I was thinking about something that is often on my mind: sentences. When building a sentence, depending on style, and purpose, often a writer will place the idea or word that needs the most emphasis at the end. I’m sure there are reasons for this placement; people remember what you put last. Or, maybe no one pays attention until the sentence is (almost) over.
Recently, my daughter, who will soon be 21 months old, has been filling in the last word of many books my husband and I read to her. So she’s tracking that last word; the end is what resonates. Maybe what’s at work here is something primal. Maybe, even as babies, we are waiting for the period. For the pause. For the breath.
I don’t know, but I suppose there are worse things about which to obsess.
Rebecca Kuder 