Going Further with Brush Strokes - Participial Phrases

We have learned about and have written some sentences using (present) participles.  Remember these are --ing words formed from verbs but they are not part of the verb in a sentence.  Here are some examples (participles are in italics):

Slipping and sliding, the kitten scooted across the ice.

Under his boot he felt a snake, twisting and slithering. 

Dancing and singing, Cadence rushed onto the stage.

Today we're going to take participles a little further.  We're going to write some participial phrases. This means we're going to put some words after the participles to form phrases.  Here's an example:

Singing a new song, Cadence rushed onto the stage.

Do you see how this can tighten up your writing?  For example, let's imagine you have two things you want to say:

Cadence rushed onto the stage.  They were singing a new song.

Saying it in those two sentences, not only takes more words, but it sounds boring. However, with a participial phrase, you can state the same ideas in just one sentence and with fewer words. Plus, you also sound better!

Singing a new song, Cadence rushed onto the stage.

So you begin to see how using this brush stroke (the participial phrase)--not all the time, but from time to time--can help your writing.

Okay. Now let's go to a Google Form and Mr. Stephens will lead you through three fairly quick exercises to help you write with participial phrases.  Go to this link:

http://bit.ly/1nlkF0g