1. Sentence Construction How to bracket your sentences to improve the quality of your sentence structure.

2. Why are you making me do this?  To increase your awareness of what you are doing when you write.  To show you that there is an easy way to improve structure and variety without pulling your hair out.

3. How does this concept work?  Bracketing happens in the revision stage. After you write a draft or two, take the time to enclose the first five to seven words of your sentence in brackets (AKA [ ], or if you’re one of those fancy-types { } ).  TIP: Use a pen of a different color.

4. Observe:  Take a good look at the way you start your sentences. Ask yourself:  Do my sentences start with the same word or phrase more than twice?  Do my sentences start with the same grammatical structure more than two or three times?  Are my sentences all really long or all rather short?

5. Revise:  Switch it up!  Invert the subject and predicate  Add an introductory phrase  Use a quote  Make compound-complex sentences  Use fragments for emphasis (RULE: You can only do this once in a piece because it looks erroneous if you do it often.)

6. Here’s some practice: School lunches: Destroying appetites one disgruntled senior at a time. I can hear the crowd swelling behind me. The murmurs of hunger and excitement are mixed with the pounding of dozens of feet as we near the cafeteria. I finally round the corner and brush past several kids to make it inside the door. I stop abruptly as I notice the lunch menu. Pizza, probably re-heated considering it’s the third time this week, is listed in bold letters. It wouldn’t so bad if the food was actually cooked, but instead we get a rubbery square of plastic-like cheese and two-day-old pizza sauce. I grumble disappointedly as I move into line. This is how it is most every day. Each day I hope the food will be a bit better and each day I am let down completely. With the state pushing for healthier food, it puts pressure on the school system to provide better, healthier food for students while keeping the same budget. I can hear the crowd swelling behind me. The murmurs of hunger and excitement are mixed with the pounding of dozens of feet as we near the cafeteria. I finally round the corner and brush past several kids to make it inside the door. I stop abruptly as I notice the lunch menu. Pizza, probably re-heated considering it’s the third time this week, is listed in bold letters. It wouldn’t so bad if the food was actually cooked, but instead we get a rubbery square of plastic-like cheese and two-day-old pizza sauce. I grumble disappointedly as I move into line. This is how it is most every day. Each day I hope the food will be a bit better and each day I am let down completely. With the state pushing for healthier food, it puts pressure on the school system to provide better, healthier food for students while keeping the same budget.