"Absolute"ly

Well, it's that time of the year and in Advanced English we are reading Robert Cormier, one of the greatest writers of young adult novels (in my humble opinion!) This post, is unlike the others in that the essence of it is really hidden in the comments part of this post. As we are enjoying our third winter storm of the year and reading I Am the Cheese, we tried our hand at imitating Robert Cormiers style by using absolute phrases to zero in on some tiny detail within a scene. In the comments, the absolute phrases are marked with italics. An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participial form of a verb ("ed" or "ing" suffix) to zoom in and examine a piece of the whole. Click on the "Comments" link on the bottom of this post to see how something as simple as a tiny phrase can have a profound effect on our writing.

P.S. If Cormier has captured your attention, try reading The Chocolate War and The Rag and Bone Shop. Both are simply wonderful.