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The Question of Fragments



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Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:16 pm
Dream Deep says...



I can't seem resolve it to save my life. ^_~ So I put the question to you: are sentence fragments acceptable in writing?

Here's what The Elements of Style has to say on the matter:

In other words, do not use periods for commas.

I met them on a Cunard liner manye years ago. Coming home from Liverpool to New York.

He was an interesting talker. A man who had traveled all over the world and lived in half a dozen countries.


In both these examples, the first period should be replaced by a comma and the following word begun with a small letter.
It is permissible to make an emphatic word or expression serve serve the purpose of a sentence and to punctuate accordingly:

Again and again he called out. No reply.


The writer must, however, be certain that the emphasis is warranted, lest his clipped sentence seem merely a blunder in syntax or in punctuation. Generally speaking, the place for broken sentences is in dialogue, when a character happens to speak in a clipped or fragmented way.



This is good advice, but the question seems to linger - since 1979 (the year of the edition of the above excerpt), has this viewpoint generally changed? Sentence fragments outside of dialogue seem to be used (if sparingly) in writing rather often today: in novels, in articles, even on the site.

From Smaur's the nine lives of allen grey:

1.

The ninth is a suicide. Again. Jumped off a roof and plummeted to his death.

No relatives, no friends, nothing. They cremate his body and send the ashes to a landfill on Jupiter.

There's no such thing as second chances for suicides.



Fragments. Lots and lots of fragments. I think it reads well as it is. I'm not suggesting that she go through and rewrite the whole thing in fragments (because that would become quickly confusing and difficult to read) but I do think it's a striking beginning. But must it also be considered grammatically incorrect, as my creative writing teacher seems to think? o0

What are your opinions on sentence fragments in fiction?
  





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Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:19 pm
Poor Imp says...



Fragments ought to be and can be used for emphasis. Often in first person, or in a limited third, they break up the flow so as to convey the character's shatter-mindedness.

Smaur uses them for emphasis, apparently. ^_^

The difficulty is in being conscious of them; and not flooding prose with the fragmented because you're too lazy to think of a complete sentences. ^_^''


'Tis Imp's opinion. I know that I use them at times. We all know Hemingway used them... ^_~
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Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:04 pm
Trident says...



I was going to say the same thing. Smaur used them for emphasis. It's perfectly okay to use them in that way. I use fragments like no other.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. It is very common to see it these days. Unless it disrupts the flow, it's acceptable.
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Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:53 pm
Shafter says...



I agree with Imp and Trident. Fragments in fiction have been acceptable for a long time. You just have to make sure that they're "acceptable" fragments. Like this. Would not. Be acceptable.
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Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:36 am
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Emerson says...



Fragments are apart of style, is how I take it.

I like my long, comma filled sentences but at times the briefness of fragments are needed. It gives a sort of...jult to the read, because its so short.

I'd go hunting for an example of a long sentence then followed by a fragment in something of mine, but I don't feel like it right now....

Some people write wordy sentences. Others don't. I think its best to mix it up. Just like reading wordy stories is crap, so is reading something full of fragments.

If you are going to use them at all, use them with purpose. I sometimes worry when I use fragments, because I've created a pattern of longer sentence...but they seem to come off fine, so what do I care?
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Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:46 am
Ending-Karma says...



I find myself on the side of the fence with Cladette. I prefer proper grammar; however, I'm not too sure as to why that is how it is with me. Maybe it's just because I don't want to form the habit of using sentence fragments until after college - when I won't get nailed for it.

Unless used in the proper fashion, sentence fragments in literature can make the piece seem choppy and cease the flow of the work immediately. I tend to stay away from them unless it's utterly critical that I use them.

I don't think there is anything wrong with them per se . It's just the author's preference. For people such as Smaur, the emphasis using fragments is similar to a signature style, so if that is what you're aiming for, more power to you.

The Elements of Style is what I go by - strictly on the basis that the overuse of them can be very harmful. While, in my writing, I prefer lengthy, complex sentences; however, it is nearly impossible to make a whole page or so strictly one type, making it harder to overuse it.
  





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Thu Jan 25, 2007 3:50 pm
smaur says...



Hehh. Well, haha, obviously I think fragments are acceptable to writing.

This is the way I see it: I love grammar, and I am obsessive about the right grammar, and I will break out The Elements of Style if I need to prove a point, but. It's okay to break the rules as long as you are doing it for a reason.

So this means that you can omit commas or add commas and write run-on sentences and use sentence fragments, but only as long as you know what you're doing and (hopefully) why you're doing it. As long as you are consciously breaking the rule, to serve the purpose of somehow bettering your narrative, I think it's okay.

In terms of "acceptable," I'm not sure what defines this, but if it helps — E. Annie Proulx won a Pulitzer for The Shipping News, which was basically an entire book of sentence fragments. Mind you, lots of people dislike it because it's an entire book of sentence fragments, so there's that.
"He yanked himself free and fled to the kitchen where something huddled against the flooded windowpanes. It sighed and wept and tapped continually, and suddenly he was outside, staring in, the rain beating, the wind chilling him, and all the candle darkness inside lost."
  





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Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:36 pm
Firestarter says...



I gotta agree with everyone -- I use fragments a lot for emphasis and whatever, and I think they can break the flow of long sentences and narrative to be striking or whatnot. As long as you don't overuse them so it becomes a headache to read, or use them for no real reason, it's all good.
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Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:34 pm
Prokaryote says...



Fragments are delicious. Part of a balanced breakfast, as far as I can tell.

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Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:14 am
Snoink says...



In smaur's excerpt, only the bold sentences are fragments:

The ninth is a suicide. Again. Jumped off a roof and plummeted to his death.

No relatives, no friends, nothing. They cremate his body and send the ashes to a landfill on Jupiter.

There's no such thing as second chances for suicides.


So it's not like it's totally made out of fragment sentences. The sentences are just, in general, short.

If you use too many fragment sentences, it gets really old, really quick, but if you do it in emphasis then it can be very delicious.
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