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Snarf Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
A Long Sentence
Please have a look at this, scholars:
Now, three hundred feet in the air, Paul lunges for his jugular, digging in so deep with his fangs that they tighten around the bone and cartilage, and although he wants to savor every last moment of this helpless animal’s screams, he cannot contain himself, and rips them right out through his neck.
Is this a run-on sentence? Moreover, by the time the reader gets to "rips them right out," is it clear that the "them" is referring to the bone and cartilage?
Thank you.
Now, three hundred feet in the air, Paul lunges for his jugular, digging in so deep with his fangs that they tighten around the bone and cartilage, and although he wants to savor every last moment of this helpless animal’s screams, he cannot contain himself, and rips them right out through his neck.
Is this a run-on sentence? Moreover, by the time the reader gets to "rips them right out," is it clear that the "them" is referring to the bone and cartilage?
Thank you.
Top answer
The sentence is an easy read, in my opinion, and I'm not a great reader. There's no ambiguity that I can see. I think it's fine to keep going with a sentence, as long as you don't create any confusion.
- The sentence is an easy read, in my opinion, and I'm not a great reader.
- There's no ambiguity that I can see.
- I think it's fine to keep going with a sentence, as long as you don't create any confusion.
- " Only one of these makes sense.
- To the extent that "run-on sentence" is a pejorative, this is not one of those.
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2 Answers
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The sentence is an easy read, in my opinion, and I'm not a great reader. There's no ambiguity that I can see.
I think it's fine to keep going with a sentence, as long as you don't create any confusion.
The antecedent of "them" can only be "screams" or "bone and cartilage." Only one of these makes sense.
To the extent that "run-on sentence" is a pejorative, this is not one of those.
I think it's fine to keep going with a sentence, as long as you don't create any confusion.
The antecedent of "them" can only be "screams" or "bone and cartilage." Only one of these makes sense.
To the extent that "run-on sentence" is a pejorative, this is not one of those.
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A run-on sentence isn't necessarily a long one. That seems to be a popular misconception. A run-on is simply two or more independent clauses fused together without punctuation or a conjunction, and it can be as short as two words. Your sentence doesn't contain even a comma splice, but it does have two easily dispensable commas (after now and himself). Otherwise, the sentence is just
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