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Using Short Sentences Rhetorically
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A series of simple sentences can become monotonous, but one or two short simple
sentences can be rhetorically effective in a number of situations:

• after several long sentences
• as a summary of what the writer has just said
• as a transition between sentences or paragraphs
Redefining America
Essentially, one or two short simple sentences create emphasis by contrast. As a writer,
when you juxtapose one or two short simple sentences with several longer ones, you
call attention to the short simple ones. Consider this example from Omer Aziz (p. 000):

This is not to exculpate the terrorists or their ideology. For them, I reserve a special
fury, just as their actions induce in me a special shame. When I think of Islamists
monopolizing and weaponizing a great religion, I am filled with rage — rage at the
audacity to shout Allah’s name while sending innocent people to their deaths; rage
at the perversion of so many minds by their religious leaders; rage at the reality of
living in a brown body that is stereotyped, misperceived and disfigured beyond my
recognition — and there is nothing I can do to save it. This is the world Sept. 11 gave us.

Notice how the short simple sentence at the very end of the paragraph stands out after
the longer sentences of the first part.
Also consider the sentences in this example from Roxane Gay (p. 000):

I love dresses. For years I pretended I hated them, but I don’t. Maxi dresses are one of the
finest clothing items to become popular in recent memory. I have opinions on maxi dresses! I
shave my legs! Again, this mortifies me. If I take issue with the unrealistic standards of beauty
women are held to, I shouldn’t have a secret fondness for fashion and smooth calves, right?

Notice how Gay alternates short simple sentences with longer ones. The shorter
sentences at the beginning of the paragraph emphasize her tone about dresses,
and longer third one reinforces the meaning of the first two. She keeps the fourth,
fifth, and sixth sentences short and strengthens the power of the fourth and fifth by
adding exclamation points. The final sentence is the longest in the paragraph, and the
conversational “right?” at the end of it adds to the rhetorical effect.
In some instances, writers choose to use sentence fragments, especially short
ones. Although most of the time you will avoid fragments, occasionally you might use
one for effect. What’s important is that you use the fragment as you would use a short
simple sentence — deliberately, for a special reason:

• to make a transition
• to signal a conclusion

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