Appositives

 

Ok, who wants to be even cooler than you already are?  If you integrate noun phrase appositives, aka appositives, in your sentences you will improve your cool factor as well as your sentences!

Noun Phrase Appositives Can Help You:

ü Avoid choppiness

ü Stay away from unnecessary repetition

ü Figure out what’s a sentence vs. a frag. or RTS

ü Create more sophisticated sentences of varying lengths

ü Convey the complex ideas that are in your head

ü Write better summaries

ü Say more with their sentences. 

ü Better use commas and dashes

 

Punctuating Noun Phrase Appositives in Sentences

 

l  Single phrases are set off by commas.  Remember to put a comma after the phrase as well as in front of it:

Andrew Lam, author of Perfume Dreams, is a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. 

 

l  Single phrases can also be set off with dashes.  Dashes are a little more dramatic than a comma.

 

I walk through the rusted iron gate to find, to my horror, the place gutted—an empty structure where once there was life.                            –Andrew Lam “Lost Photos”

 

l  Series of nouns or noun phrases are set off by dashes when they occur in the middle of sentences:

In another photo, it’s my sister and I holding onto our dogs—Medor and Nina—as we wave at the photographer, smiling happily.                  –Andrew Lam “Lost Photos”

 

l  Series of noun phrases at the ends of sentences are most often set off with a comma or a dash, less often with a colon:

           

It occurred to me then that for children of Asian immigrants who covet an expressive, creative life, there is often a hidden price more costly than the regular fares—poverty, years of drudging in the dark, self doubt.                         –Andrew Lam “Notes of a Warrior’s Son”

 

 

 

Appositive Exercise #1:

Directions:  Combine the following sentences using noun phrases whenever you can, as in the following examples.

 

EXAMPLES:

 

a)                *  Sandra Cisneros’ position in her family affected her personality and career choice.

*  Sandra Cisneros’ position in her family was the only daughter amongst six older brothers. 

 

Combined:  Sandra Cisneros’ position in her family—the only daughter amongst six older brothers—affected her personality and career choice.

 

b)                       *  Michelle Serros wrote Chicana Falsa in the early 1990s when she was a college student, and though she was hailed as a “Woman to Watch for the New Century,” she lost her battle with cancer at age 48.

*  Michelle Serros was a vegan, a surfer and fourth-generation Californian.

Combined:   A vegan, a surfer and fourth-generation Californian, Michelle Serros wrote Chicana Falsa in the early 1990s when she was a college student, and though she was hailed as a “Woman to Watch for in the New Century,” she lost her battle with cancer at 48.

Now, you try:

 

1.         *  Michelle Serros discussed really important issues in the Latino community, telling funny stories instead of being oppositional.

            *  Michelle Serros was also a great performer.

Cross out the information that repeats in the second sentence and add the appositive to the first sentence.

            Combined:  A great performer, Michelle Serros discussed really important issues in the Latino community, telling funny stories instead of being oppositional.

 

 

 

2.         *  Manuela Soares oversaw the publication of the first five Harry Potter books at Scholastic Books.

            *  Manuela Soares is now a professor at Dyson College.

            Combined:

 

 

 

3.         *  I like any kind of contemporary literature.

*  I like poetry.

*  I like flash fiction.   

*  I like short stories.

*  I like plays.

*  I like novels.

Combined:

 

 

 

3.         *  Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and performer who has published 24 books, most notably, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

*  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is an award winning Young Adult fiction book, a must-read. 

Combined:

 

 

 

5.         *  Mariah K. Young describes herself as a shameless eavesdropper and author of Masha’allah And Other Stories.

            *  Masha’allah And Other Stories is a short story collection about the “multiplicity of experience” in the Bay Area.          

Combined:

 

 

 

6.         *  Brando Skyhorse received the 2011 Pen/Hemingway Award for his debut novel.

            *  Brando Skyhorses’s debut novel is The Madonnas of Echo Park.         

            *  Brando Skyhorse is a graduate of Stanford University.

Combined:

 

 

 

7.         *  Jhumpa Lahiri feels she grew up in two different worlds.

            *  Jhumpa Lahiri is the author of Unaccostomed Earth.

*  The two worlds are the world of her parents and the world of her friends.

Combined:

 

 

 

Appositives #2

Directions:  Try creating some noun phrase appositives of your own.  Modify the noun in the sentence.

 

1.  Min bought a new car recently, a state-of-the-art hybrid that gets 47 miles per gallon on the freeway.

            a. 

 

            b.

2.  Ernesto will read virtually anything he picks up--books, newspapers, magazines, milk cartons, other people's mail.

            a. 

 

            b.

 

3.  I witnessed a strange scene on Stevens Creek the other day, a scene unlike anything I had ever observed before.

a. 

 

            b.

 

4.  When I opened the door, I was surprised to see the irate postman, a frazzled man with a flushed red face and beady eyes.

            a.

 

            b.

 

5.      The tired professor sighed in appreciation of his retirement gift, a first class ticket to a remote island paradise.

            a.

 

            b.

 

 

Now create your own sentences using appositives

 

1. Write a sentence about a friend, using three appositives.

 

 

 

 

2. Write a sentence about a possession, using as many appositives as you can.

 

 

 

 

3. Using several appositives, write a sentence that might appear in your next essay.