Sentence arrangement

Sentence arrangement refers to the location of ideas and the placement of

emphasis within a sentence. Based on these factors, a sentence may be
classified as loose, balanced, periodic, or cumulative.

Examples
A loose sentence expresses the main thought near the beginning and adds
explanatory material as needed.

 We bashed the piñata for 15 minutes without denting it, although we at

least avoided denting one another's craniums and, with masks raised,
finally pried the candy out with a screwdriver.

A cumulative sentence places the general idea in the main clause and gives it
greater precision with modifying words, phrases, or clauses placed before it, after
it, or in the middle of it. In this example, the phrases eyes squinting, puffy, and
always on alert look forward to the pronoun he in the main clause; the phrases
after the word forest look back to the word week in the main clause.

 Eyes squinting, puffy, always on alert, he showed the effects of a week in

the forest, a brutal week, a week of staggering in circles driven by the
baying of wolves.