Sentence Fragments Should Be Allowed
I like fragment sentences. Not across the board. Some are bad. But many are good. Their use often helps break up ideas more effectively than their grammatically "correct" alternatives. For example, you can break things up with colons, semi-colons, commas, and dashes. But sometimes the deployment of these devices drags a sentence out.
As a reader, I want a sentence to end quickly. My pea-brain can only remember so many things at once. From the time a sentence starts to the time it ends, you’re supposed to hold everything in that sentence in your mind at once. This is much easier to do with short sentences. Short sentences are sometimes more easily achieved when phrases are divided by periods into fragment sentences. This is often more effective than using “grammatically correct” punctuation like colons, semi-colons, commas, and dashes to break up a sentence into an elaborate maze of subsections.
Generally, I think the rules of English grammar should be amended to allow sentence fragments for two reasons. One, they don't necessarily impede communication. Two, they often enhance it. Despite these pros, the con is that fragments can be misused. Their misuse impedes clear, coherent communication. That’s why sentence fragments are a no-no. But I don’t think the universality of that no-no is justified.
The issue shouldn’t be whether or not sentence fragments can impede communication. Sentence fragments, like nuclear energy and genetic engineering, can wreak havoc if misued. But like nuclear energy and genetic engineering, sentence fragments can do great good. That the use of such an effective communication device is considered against the rules of our language is kinda pointless, in my humble opinion. I don’t enjoy following rules just for the sake of following rules. Rules have their use. But I enjoy breaking with impunity rules that I consider dumb. Especially grammatical ones.
As a reader, I want a sentence to end quickly. My pea-brain can only remember so many things at once. From the time a sentence starts to the time it ends, you’re supposed to hold everything in that sentence in your mind at once. This is much easier to do with short sentences. Short sentences are sometimes more easily achieved when phrases are divided by periods into fragment sentences. This is often more effective than using “grammatically correct” punctuation like colons, semi-colons, commas, and dashes to break up a sentence into an elaborate maze of subsections.
Generally, I think the rules of English grammar should be amended to allow sentence fragments for two reasons. One, they don't necessarily impede communication. Two, they often enhance it. Despite these pros, the con is that fragments can be misused. Their misuse impedes clear, coherent communication. That’s why sentence fragments are a no-no. But I don’t think the universality of that no-no is justified.
The issue shouldn’t be whether or not sentence fragments can impede communication. Sentence fragments, like nuclear energy and genetic engineering, can wreak havoc if misued. But like nuclear energy and genetic engineering, sentence fragments can do great good. That the use of such an effective communication device is considered against the rules of our language is kinda pointless, in my humble opinion. I don’t enjoy following rules just for the sake of following rules. Rules have their use. But I enjoy breaking with impunity rules that I consider dumb. Especially grammatical ones.