Question

(1) Shadow puppet theater is an ancient form of entertainment in which figures and props cut from leather are placed in front of an illuminated screen to “act out” a story. (2) Though shadow puppets and props are no longer always made of leather, shadow puppet theater is still much the same as it was in the past and is still popular in many countries, including Indonesia, where it is a traditional art form. (3) At the center of every shadow puppet theater performance is the dalang, or puppeteer, who is a combination narrator, voice actor, musician, and educator. (4) The dalang use his or her voice to narrate the story and
speak the parts of the various characters, and he or she also employs a series of signals to coordinate the story with the orchestra that plays a musical accompaniment. (5) Because shadow puppet theater performances may last many hours, the dalang must be a strong person with formidable powers of endurance.

Which is the most effective way to vary the sentences in this passage?


Make some sentences shorter.


Invert the order of subjects and verbs.


Begin sentences with different parts of speech.

Answer 1

Make some sentences shorter.

Several sentences are long and similarly paced; shortening (or splitting) them will create more variety and improve clarity. Inversion would sound awkward, and while changing sentence openings helps, varying sentence length is the most effective fix.

Example splits:
- "Though shadow puppets and props are no longer always made of leather, shadow puppet theater is still much the same as it was in the past. It remains popular in many countries, including Indonesia, where it is a traditional art form."
- "The dalang uses his or her voice to narrate the story and speak the parts of the various characters. He or she also employs signals to coordinate the story with the orchestra."