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Sentences & Punctuation

The final stage for analyzing grammar in context, at the highest level:

1. Sentence Variety2. Punctuation3. Patterns of Error4. Style/Rhetorical Choice

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Principles of Modern Grammar

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Principles of Modern Grammarhttp://acompletewasteofmakeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/goals.jpg

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An ability to identify and analyze in context:

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1. Sentence Variety

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2. Punctuation Rules

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1. Sentence Variety

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3. Patterns of Error

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1. Sentence Variety

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4. Style and Rhetorical Choice

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1. Sentence Variety

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1. Sentence Variety

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Simple sentence• A sentence with one independent clause and

no dependent clausesCompound Sentence• A sentence with multiple independent clauses

(usually joined through coordination) but no dependent clauses

Complex Sentence• A sentence with one independent clause and

at least one dependent clauseComplex-Compound Sentence• A sentence with multiple independent clauses

and at least one dependent clause

1. Sentence Variety

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Analyze the following paragraph adapted from Stephen King’s11/22/63:

I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront - and swaying from side to side. He made me think of a Hindu fakir I’dseen in some old movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.

Identifying Sentence VarietyENG 411B


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I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront -and swaying from side to side. He made me think of a Hindufakir I’d seen in some old movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.



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I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront - and swaying from side to side. He made me think of a Hindu fakir I’dseen in some old movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.



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Analyze the following paragraph adapted from Stephen King’s 11/22/63:

I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront - and swaying from side to side. He made me think of a Hindu fakir I’d seen in some old movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.



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I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront - and swaying from side to side.



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Clauses?



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Clauses:Independent Clause



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Clauses:Independent ClauseDependent Clause



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Clauses:Independent ClauseDependent ClauseIndependent Clause



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I handed over one of Al’s vintage dollars, and while Frank made change, I looked over my shoulder and saw the former Yellow Card Man standing outside the liquor store - the greenfront -and swaying from side to side.

Clauses:Independent ClauseDependent ClauseIndependent ClauseIndependent Clause



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Clauses:Independent ClauseDependent ClauseIndependent ClauseIndependent Clause

Compound-Complex Sentence



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He made me think of a Hindu fakir I’d seen in some old movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket.



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Clauses?



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He made me think of a Hindu fakir [that] I’d seen in some oldmovie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket.




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Complex Sentence



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And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.

Clauses?



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And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicettithe Younger.




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And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the Younger.


Simple Sentence



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Punctuation Rule #1Independent clause. Independent clause.Simple Sentences

A period or a semicolon can indicate the end of a simple independent clause.

Simple Examples:• The dog is indoors. The dog sleeps all day.• The telephone rang. He rushed to answer it.


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Punctuation Rule #2Independent clause; independent clause.Simple Sentences

Independent clauses can be separated by a semicolon, which can act like a soft period. A semicolon signals an extremely close relationship between the independent clauses.

Simple Examples:• The dog barked; the letter carrier ran.• The snow fell; the roads became impassable.


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Punctuation Rule #3Independent clause; conjunctive adverb, independent clause.OR Independent clause; independent, conjunctive adverb, clause.Simple Sentences

Conjunctive adverbs can follow a semicolon connecting two independent clauses. When a conjunctive adverb precedes the second independent clause, they are separated by a comma. A conjunctive adverb embedded in the second independent clause is set off by commas.

Simple Examples:• The car sounded terrible; however, it never broke down.• Parking is scarce; many drivers, therefore, park illegally.


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Punctuation Rule #4Independent clause, coordinating conjunction independent clause.Compound Sentence

A coordinating conjunction can separate independent clauses. A comma always precedes the coordinating conjunction, followed by the second independent clause.

Simple Examples:• Jenny hit the ball, and she was safe at first base.• Jenny ran to first base, but the shortstop threw her out.


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Punctuation Rule #5Dependent clause, independent clause.Complex Sentence

When a dependent clause begins a sentence, an independent clause MUST follow, and a comma always separates them.

Simple Examples:• After she hit the ball, Jenny ran to first.• When the clock struck twelve, the mouse ran down.


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Punctuation Rule #6Independent clause dependent clause.Complex Sentence

When an independent clause comes first, a dependent clause can follow without using a comma to separate them.

Examples:• Jenny ran to first after she hit the ball.• The mouse ran down when the clock struck twelve.


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Punctuation Rule #7Independent, dependent clause, clause.Complex Sentence

When a dependent clause interrupts an independent clause, a pair of commas sets off the dependent clause.

Examples:• Subordinate clauses, because they are adverbial, can

move about in a sentence.• Josh understood, once he realized his mistake, why

Karen was mad.


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Punctuation Rule #8Independent restrictive clause/phrase clause.

A clause or phrase embedded within an independent clause that is essential information to identify the referent is not set off with commas.

Simple Examples• A man who is in his eighties is an octogenarian.• A clause that provides essential information is not set

off with commas.• The house on the corner is blue.• Eric’s cousin Gwendolyn has the voice of an eight-year-

old.


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Punctuation Rule #9Independent, nonrestrictive clause/phrase, clause.OR –nonrestrictive clause/phrase– OR (nonrestrictive clause)

A clause or phrase embedded within an independent clause that is not essential information to identify the referent is set off with punctuation. A pair of commas, a pair of double dashes, or a set of parentheses all function the same way.

Simple Examples• Jane's father, who is in his eighties, is an octogenarian.• Jane's father (who is in his eighties) is an octogenarian.• That house, on the corner, is blue.• Gwendolyn—Eric’s cousin—has the voice of an eight-year-old.


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Punctuation Rule #10Independent clause: (to introduce a list or a restatement of the previous clause)Rule 10a: Separate simple items in a list with commas; separate complex items in a list with semicolons.

A colon introduces a restatement (most often a definition) of the independent clause or introduces a list.

Simple Examples:• The girl finally understood "hypercorrection": an attempt to be overly

"correct" in language use, often resulting in a misuse of the standard.• Writing is often defined as a recursive process: invention, planning,

drafting, revising, and editing.• The girl's life was extremely hectic: mornings were spent in school;

afternoons were spent at work; evenings were spent taking care of her invalid grandmother; and nights were spent studying.


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Punctuation Rule #11Adverbial nonfinite verb phrase, independent clause.

An adverbial nonfinite verb phrase preceding an independent clause is set off by a comma.

Simple Examples• Considered by everyone the best candidate for the job,

Eleanor felt confident.• While running for the bus, he broke his foot.• To do well in school, you must study hard.


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Choosing Punctuation

Punctuate the following sentences (from Hemispheric American Studies), then explain your punctuation choices:

1. This simple “fact” as it was understood then was very important to those who were concerned about the future of other slaveholding societies.

2. Portraits of lawlessness and bloodthirstiness outside of the South were also a justification in themselves for a tightening or quickening of the siege mentality of the South.

3. Stanley’s climactic meeting with Livingstone was dubbed the scoop of the century by Bennett’s paper and it indeed represented an American usurpation of the most popular form of British imperial travel writing in the 1860s and ’70s the interior Africa exploration narrative.

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One possible set of punctuation marks:

1. This simple “fact,” as it was understood then, was very important to those who were concerned about the future of other slaveholding societies.

2. Portraits of lawlessness and bloodthirstiness outside of the South were also a justification in themselves for a tightening or quickening of the siege mentality of the South.

3. Stanley’s climactic meeting with Livingstone was dubbed the scoop of the century by Bennett’s paper, and it indeed represented an American usurpation of the most popular form of British imperial travel writing in the 1860s and ‘70s: the interior Africa exploration narrative.

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Punctuate the following sentences (from Hemispheric American Studies), then explain your punctuation choices:

1. Eventually she embraces it as part of her own repertoire and sings it herself.

2. This study concludes in the same post-World War II moment by briefly examining a powerful short story by Paul Bowles a U.S. expatriate in Morocco which dramatizes how African Islamic difference frustrates the capacity of American intercultural understanding.

3. In giving this particular version of Louisiana pride of place in the book version of The Great South King almost certainly was influenced by Cable’s early stories which he was reading and helping to place in Scribner’s as he wrote his own dispatches.

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One possible set of punctuation marks:

1. Eventually, she embraces it as part of her own repertoire and sings it herself.

2. This study concludes in the same post-World War II moment by briefly examining a powerful short story by Paul Bowles, a U.S. expatriate in Morocco, which dramatizes how African Islamic difference frustrates the capacity of American intercultural understanding.

3. In giving this particular version of Louisiana pride of place in the book version of The Great South, King almost certainly was infuenced by Cable’s early stories, which he was reading and helping to place in Scribner’s as he wrote his own dispatches.

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When commas are always incorrect:A single comma should never occur between any required sentence constituents.

Markers: Constituents of the five basic sentence typesNP + MVintNP + MVbe + ADVP tm/plNP + Mvlink + AJDPNP1 + Mvlink + NP1NP1 + MVtr + NP2

Simple Examples• In speech, your tacit knowledge, of sentence patterns is

obvious in your intuitive use of pauses. • The researchers discovered, that this new set of cells had

some amazing properties.

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Misuse of Pronouns• Sexist Use of Pronouns• Pronoun Number-Agreement

Pronoun Markers• Personal Pronouns = I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she,

her, it, they, them• Reflexive Pronouns = myself, ourselves, yourself,

yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves• Indefinite Pronouns = one, someone, somebody,

anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, everyone, everybody, etc.

Analyze the following sentences adapted from Constance Hale’s Sin and Syntax:

1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate light.

2. Our society has gotten to the point where each person does what’s right in their own eyes.

Identifying Misuse of PronounsENG 411B


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someone



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someoneneutral



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someoneneutralsingular



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someone himneutralsingular



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someone himneutral masculinesingular



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someone himneutral masculinesingular singular



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someone himneutral masculinesingular singular

Sexist use of pronouns: Without a masculine antecedent (or context), we cannot make the assumption that the bottle recipient is male.



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Revision



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1.Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate light.

Revision: One OptionChange both antecedent and pronoun to plural and neutral gender



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Revision: One OptionChange both antecedent and pronoun to plural, so both are neutral gender

Give your friends a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give them hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate light.



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each person



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each personneutral



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each personneutralsingular



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each person theirneutralsingular



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each person theirneutral neutralsingular



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each person theirneutral neutralsingular plural

Pronoun number-agreement error: A plural possessive pronoun determiner cannot refer back to a singular pronoun antecedent.



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Revision



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Revision: One OptionChange antecedent to plural to match possessive determiner



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Revision: One OptionChange antecedent to plural to match possessive determiner; change MVP inflection to plural

Our society has gotten to the point where all people do what’s right in their own eyes.



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Identify misuse of pronouns in the following sentences. Revise the sentences (adapted from Sin and Syntax) to eliminate sexist pronouns and number-agreement errors:

1. A motorcyclist has the right to decide if she wants to wear a helmet.

2. Do your child a favor; teach them grammar. 3. If the government thinks it has a role in health

reform, we’ve got a message for them.4. British Airways is encouraging any passenger

who can say that their business class isn’t the most comfortable in the air to write and tell them why.



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One possible set of revisions:

1. Motorcyclists have the right to decide if they want to wear helmets. [sexist: make all pronouns plural]

2. Do your child a favor by teaching good grammar. [number-agreement; potentially sexist: remove 2nd pronoun]

3. If the government officials think they have a role in health reform, we’ve got a message for them. [number-agreement: change antecedent to plural]

4. British Airways is encouraging any passenger who can say that its business class isn’t the most comfortable in the air to write and tell its customer service representatives why. [number-agreement: change 1st pronoun to singular; replace 2nd pronoun with singular pronoun determiner and plural NP]



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Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers

Modifier Markers• Non-finite Verb Phrases: Present Participle Phrases,

Past Participle Phrases, Infinitive Phrases• Underlying subject of Non-finite Verb Phrase is not the

subject of the sentence it modifies• Prepositional phrases: Preposition + Object (NP)

Analyze the following passage adapted from Constance Hale’s Sin and Syntax:

1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef lovers won’t be disappointed.

2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope.

Identifying Dangling & Misplaced ModifiersENG 411B


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Thinly sliced and heaped on ryePast-participle verb phrase



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Thinly sliced and heaped on ryePast-participle verb phraseNo subject specified in verb phrase



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Underlying Subject



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Underlying Subjectcorned beef sandwich



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Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clausecorned beef sandwich



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Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clausecorned beef sandwich corned beef lovers



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Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clausecorned beef sandwich corned beef lovers≠



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Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clausecorned beef sandwich corned beef lovers

Dangling Modifier

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Revision



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Revision: One OptionChange subject of following clause



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Revision: One OptionChange subject of following clause

Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, this sandwich won’t disappoint corned beef lovers.



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on the back of an envelopeprepositional phrase



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Modifies



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Modifieswhile traveling fromWashington to Gettysburg



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Modifies Should Modifywhile traveling fromWashington to Gettysburg



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Modifies Should Modifywhile traveling wrote the Gettysburgfrom Washington addressto Gettysburg



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≠



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Misplaced Modifier



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Revision



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Revision: One OptionMove the prepositional phrase closer to what it should modify



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Revision: One OptionMove the prepositional phrase closer to what it should modify

Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address on the back of an envelope while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg.



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Identify dangling and misplaced modifiers in the following sentences. Revise the sentences (adapted from Sin and Syntax) to eliminate dangling and misplaced modifiers:

1. FOR SALE: Mahogany table by a lady with Chippendale legs.

2. For over a half-century Rumpelmayer’s has been one of New York’s most popular ice-cream parlors. Decorated with cuddly stuffed animals and trimmed with large pink velvet bows, you feel like you’re sitting inside a present.

3. I once shot an elephant in my pajamas.

4. I saw a car crash driving to the store.



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One possible set of revisions:

1. FOR SALE: By a lady; mahogany table with Chippendale legs. [misplaced modifier: move prepositional phrases]

2. For over a half-century Rumpelmayer’s has been one of New York’s most popular ice-cream parlors. Because it is decorated with cuddly stuffed animals and trimmed with large pink velvet bows, you feel like you’re sitting inside a present. [dangling modifier: add in underlying subject]

3. I once shot an elephant while I was in my pajamas. [misplaced modifier: add SUBJ and MVP to create a clause]

4. Driving to the store, I saw a car crash. [misplaced modifier: move present-participle phrase to beginning of sentence]



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Sentence Fragments

Sentence Fragment Markers• No subject + MVP construction• Dependent Clause beginning with a Subordinating

Conjunction, Interrogative, Wh- Word, or “That” set off by a capital letter and a period

Analyze the following passage adapted from Tristan Egolf’s Lord of the Barnyard:

Then, at four thirty she heard a noise. He was moving around again. She could hear papers rustling, floorboards moaning. Footsteps started coming down from the attic. A minute later a thud directly overhead. More footsteps. Down the staircase. Around the bend. He stepped through the doorway with a knife in one hand. She stared at him. Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck. He didn’t look at her. He turned and started prying a wire loose from a row of staple clamps lining the door frame. Several termites fell from the ceiling around him. They tapped on the floor and scuttled away. He continued working the wire loose. He cut it. He discarded the knife, then disappeared again. She heard him walk down the hall toward the kitchen.

Identifying Sentence FragmentsENG 411B


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Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:

Then, at four thirty she heard a noise. He was moving around again. She could hear papers rustling, floorboards moaning. Footsteps started coming down from the attic. A minute later a thud directly overhead. More footsteps. Down the staircase. Around the bend.



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Introduces one character listening to another:Then, at four thirty she heard a noise. He was moving around again. She could hear papers rustling, floorboards moaning. Footsteps started coming down from the attic.

A minute later a thud directly overhead. More footsteps. Down the staircase. Around the bend.



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Introduces one character listening to another:Then, at four thirty she heard a noise. He was moving around again. She could hear papers rustling, floorboards moaning. Footsteps started coming down from the attic.

Continues the list of what she hears:A minute later a thud directly overhead. More footsteps. Down the staircase. Around the bend.



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One possible evaluation:

These sentence fragments are rhetorically effective. The passage describes what one character hears when she listens to another. The list of phrases continue that description by referring to specific noises and their locations. The short phrases mimic the brevity of the sounds she hears.



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He stepped through the doorway with a knife in one hand. She stared at him. Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck. He didn’t look at her.



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Describes characters’ actions:He stepped through the doorway with a knife in one hand. She stared at him.

Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck. He didn’t look at her.



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Describes how a character looks:Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck.

He didn’t look at her.



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Describes how a character looks:Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck.

Describes characters’ actions:He didn’t look at her.



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The sentence fragment is not rhetorically effective, because it stands out as very different from the sentences around it. It describes a character rather than a character’s actions, which means it does not continue the thought from the previous sentences. It is also the only sentence in its immediate context that does not begin with a pronoun or short NP. Its style does not fit the passage.



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Identify sentence fragments in the following passage (adapted from Junot Diaz’ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao). Evaluate their rhetorical effectiveness:

It truly was a Golden age for Oscar, one that reached its apotheosis in the fall of his seventh year, when he had two little girlfriends at the same time, his first and only ménage á trois. With Maritza Chacón and Olga Polanco.

Maritza was Lola’s friend. Long-haired and prissy and so pretty she could have played young Deja Thoris. Olga on the other hand, was no friend of the family. She lived in the house at the end of the block that his mother complained about. Because it was filled with puertoricans who were always hanging out on their porch drinking beer. Olga had like ninety cousins, all who seemed to be named Hector or Luis or Wanda.



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Identify sentence fragments:

It truly was a Golden age for Oscar, one that reached its apotheosis in the fall of his seventh year, when he had two little girlfriends at the same time, his first and only ménage á trois. (1) With Maritza Chacón and Olga Polanco.

Maritza was Lola’s friend. (2) Long-haired and prissy and so pretty she could have played young Deja Thoris. Olga on the other hand, was no friend of the family. She lived in the house at the end of the block that his mother complained about. (3) Because it was filled with puertoricans who were always hanging out on their porch drinking beer. Olga had like ninety cousins, all who seemed to be named Hector or Luis or Wanda.



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One possible evaluation:(1) The sentence fragment consists of a prepositional phrase which adjectivally modifies the NP “his first and only ménage á trois.” The adjectival function is clear. Separating the prepositional phrase from the NP is rhetorically effective, as it clarifies that the ménage á trois is truly his first and only, not just his first and only with these two particular girls. Moreover, making the prepositional phrase a sentence fragment highlights the importance of these girls’ identities. A clause, such as “It was with Maritza and Olga.” would emphasize the ménage á trois and the identities equally.

(2) The sentence fragment clearly refers back to and modifies Maritza. By isolating these modifiers, Diaz puts extra emphasis on them. This is rhetorically effective, as it emphasizes Maritza’s beauty, which explains Oscar’s attraction to her.

(3) This sentence fragment is not rhetorically effective, because it misleads the reader into expecting a related independent clause to follow. However, the sentence that follows the fragment bears no clear relation to it. The subordinating conjunction because which begins the sentence could signal a connection with the previous sentence, as the fragment could provide a reason for the mother’s dislike of Olga’s house. Shifting because into a new sentence, however, confuses this relationship between the sentence fragment and the preceding sentence.



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Rhetorical Use of the Passive

Passive Marker

• BE + [-en]

Analyze the following passage adapted from Jasper Fforde’s The Big Over Easy:

The Nursery Crime Division was formed in 1958 by DCI Horner, who was concerned that the regular force was too ill-equipped to deal with the often unique problems thrown up by a standard NCD inquiry. After a particularly bizarre investigation that involved a tinderbox, a soldier and a series of talking cats, his confused superiors were convinced by him that he should oversee all inquiries involving “any nursery characters or plots from poems and/or stories.” He was given a budget, a small office and two officers that no one else wanted and ran the NCD until he retired in 1980.

--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD

Identifying Rhetorical Use of the PassiveENG 411B


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Potential passive constructions:

1. was formed 2. was concerned 3. was too ill-equipped 4. were convinced 5. was given



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1. was formed

The Nursery Crime Division was formed in 1958 by DCI Horner, who was concerned that the regular force was too ill-equipped to deal with the often unique problems thrown up by a standard NCD inquiry.


Passive Transformation

Rhetorically effective because it emphasizes the subject of the excerpted book, the Nursery Crime Division, by making it the subject of the sentence.



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2. was concerned



MVP + ADJP

Not a passive transformation, as concerned passes functional ADJ tests.



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3. was ill-equipped



MVP + ADJP

Not a passive transformation, as ill-equipped passes functional ADJ tests. It is also preceded here by a qualifier, which can only modify ADJPs and ADVPs.



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4. were convinced

After a particularly bizarre investigation that involved a tinderbox, a soldier and a series of talking cats, his confused superiors were convinced by him that he should oversee all inquiries involving “any nursery characters or plots from poems and/or stories.”



Not rhetorically effective because it emphasizes the superiors rather than him (“DCI Horner”). The rest of the passage focuses largely on DCI Horner. In active voice, the sentence would be shorter and its emphasis more appropriate to the context.



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5. was given

He was given a budget, a small office and two officers that no one else wanted and ran the NCD until he retired in 1980.



Rhetorically effective because it emphasizes one of the passage’s two main subjects—DCI Horner—by making it the subject of the sentence. (The other subject is the Nursery Crime Division itself). A reader interested in these two subjects is likely not concerned with who specifically gave DCI Horner to tools to open the NCD.



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Identify passive constructions in the following passage (adapted from Ronald F. Bunn’s German Politics and the Spiegel Affair). Evaluate their rhetorical effectiveness:

It is because of these consequences of the Spiegel Affair that we propose here to examine it, with emphasis on the causes of the controversy and the responses of the political system to it. The meaning of the term “political affair” is largely conditioned by popular and journalistic usage, and no precise definition of the term can be derived from the various connotations commonly attached to it. Quite generally, however, references to political affairs as they have occurred over the past years in Western political communities suggest situations which are characterized by behavior, conduct, or action on the part of one or more persons endowed with political authority and which are of such a nature as to arouse a significant level of unfavorable reaction among the various strata of the political community, or at least among the more politically active and articulate groups within the community.



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Identify passive constructions:

It is because of these consequences of the Spiegel Affair that we propose here to examine it, with emphasis on the causes of the controversy and the responses of the political system to it. The meaning of the term “political affair” is largely conditioned by popular and journalistic usage, and no precise definition of the term can be derived from the various connotations commonly attached to it. Quite generally, however, references to political affairs as they have occurred over the past years in Western political communities suggest situations characterized by behavior, conduct, or action on the part of one or more persons endowed with political authority and which are of such a nature as to arouse a significant level of unfavorable reaction among the various strata of the political community, or at least among the more politically active and articulate groups within the community.



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(1) The use of the passive is effective, because it allows the subject of the sentence to connect directly back to the previous sentence. The previous sentence introduces the reader to the idea of the Spiegel Affair as political. Using the passive transforms the object “political affairs” into a subject and shifts the subject “popular and journalistic usage” in a prepositional phrase. Without that transformation, the connection between the passive sentence and the preceding sentence would initially be unclear.

(2) The use of the passive is effective, because it is unimportant who is doing the deriving. In this context, the key information is simply whether or not there exists a possibility of deriving a “precise definition of the term.



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ENG 411B


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edu

leModule Five – Sentences

12 M Nov 10 Module 5 Overview; Analyzing in Context/Markers and Keys for Module 5

READ Section 7COMPLETE Quiz 9; Quiz 10 by Nov 14COMPLETE OLE 7; OLE 8 by Nov 14COMPLETE Discussion Posts by Nov 14

Online Work Proficiencies Available Nov 12Send Samples to Dr. Nagelhout by Nov 14

13 M Nov 17 In-Class Presentations; In-Class Practice

Online Work Complete ProficienciesThanksgiving Holiday

Module Six – Final Materials

14 M Nov 24 Module 6 Overview - Final Reflection and Final Exam

COMPLETE Proficiency 1; Proficiency 2; Proficiency 3; Proficiency 4 by Nov 24

ENG 411B


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