Erdrich, Whittemore, and sentence combining

Louise Erdrich, “The Names of Women” and Katherine Whittemore, “Endangered Languages”

With the first two of the following three tasks, you can change the sentences radically, but try as much as possible not to change the meaning of the sentences or phrases within them. Work with the words from the original as much as you are able. Also label your two sentences with the names of your group members:

1. Take one of the longest sentences from either of these essays and break it into two sentences, then post it in the “favorite sentences” googledoc. Label the new sentences “Broken up.”
2. Then take two relatively short sentences that are next to or near each other and turn them into one sentence. Label the new sentence “Combined.”
3. Now, as a group, judge whether the broken up or combined sentences you created are better, worse, or about the same as the originals, and briefly comment on this in the doc. Label it “Comment.” 

When your group has finished its sentence work, answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. Do you feel like you learned anything from the sentence breaking-up/combining exercise above? If so, what? 
2. What do these two short essays seem to you to have in common with one another? Which was more interesting and why? Or were they equally interesting in different ways?