Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
Collaboration
Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.
Writing at Work
In addition to varying sentence structure, consider varying the types of sentences you
are using in a report or other workplace document. Most sentences are declarative, but a
carefully placed question, exclamation, or command can pique colleagues’ interest, even
if the subject material is fairly dry. Imagine that you are writing a budget analysis.
Beginning your report with a rhetorical question, such as “Where is our money going?”
or “How can we increase sales?” encourages people to continue reading to find out the
answers. Although they should be used sparingly in academic and professional writing,
questions or commands are effective rhetorical devices.
Key Takeaways
- Sentence variety reduces repetition in a piece of writing and adds emphasis to important
points in the text. - Sentence variety can be introduced to the beginning of sentences by starting a sentence
with an adverb, starting a sentence with a prepositional phrase, or by inverting the
subject and verb. - Combine ideas, using modifiers, relative clauses, or appositives, to achieve sentence
variety.