macpherson p 9(1)

PART ONE

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

Left- and Right-Handed Sentences

Typical of many types of good English is the striving to create variety in sentence patterns, the avoidance of monotony. This can be illustrated by means of two altemative beginnings to a brief biographical entry for George Orwell, containing identical information:

A.    George Orwell was bom in Bengal, India, on June 25, 1903; he was the son of an official in the Indian civil service. He went to Eton and he subseąuently joined the Burmese police. He became disillusioned with his class and profession and in 1927 he returned to Europę. There he lived among the underprivileged and he adopted the pseudonym by which he is generally known. He published his first book Down and Out in Paris and London in 1933, and he followed this up with a series of works whose honesty won him a reputation as a leading spokesman for socialism.

B.    Born in Bengal, India, on June 25, 1903, the son of an official in the Indian civil service, George Orwell went to Eton, subseąuently joining the Burmese police. In 1927, disillusioned with his class and profession, he returned to Europę, choosing to live among the underprivileged and adopting the pseudonym by which he is generally known. Publishing his first book Down and Out in Paris and London in 1933, he followed this up with a series of works whose honesty won him a reputation as a leading spokesman for socialism.

In Passage A virtnally every sentence begins with the subject of the main verb. Clearly, such a style creates the impression of monotony and fails to capture the attention of the reader.

In Passage B, by contrast, in every sentence {Born..., disillusioned..., Publishing...) the subject is preceded by a participial clause, while in the first two sentences the main verb is actually followed by participial clauses as well {subseąuently joining..., choosing to live among the

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