Understand the Effect of Grammatical Features

Understanding the grammatical features of a text is more than just 'technique' spotting.

You might see an ellipsis, or a simple sentence, but what does the use of those features tell us?

What it tells us is called the 'effect' or the 'impact' of a grammatical feature. 

Let's look at an ellipsis. You might see a sentence that reads:

Jamie walked slowly towards the locked door...dare he open it?

There is an ellipsis here doing a very specific job. It is showing that Jamie is hesitant - that there is a pause in the action. The ellipsis puts that pause in the text, so we recognise that it shows a pause in what Jamie is doing. 

This is the effect of the ellipsis. 

Let's do the same with a simple sentence. 

Jamie walked slowly towards the locked door and knew he had to find the courage to open it. Then, a noise. 

We can spot the simple sentence: 'Then, a noise.' Let's think about the job this sentence is doing. 

The simple sentence follows a compound sentence which is longer and descriptive. The simple sentence stops this almost immediately and interrupts the flow. Just as if the noise has interrupted Jamie's thoughts. 

This is the effect of the short sentence. 

In this activity, we will look at the effect of grammatical features and build your understanding of the 'jobs' that these features do. 

If you are ready, let's get started!