Purpose:
The author would use imperative sentences when writing in order to create a variation in sentence structure. The author could use an imperative sentence in order to change the tone of the current topic. Commonly used tones could be demanding, inspiring, or square. This type of sentence is useful in dialogue or a character’s internal monologue. When two characters are discussing, imperative sentences are very beneficial for authors to get a point across in conversation. In dialogue, an imperative sentence could be used to show a power imbalance between two characters, a conflict, or show a relationship. In an internal monologue, these sentences show a sense of direction and a common thought pattern. Imperative sentences help to create variation and fixated sentences.
Steps for Analysis:
When encountering an imperative sentence in a piece of writing, a reader should take into account the tone and purpose of the sentence. These types of sentences typically add to, change, or enhance the tone of a piece. The tone is usually commanding, inspiriting, or cold. Usually, the context in which an author uses an imperative sentence is to speak to the audience, who would typically be the readers or another person who is involved in the dialogue. In order to unpack and analyze the use of an imperative sentence, the reader could ask questions such as “why would the author use this sentence,” “what is the context in the situation that could lead to the use of an imperative sentence,” and other questions that are more specific to the particular situation.
Example from Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.”
Analysis of Passage:
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson is clearly advising and directing the audience on how to view life and the challenges of conformity versus the originality of a person and their mind. The tone of this whole philosophical essay is very serious and academic. An imperative sentence like this one enhances this tone by expressing the severity of a situation and how essential it is for people to break the need for conformity. Since some of the main purposes of this essay are to inform and asses it is important for Emerson to input his opinions and advise his population due to his beliefs, which is exactly what this imperative sentence does.
For the audience, an imperative sentence like this one helps them understand what to take away from a piece of work. In this case, Emerson is actually directing his audience on what to do in their lives. Imperative sentences help to guide the audience to perform a certain action or to feel a certain emotion, and this Emerson quote is doing both of these things for the readers. Without an imperative sentence in the text, Emerson's opinions and beliefs would not be so clearly and thoroughly portrayed in his writing.
Waldo Emerson, Ralph. Self Reliance. 1841. Dartmouth Edu,
math.dartmouth.edu/~doyle/docs/self/self.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept. 2022.