoping they went to loo'ard.


              It's the chumming that gets you.
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              • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
                insert blinding before salt and crab for went.

                The crew looked on
                in vain disdain
                And most sincerely wept
                For every one of
                Their Crabbing pots
                Were deep in the briny depths
                As the skipper gave back
                With an evil gargle
                Plenty of time was gained
                For chum to settle
                The Crabs to feast
                And return to the ship
                In those capture traps
                Again all of the Chummy Crabs
                Stood o high on the Menu
                Now Crab with White Sauce
                Is known to be
                Very very pleasing
                The very thought
                Hung in the air
                Ship's Cat licked his lips
                Sniffed the Air
                And considered his day
                Of feasting and dining
                The Skiipper continued tossing cookies
                Joined in support by the rest of his crew
                As the Gulls began to gather.
                And none of hem rookies
                The pots came up the sea gulls flew
                The work was hard and tiring
                Yet that very night
                There was not one light
                In the little ships sole galley
                But only the sound of a burp and a purr
                From the Old Tom known as Sally!
                ..
                rush job
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
      Here is one, I have, for the moment, in the new book, it's separated as commentary in script to set it apart. Hoping it'll add philosophical meaning to a direct text...kind of my cake and eating it too.

      Your conscious voice: The Journey has begun.

      "Spoken to by the subconscious, the cornerstone of Conscience and the stairway to the mind, unaware that one day thee will announce one's self, 'I AM'...on the wings of Metaphors."
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 7 months ago
    There is so much that depends on context that it is hard to single out a sentence without it becoming an epigram. To me what comes before or after the sentence, or even a word is what does it for me. Example, "But I don't think of you, Mr. Toohey." -- Ayn Rand. That is one of the really great sentences in all literature, but you MUST be aware of what prefaces it. Take some of Hemingway as another example. He is far from my favorite author but he does have a way with words.One author may describe a woman as having the attributes of this, that, and the other. Hemingway would describe the same woman, "Not bad."
    Reporter: Mr. Hemingway, your novels are so full of.....
    Hemingway: Short sentences/
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  • Posted by $ Stormi 7 years, 7 months ago
    I am truly impressed! As someone who majored in Englih and Philosophy, my skill stops at the analytical. Creative writing was the hardest course I ever took, I have no vision in my head of what does not exist. My favorite author for creative sentences, is Thomas Wolfe, "Look Homeward Angel". A longtime fan of English literature, I came slowly to accept US writers. Wolfe seemed to pick his adjectives like an artist placing paint on a canvas.Although I had learned speed reading in North Dakota . schools, I soon came to think of it as an insult to writing so thought out as Wolfe's. I would reread sentences and realize each word was perfect, and no other choice would have had quite the same meaning or nuance. A great sentence can be simple, but it is the honesty of the picture it crates that makes it great, not style.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
      Yes, it is a balancing act, but you must start with an honest picture...+1

      I myself have battled the forces of "look see" which came along while doing quite well in all respects, (pronunciations, reading, spelling and sentence structures.) with phonics....it's taken a life time to recover. I'm now enjoying the company of an old friend, (writing), which may have been my essence all along.
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      • Posted by $ Stormi 7 years, 7 months ago
        You obviously have the gift of creativity. I am more like Sherlock Holmes, I see a sentence, and I ask, what does it really mean, why did they put it that way, what are they hiding. I once took down a Supt. of Schools, who said he could not compete, as I saw through everything he tried to sell, which was collectivism in the classroom.Be it via letters to the editor or face to face, I knew what they really meant and hit back, so others could see and understand. Actually, I worked in a US Congressman's office, checking for poor grammar in releases sent out, and that was a full time job, as the person generating a lot of them had a "Masters of Education", and some of the poorest English I had seen.
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        • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
          Thanks. Given the fact that I avoided writing, (except direct procedural work and song writing), for so long, I'm terrible at every bit of it. It takes a lot of work to get it right. It's getting easier but I need a major refresher course in Phonics. Progressive "Look see", really did a number on me.
          Talking with the other authors here has helped. We all are so self critical and are always searching to get it right...I wonder now, if you'd mis-judge our sentences on first drafts.

          Your not alone on the picture thing, read an article on those that don't see. What's amazing is how their brain compensates and other talents emerge as a result.
          However, those that don't have a voice is a concern, our voice is critical for "Conscience" and self inspection to take place. I meet many young folks these days that claim they cannot rehearse a speech in their heads. That is troublesome. Julian Jaynes explains that before conscious awareness occurred there was a time when the "Voice" went away and all hell broke loose. Prior to consciousness of self, the voice was thought to be a god and not their own. Now you can understand bicameral man prior to the Greek civilization. The voice may have gone away during the dark ages as well but we can't be sure. Whats disturbing is the implications for present times.
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    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
      Don't give up. I did non fiction writing, manuals etc. for years with a base of two english teachers for parents. My goal was fiction and it's a whole new world. I'm now doing final editing as in chopping pages to prepre for the individual who makes sure books are in the 1 of 10 or less category of those submitted. For me it was a retirement project and so far has filled five or six years of time not wasted on golf balls. If that's your dream life is long enouogh to do it all
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      • Posted by $ Stormi 7 years, 7 months ago
        Actually, I am happy to be in analytical settings, it goes well with all the philosophy and logic I studied. I can see right through the BS when facing a community meeting or school board deception. However, it never occurred to me until our daughter was little, that I could read her a tory, but not make one up. It worked, however, as sometimes when I had a headache, she asked to tell me a story, and she was incredible at it. She ended up with both sides of that coin. My issue was, I was interested in everything, and wanted to analyze it all, from my science and political science minors, to accounting which I still do, to information services which has been part of most things I have done. I just seriously lack the ability to visualize in pictures anything! I never knew it until recently, that there were no pictures in my head. So, when I read about architecture, which I love, I am blown away by someone like Frank Lloyd Wright, who could come up with such original designs.
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  • Posted by lrshultis 7 years, 7 months ago
    I like a sentence which does a lot in a short number of words and worth quoting like:

    "Envy will hasten to his dark corner whence he will
    summon his even more hideous cousin, malicious glee"
    Kierkegaard

    Rand had a lot of such sentences that are rememberable and worth quoting.
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  • Posted by JohnConnor352 7 years, 7 months ago
    I like a lot of what has been said here! I'll weigh in, too.
    It depends on the purpose of the sentence. Is it informative? Is it lyrical, prose, or poetry? Where is it being delivered?
    Let's remember the purpose of art, which is to express abstract concepts in concrete form. If it does that well, then I would consider it art. If it does it in a way that is appropriate for its medium, then it is a masterpiece.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
      Yes...I think my problem sometimes is I mix the arts and the different mediums with present day straight speak and the ways of writing old, which has had a profound impression on me and the way I wish to write and express my vision.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 7 months ago
    I'm going for bilingual humor the short bit at the end. Kid from Phoenix AZ in the Coast Guard and in the Bering. Family asks what do you need for Christmas. He answers ....

    Fleece Navy Duds.
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  • Posted by ttshee 7 years, 7 months ago
    Are simplicity and style mutually exclusive?
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 7 months ago
      A question of mine also...might simplicity be a style also?, I think that would depend on the definition or the connotation of style in the times reflected.
      Definition of Style

      In literature, style comprises many literary devices that an author employs to create a distinct feel for a work. These devices include, but are not limited to, point of view, symbolism, tone, imagery, diction, voice, syntax, and the method of narration. Style is a fundamental aspect of fiction, as it is naturally part of every work of prose written. Some types of writing are required to have a certain style, such as academic or journalistic writing. However, every work of creative writing takes on its own style.

      By that definition, we may have to define: Simplicity.

      Full Definition of simplicity
      plural simplicities

      1
      : the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded

      2
      a : lack of subtlety or penetration : innocence, naivetéb : folly, silliness

      3
      : freedom from pretense or guile : candor

      4
      a : directness of expression : clarityb : restraint in ornamentation : austerity

      Other than being simple or direct in style, by literary definition, they are mutually exclusive.
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