Syntax, the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences, needs to be just as intentional as the words we choose.

We have 5 structures to choose from:

Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-Complex
Fragments

These control the pace and the release of information.

We can modify these sentences using phrases and clauses.

Prepositional phrases
Appositive phrases
Noun clauses
Adjectival clauses
Adverbial Clauses

These supply additional information and clarify who, what, when, where, why.

Sentence can be declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative.

Since sentences rarely travel alone, there is the interaction among sentences to consider.

To practice:

Write a poem using only a simple sentence. Then rewrite that sentence 10 times, each time using a different combination of structures, phrases, types.

Make sure to break the rules some.

Each week, Accents Junior Editor Christopher McCurry provides a Literary Term of the Week. Following a description of the term, Christopher invites readers of the Accents Blog to write a poem prompted by the week’s term.

Sometimes words fail us.

Metaphor makes it possible to communicate despite our inability to translate our ideas and emotions into words.

We compare in order to understand, to yoke together, to bridge the gap.

Our brains, constantly seeking to make sense of life and the information it receives, naturally makes these connections. They come out effortlessly in our conversations as simile, metonymy, and analogy.

As writers we want to find striking metaphors.

Try this:

If you had to spend the rest of your life as an inanimate object, what would it be? Why? Try not to simply personify the object, but to compare the similarities as you explore what draws you to that object. Title it: My Life as a _________________.

As a brand new feature, Accents Junior Editor Christopher McCurry will provide a Literary Term of the Week. Following a description of the term, Christopher invites readers of the Accents Blog to write a poem prompted by the week’s term.

Diction, also known as the author’s word choice, has three qualities:

1. Lyrical: the sound of the word
2. Denotative: the dictionary definition of the word
3. Connotative: the imaginative, emotional, cultural and implied understanding of the word when used in the context of a given situation.

As a writer, you must balance the three, be precise but understand the layers of meaning built into each word, and keep the sound of them in mind as you work.

Tips and Tricks:

• It’s usually not wise to sacrifice denotative or connotative for lyrical qualities unless you are Edwin Morgan.
• Deciding whether a word seems positive or negative can be the first step to understanding its connotative qualities—for example, skinny vs. thin; childish vs. childlike.
• If you don’t know the dictionary definition of a word, it’s likely you don’t understand its connotative qualities.
• Words that are more than one part of speech can do double sometimes triple duty.
• The more words you know, the more fun you can have.

Exercise:

Use the following six words in a poem, considering how they work together. For the ambitious: use the six words for the last words in the line of a sestina.

Lance        Plume

Brother      Gray

Weather    Snare