Read the following excerpt from a student essay. How can the writer best improve his or her sentence fluency?
The Western Australian pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant native to southwestern Australia. The pitcher is a perennial herb. It is approximately eight inches high. Growing in swampy or sandy soils, it obtains needed nutrients from insects and other small prey. The pitcher plant has carnivorous leaves. The leaves act as traps, or pitchers. The pitchers produce enzymes for digesting prey. Prized among collectors, the plant is considered a vulnerable species.
by combining sentences by varying how sentences begin by using shorter sentences
During peer review, you read and respond to a fellow student's writing. While there are many methods and strategies that you can use for reviewing a text, it is generally helpful to frame your suggestions in concrete and constructive ways and to consider the following areas for revision:
Ideas and development: Does the writer express a clear idea and develop it with evidence, examples, or analysis?
Organization: Does the writer order ideas in a clear, logical way so that they build on one another and are easy to follow?
Voice: Does the writer maintain an appropriate voice, such as a formal and objective voice in an academic essay or an engaging and expressive voice in a narrative essay?
Sentence fluency: Does the writer use sentences that vary in structure and length to create a sense of rhythm and flow within and between sentences, or does the writing sound choppy, rambling, or repetitive?
Word choice: Does the writer use words accurately and precisely to create clear, effective, and engaging writing?
Grammar and mechanics: Does the writer follow appropriate conventions, using accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar to create writing that is correct and easy to read?
The writer could best improve his or her sentence fluency by combining sentences.
For example, the writer could combine the underlined sentences.
The Western Australian pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant native to southwestern Australia. The pitcher is a perennial herb. It is approximately eight inches high. Growing in swampy or sandy soils, it obtains needed nutrients from insects and other small prey. The pitcher plant has carnivorous leaves. The leaves act as traps, or pitchers. The pitchers produce enzymes for digesting prey. Prized among collectors, the plant is considered a vulnerable species.