Sentence Imitation

Lately I've been on the search for sentences that might be used with students for sentence imitation writing exercises. The sentence below is an example of a simple sentence that has been expanded with parallel participial phrases and adjectives.

The bald eagle, seen at the apex of flight, serenely perched on a tree, or boldly diving toward prey, is at once fierce, majestic, powerful, and independent.
--Variation on U.S. Department of the Interior, "Bald Eagles of Wolflodge Bay"

The kernel of the sentence is predicate adjective: The eagle is fierce.

Students don't necessarily need it, but the basic formula of the sentence is something like this:

Adj Noun (Subject) + participial phrase + adv + participial phrase + adv + participial phrase + form of ‘to be’ verb + four adjectives

This sentence demonstrates to students how using parallelism and participial phrases can add a lot of interesting detail and variety, even to a simple sentence.

Here are a couple of possible imitations:

The puzzled freshman, seen in the bustle of the cafeteria, quizzically examining the salad bar, or cluelessly searching for a place to sit, is strange, pathetic, embarrassing and annoying.

The stray dog, limping down the alley, loudly panting and desperately foraging is sad, lonely, lost, and hungry.