Reading Through Interruptions and Asides

Keep track of a sentence's main line when extra clauses interrupt it.

Writers often insert extra information in the middle of a sentence using commas, parentheses, or dashes. These interruptions can make you lose the thread. The trick is to hold the main idea in mind, read the aside, then reconnect. Try this sentence: 'The museum's newest exhibit (which took three years to build and features over two hundred fossils) opens on Saturday. ' The main line is 'The museum's newest exhibit opens on Saturday. ' The parentheses add how long it took and what it contains.

When reading aloud, drop your voice slightly for the aside and bring it back up for the main line. When reading silently, you can test yourself by covering the aside with your finger: if the sentence still makes sense, you found the interruption correctly. In grade 6–8 texts, especially history and science, these asides often hold important details, so read them, but don't let them break the main sentence.

• 1Asides appear inside commas, parentheses, or dashes
• 2Hold the main line in mind, read the aside, reconnect
• 3Lower your voice slightly for asides when reading aloud