Relative Clauses

Perhaps there are no relative clauses in Teale writing. I have made no exhaustive search: I have looked long and hard and found none. And I think it is clear why I haven't. Teale uses appositives in place of relatives, perhaps for the obvious reason that they are more economical. For instance:

This mass—about the size of the nail on my little finger—provides evidence that warm weather has come to stay. (Walk 79)

The sentence could easily read:

This mass, which is about the size of the nail on my little finger, provides evidence that warm weather has come to stay.

The second sentence, however, is longer, and the second sentence does not replicate the conversation tone of Teale's observation. Teale's sentence uses the dash to represent a pause in speech, with the resulting sentence less formal, more economical, and more accurate than the more formal sentence that uses the relative pronoun which."

Should you also "boycott" the use of the relative clause?

Each writer arrives at a distinctive style in time. Your style may be characterized by relative clauses just as Teale's is without them. As in nature, there is endless variety of writing styles.

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