The Periodic Sentence.—In the sentence, “A short time afterward my uncle died; so my aunt went to her country-house in Derbyshire,” the grammatical structure is complete at “died.” But if the two clauses be welded together by because, they will no longer be grammatically free. Thus: “Because my uncle died shortly afterward, my aunt went to her country-house in Derbyshire.” This sentence is periodic in form. A periodic sentence is a complex sentence in which the modifiers of the verb precede the verb. The effect of this structure is to delay the main idea of the sentence until the last.[22] Obviously, if too many subordinate ideas occur before the main one, the mind of the reader will weary with the tension of expectation. Short periodic sentences however are extremely effective in arousing the reader’s attention and holding it till the important idea is stated. It is plain that good periodic structure is highly conducive to unity in the sentence: each subordinate idea is held in its proper place of subordination till the main idea is stated, and on the reader is flashed a pleasant sense that the structure has grown naturally into one complete whole.
Oral Exercise.—Examine the oral exercise on pages 98, 99, and say which sentences were made periodic in the effort to improve their unity.
Oral Exercise.—Below are given some good periodic sentences.[23] Give equivalent loose sentences. Decide whether or not the loose are better than the periodic.
1. At this moment a large, comfortable white house, that had been heretofore hidden by green trees, came into view.
[Changed, this might read: “A large, comfortable white house had been heretofore hidden by green trees; it came into view at this moment.”]
2. Off went Timothy’s hat.
3. And it was to this household that Timothy had brought his child for adoption.
4. Gay, not being used to a regular morning toilet, had fought against it valiantly at first.
5. If you care to feel a warm glow in the region of your heart, imagine little Timothy Jessup sent to play in that garden.