Five Basic Brush StrokesImprove your writing and appreciate the art of grammar by painting with words.

Prepared by Logan Aimone University of Chicago Laboratory High School

Source: Image Grammar by Harry R. Noden

1. Participle

The Participle

• A participle is an -ing verb tagged on the beginning or end of a sentence.

• A participle can also use the -ed form instead of -ing.

The Participle

• Basic sentence:The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:Hissing, slithering and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

The Participle

• Now, see how it looks with two participial phrases added to the original sentence:

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:Hissing their forked red tongues and coiling their cold bodies, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.

The Participle

• Both methods — adding several participles or adding one or two participial phrases — paint more detailed pictures.

• The participle also allows for more detail to be packed into the sentence.

The Participle

• Take this example:Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling carefully, he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there, submerged, for more than a minute, watching the blood trail away and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat moved. Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 56-57

2. Absolute

The Absolute

• Close your eyes and visualize and picture a mountain climber moving along a steep cliff.

• Visualize this one-sentence description:The mountain climber edged along the cliff.

The Absolute

• The next brush stroke is simply a noun combined with a participle (-ing or -ed).

• Eyes closed still…The mountain climber edged along the cliff, hands shaking, feet trembling.

• Or… Hands shaking, feet trembling, the mountain climber edged along the cliff.

The Absolute

• Basic sentence:The cat climbed the tree.

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the tree.

The Absolute

• Absolute phrases are also effective:Feet trembling on the snow-covered rocks, the mountain climber edged along the cliff.

The Absolute

• Take this example:The mummy was moving. The mummy’s right arm was outstretched, the torn wrappings hanging from it, as the being stepped out of its gilded box! The scream froze in her throat. The thing was coming towards her — towards Henry, who stood with his back to it — moving with a weak, shuffling gait, that arm outstretched before it, the dust rising from the rotting linen that covered it, a great smell of dust and decay filling the room.

Anne Rice, The Mummy, pp. 72

3. Appositive

The Appositive

• An appositive is a noun that adds a second image to a preceding noun. Like the absolute, the appositive expands details in the reader’s imagination.

The Appositive

• Basic sentence:The raccoon enjoys eating turtle eggs.

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake shorelines in search of food, enjoys eating turtle eggs.

The Appositive

• Take this example of how Cornelius Ryan uses appositives in June 6, 1944: The Longest Day. He could have written “A phalanx of ships and planes bore down on Hitler’s Europe.” Instead, Ryan expanded the image with appositives and then extended the image with further specific examples.

The Appositive

• Take this example:Plowing through the choppy gray waters, a phalanx of ships bore down on Hitler’s Europe: fast new attack transports, slow rust-scarred freighters, small ocean liners, channel steamers, hospital ships, weather-beaten tankers, and swarms of fussing tugs. Barrage balloons flew above the ships. Squadrons of fighter planes weaved below the clouds. And surrounding this cavalcade of ships packed with men, guns, tanks, and motor vehicles, and supplies came a formidable array of 702 warships.

Cornelius Ryan, June 6, 1944: The Longest Day, p. 243

4. Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

• Adjectives shifted out of order, used more often by authors of fiction, amplify the details of an image.

• Avoid the string of adjectives stacked up by leaving one adjective in place and shifting two others after the noun.

Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

• Basic sentence:The large, red-eyed, angry bull moose charged the intruder.

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:The large bull moose, red-eyed and angry, charged the intruder.

Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

• Take this example of three adjectives at the end of a sentence to describe a mysterious sound: And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 72

Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

• Take this example:I could smell Mama, crisp and starched, plumping my pillow, and the cool muslin pillowcase touched both my ears as the back of my head sank into all those feathers. Robert Newton Peck, A Day No Pigs Would Die, p. 12

5. Action Verbs

Action Verbs

• Eliminate passive voice and reduce being verbs to energize action images.

• Verbs of passive voice communicate no action like a still photograph with the subject of the action frozen with the prepositions by or with.

Action Verbs

• Basic sentence with being verb:The gravel road was on the left side of the barn.

• Sentence with brush stroke applied:The gravel road curled around the left side of the barn.

The 5 Brush Strokes: Review

• The participle • The absolute • The appositive • Adjectives out of order • Action verbs

The 5 Brush Strokes

Are you ready to try them

for yourself?

Try the brush strokes

• Use at least two brush strokes to describe this deer. Consider the appositive and adjectives shifted out of order.

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Try the brush strokes

• Use at least two brush strokes to describe this waterfall. Consider the participle and action verbs.

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Try the brush strokes

• Use at least two brush strokes to describe this cat. Consider the absolute, participle and action verbs.

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Try the brush strokes

• Use at least four brush strokes to describe this sunset. Write at least five sentences.

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What do you think?

• What are your thoughts about seeing and using the brush strokes?

On your own

• Take another look at a piece of writing you’ve done for another assignment. Can you find a way to improve the piece with one or more of the brush strokes.

• Revise the piece and see how it changes. • What are some of the effects on your writing

as a result?

On your own

• How can you improve your future writing by using the brush strokes?

• Select two brush strokes and make a goal to use them in your next writing task.