2. SOME FAMOUS QUOTES
Beginning and end shake hands with each other.
– German Proverb
In the end is my beginning.
– T.S. Eliot
All’s well that ends well.
– William Shakespeare
3. UNDERSTANDING HOW SENTENCES END
How you end your sentences affects how
readers judge, not only the clarity and strength
of individual sentences, but also their collective
cohesion and coherence.
4. COMPLEX GRAMMAR
Which of these two sentences do you
prefer?
2a. Lincoln’s claim that the Civil War was
God’s punishment of both North and
South for slavery appears in the last part
of the speech.
2b. In the last part of his speech, Lincoln
claims that God gave the Civil War to both
North and South as a punishment for
slavery.
5. COMPLEX MEANING (TECHNICAL TERMS)
Here’s the point: Your readers want you to organize your
sentences to help them manage two kinds of difficulty:
• Long and complex phrases and clauses
• New information, particularly unfamiliar technical
terms
The general principle is to carry the reader not from
complexity to simplicity, but from simplicity to
complexity.
6. STRESS
You can sense that when you hear your voice
rise at the end of a sentence to emphasize one
syllable more strongly than the others:
7. BUT…
It also depends on the stress given to a syllable,
word, or phrase in speaking:
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
8. The last few words of a sentence are also
particularly important…
9. EXAMPLE
Global warming could raise sea levels to a point
where much of the word’s
low-lying coastal areas would
disappear, according to
most atmospheric
scientists.
11. HERE’S THE POINT…
Just like we look at the first few words of a
sentence for point of view, we look at the last
few words for emphasis.
12. THREE TACTICAL REVISIONS
1. Trim the end.
2. Shift peripheral ideas to the left.
3. Shift new information to the right.
13. TRIMMING THE END
Sociobiologists claims that our genes control our
social behavior in the way we act in situations we
are in every day.
Since social behavior means the way we act in
situations, we can eliminate everything after
behaviour.
Sociobiologists claim that our genes control social
behaviour.
14. SHIFTING PERIPHERAL IDEAS TO THE LEFT
Job opportunities in computer programming are
getting scarcer, it must be remembered.
Particularly avoid ending with anticlimactic
metadiscourse.
It must be remembered, job opportunities in
computer programming are getting scarcer.
15. SHIFTING NEW INFORMATION TO THE RIGHT
Questions about the ethics of withdrawing
intravenous feeding are more difficult [than
something just mentioned]
A more common way to manage stress is by moving
new information to the end of a sentence.
More difficult [than something just mentioned]
are questions about the ethics of withdrawing
intravenous feedings.
16. SIX DEVICES TO EMPHASIZE
THE RIGHT WORDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
There shift
Passives (for the last time)
What shift
It shift
Not only X, but (also) Y (as well)
Pronoun substitution and ellipsis
17. THERE SHIFT
Example:
Several syntactic devices let you manage where
in a sentence you locate units of new
information.
There are several syntactic devices let you
manage where in a sentence you locate units
of new information.
18. PASSIVES (FOR THE LAST TIME)
Example:
Some claim that our genes influence aspects of
behavior that we think are learned. Our genes, for
example, seem to determine…
Some claim that aspects of behavior that we
think are learned are in fact influenced by our
genes. Our genes, for example, seem to
determine…
19. WHAT SHIFT
Example:
We need a monetary policy that would end
fluctuations in money supply, unemployment,
and inflation.
What we need is a monetary policy that
would end fluctuations in money supply,
unemployment, and inflation.
20. IT SHIFT
Example:
That oil prices would be set by OPEC once
seemed inevitable.
It once seemed inevitable that oil prices
would be set by OPEC.
21. NOT ONLY X, BUT (ALSO) Y (AS WELL)
Example:
We must clarify these issues and develop trust.
We must not only clarify these issues, but also
develop trust.
22. PRONOUN SUBSTITUTION
AND ELLIPSIS
A sentence can end flatly when you repeat a
word that you used just a few words before at
the end of a sentence.
To avoid that kind of flatness, rewrite or use a
pronoun instead of repeating the word at the
end of the sentence.
24. TO RECAP
The ending of a sentence is just as important as
the beginning. While the beginning introduces
the topic, the ending puts emphasis on the
subject matter.
Know when to revise and what the right words
are.
