Free the Sentence, Free the Story: Model Sentences from Toni Morrison
Sentences to study and imitate from the author of The Bluest Eye, A Mercy, and God Help the Child, quotes about the world’s beauty and the responsibility that comes with power, and more...
Photo by Brian Lanker
Toni Morrison is a damn American icon and true artist. She is strongest when society is at its worst. She is a reminder that words are more than scribbles on the page; they have meaning and meaning has action. The Bluest Eye and Beloved deserve their place in the American literary pantheon. As does the rest of her oeuvre. Take some time and study her writing. Breathe it in. Let it wash over you. And imagine her strong yet delicate voice speaking directly to you.
Three Questions to Ask When Studying Sentences
Use these three guiding questions to help you study the model sentences below and to write your own:
How is the sentence structured, and why does that structure work?
What literary or rhetorical devices are being used, and how do they enhance the sentence?
How does the sentence create emotion, and what techniques contribute to that effect?
Three Sentences by Toni Morrison to Study and Imitate
Sentence #1
“We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.”
Practice: Try this sentence frame using a topic from your writing.
We mistook ____ for ____, ____ for ____, and thought ____ was ____.
Here’s an example I came up with.
We mistook fortune for acceptance, fame for admiration, and thought talent was a gift to exploit.
Sentence #2
“I dream a dream that dreams back at me.”
Practice: Try this sentence frame using a topic from your writing.
I _____ a _____ that _____ back at me.
Here’s an example I came up with.
I loved a forbidden love that never could love back to me.
Sentence #3
“When fear rules, obedience is the only survival choice.”
Practice: Try this sentence frame using a topic from your writing.
When _____ rules, _____ is the only _____.
Here’s an example I came up with.
When the avarice of the oppressor rules, the charity of the oppressed is the only source of hope.
Your Turn: Use the model sentences and frames to craft your own sentences and post them in the comments below.
Two Quotes by Toni Morrison on the world’s beauty and the responsibility that comes with power
Quote #1
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
Journal Prompt: What does “beauty” mean to you? How would you define it? Where do you see “beauty” in the world? What do you think this quote means?
Quote #2
“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.’”
Journal Prompt: To what extent do you agree or disagree with Morrison’s claim that once a person has some power, their job is to empower someone else?
One Cool Thing - Toni Morrison Discusses Freedom of Expression and the Writer's Role
In 2008 Toni Morrison won a PEN America Literary Service Award. In the speech below, Morrison describes the role of the writer (novelists, poets, bloggers, essayists, playwrights, etc.) in society. It’s a moving speech delivered in Morrison’s calm and dignified demeanor.
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