Elements of Effective Interpretive Sentences

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How to Write a Strong Interpretive Sentence

The most effective writing is a seamless blend of evidence and analysis. Practicing the art of writing interpretive sentences is a great way to cultivate this style. An interpretive sentence essentially consists of an evidence clause linked to analysis clause by a strong verb, such as implies, reveals, or suggests. Thus, interpretive sentences are complex sentences and can help you break out of simple sentence patterns.

Elements of Effective Interpretive Sentences

Context: The writer identifies the literary work or the specific section or element of the work the sentence will discuss.

Literary Device: The writer names, defines, or implies by illustration a relevant literary device.

Text References:The writer directly quotes words and phrases or refers to specific content or language from the literary selection.

Interpretation:The writer shows how the literary device and examples reveal theme, the speaker's attitude, the poet's artistry, or the significance of the work.

Coherence:The writer uses transitions and connecting words to bind the parts of the sentence into a logical whole.

Remember the Toulmin Model:

YOUR CLAIM/INTERPRETATIONEVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

CLEAR ANALYSIS (connecting the dots)

Examine the structural elements of this sentence on an Anglo-Saxon lyric poem: In “The Ruin” the speaker uses the elegiac form to lament the destruction of human achievements by fate—a theme announced in the first two lines by the contrast of the wondrous “work of giants” with a city broken by fate.

Context / Literary Device / Verb / Interpretation / Text Reference
In "The Ruin" the speaker uses / the elegiac form / to lament / the destruction of human achievements by fate— / a theme announced in the first two lines by the contrast of the wondrous "work of giants" with a city broken by fate.

Exercise A: For each of the following sentences, write 2 interpretive sentences that integrate a quotation properly.

“Hope is the thing with feathers”

Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Interpretive Sentence for 1 line:

Interpretive Sentence for 2 lines:

“Fire and Ice”

Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Interpretive Sentence for 1 line:

Interpretive Sentence for 2 lines: