1. Sentences & Punctuation
The final stage for analyzing
grammar in context, at the
highest level:
1. Sentence Variety
2. Punctuation
3. Patterns of Error
4. Style/Rhetorical Choice
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Overview
2. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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Module 5 Goals
An ability to identify and analyze in context:
3. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
An ability to identify and analyze in context:
1. Sentence
Variety
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Module 5 Goals
4. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
An ability to identify and analyze in context:
2. Punctuation
Rules
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Module 5 Goals
1. Sentence
Variety
5. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
An ability to identify and analyze in context:
1. Sentence
Variety
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3. Patterns of
Error
Module 5 Goals
2. Punctuation
Rules
6. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
An ability to identify and analyze in context:
1. Sentence
Variety
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4. Style and
Rhetorical Choice
Module 5 Goals
3. Patterns of
Error
2. Punctuation
Rules
7. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
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8. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
1. Sentence Variety
Module 5 Key Markers
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9. 1. Sentence Variety
Simple sentence
• A sentence with one independent clause and
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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no dependent clauses
Compound 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 clause
Complex-Compound Sentence
• A sentence with multiple independent clauses
and at least one dependent clause
Module 5 Key Markers
10. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
11. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
12. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
13. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
14. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
15. 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?
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
16. 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 Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
17. 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 Clause
Dependent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
18. 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 Clause
Dependent Clause
Independent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
19. 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 Clause
Dependent Clause
Independent Clause
Independent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
20. 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 Clause
Dependent Clause
Independent Clause
Independent Clause
Compound-Complex Sentence
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
21. 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.
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
22. 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.
Clauses?
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
23. 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.
Clauses:
Independent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
24. He made me think of a Hindu fakir [that] I’d seen in some old
movie, tooting a horn to coax a cobra out of a wicker basket.
Clauses:
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
25. 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.
Clauses:
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
Complex Sentence
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
26. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the
Younger.
Clauses?
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
27. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti
the Younger.
Clauses:
Independent Clause
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
28. And, coming up the sidewalk, right on schedule, was Anicetti the
Younger.
Clauses:
Independent Clause
Simple Sentence
Identifying Sentence Variety
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
29. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
2. Punctuation Rules
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Module 5 Key Markers
30. 2. Punctuation Rules
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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Punctuation Rule #1
Independent clause. Independent clause.
Simple Sentences
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Module 5 Key Markers
31. 2. Punctuation Rules
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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Punctuation Rule #2
Independent clause; independent clause.
Simple Sentences
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Module 5 Key Markers
32. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #3
Independent 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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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Module 5 Key Markers
33. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #4
Independent 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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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Module 5 Key Markers
34. 2. Punctuation Rules
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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Punctuation Rule #5
Dependent clause, independent clause.
Complex Sentence
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Module 5 Key Markers
35. 2. Punctuation Rules
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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Punctuation Rule #6
Independent clause dependent clause.
Complex Sentence
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Module 5 Key Markers
36. 2. Punctuation Rules
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
• Josh understood, once he realized his mistake, why
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Punctuation Rule #7
Independent, dependent clause, clause.
Complex Sentence
move about in a sentence.
Karen was mad.
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Module 5 Key Markers
37. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #8
Independent 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
• The house on the corner is blue.
• Eric’s cousin Gwendolyn has the voice of an eight-year-old.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
off with commas.
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Module 5 Key Markers
38. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #9
Independent, 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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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Module 5 Key Markers
39. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #10
Independent 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,
• 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.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
drafting, revising, and editing.
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Module 5 Key Markers
40. 2. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation Rule #11
Adverbial 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,
• While running for the bus, he broke his foot.
• To do well in school, you must study hard.
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Eleanor felt confident.
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Module 5 Key Markers
41. 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.
Choosing Punctuation
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
42. 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.
Choosing Punctuation
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
43. 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.
Choosing Punctuation
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
44. 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.
Choosing Punctuation
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
45. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 2 Sample Analysis
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46. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
3. Patterns of Error
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Module 5 Key Markers
47. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
3. Patterns of Error
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Module 5 Key Markers
When commas are always incorrect:
A single comma should never occur between any required
sentence constituents.
Markers: Constituents of the five basic sentence types
NP + MVint
NP + MVbe + ADVP tm/pl
NP + Mvlink + AJDP
NP1 + Mvlink + NP1
NP1 + 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.
48. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
3. Patterns of Error
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Module 5 Key Markers
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.
49. 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 Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
50. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
51. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you
give him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
52. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you
give him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
53. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
54. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone
neutral
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
55. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone
neutral
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
56. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone him
neutral
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
57. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone him
neutral masculine
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
58. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone him
neutral masculine
singular singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
59. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
someone him
neutral masculine
singular singular
Sexist use of pronouns: Without a masculine
antecedent (or context), we cannot make the
assumption that the bottle recipient is male.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
60. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate
light.
Revision
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
61. 1.Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate light.
Revision: One Option
Change both antecedent and pronoun to plural and
neutral gender
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
62. 1. Give someone a bottle of Irish Mist, and you give
him hills that roll forever, lakes that radiate light.
Revision: One Option
Change 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.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
63. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
64. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
65. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
66. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
67. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person
neutral
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
68. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person
neutral
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
69. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person their
neutral
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
70. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person their
neutral neutral
singular
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
71. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
each person their
neutral neutral
singular plural
Pronoun number-agreement error: A plural
possessive pronoun determiner cannot refer back
to a singular pronoun antecedent.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
72. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Revision
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
73. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Revision: One Option
Change antecedent to plural to match possessive
determiner
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
74. 2. Our society has gotten to the point where each
person does what’s right in their own eyes.
Revision: One Option
Change 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.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
75. 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.
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
76. 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]
Identifying Misuse of Pronouns
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
77. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
3. Patterns of Error
http://www.fantom-xp.com/wp_23_~_Markers.html
Module 5 Key Markers
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)
78. 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 Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
79. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
80. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
81. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
82. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
83. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
84. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject
corned beef sandwich
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
85. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clause
corned beef sandwich
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
86. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clause
corned beef sandwich corned beef lovers
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
87. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clause
corned beef sandwich ≠ corned beef lovers
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
88. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye
Past-participle verb phrase
No subject specified in verb phrase
Underlying Subject Subject of Following Clause
corned beef sandwich corned beef lovers
Dangling Modifier
≠
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
89. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Revision
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
90. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Revision: One Option
Change subject of following clause
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
91. 1. Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, corned beef
lovers won’t be disappointed.
Revision: One Option
Change subject of following clause
Thinly sliced and heaped on rye, this sandwich won’t
disappoint corned beef lovers.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
92. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
93. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
94. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
95. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
96. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies
while traveling from
Washington to Gettysburg
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
97. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies Should Modify
while traveling from
Washington to Gettysburg
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
98. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies Should Modify
while traveling wrote the Gettysburg
from Washington address
to Gettysburg
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
99. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies Should Modify
while traveling ≠
wrote the Gettysburg
from Washington address
to Gettysburg
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
100. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
on the back of an envelope
prepositional phrase
Modifies Should Modify
while traveling wrote the Gettysburg
from Washington address
to Gettysburg
Misplaced Modifier
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
≠
Module 5 Key Markers
101. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
Revision
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
102. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
Revision: One Option
Move the prepositional phrase closer to what it
should modify
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
103. 2. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address
while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg
on the back of an envelope.
Revision: One Option
Move 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.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
104. 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.
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
105. 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]
Identifying Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
106. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
3. Patterns of Error
http://www.fantom-xp.com/wp_23_~_Markers.html
Module 5 Key Markers
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
107. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
108. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
109. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
110. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
111. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
112. 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 Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
113. 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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
114. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
115. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
116. 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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
117. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
118. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
119. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
Describes characters’ actions:
He stepped through the doorway with a knife in one hand. She stared
at him.
Describes how a character looks:
Because he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck.
He didn’t look at her.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
120. Evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the sentence fragments:
Describes characters’ actions:
He stepped through the doorway with a knife in one hand. She stared
at him.
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
121. One possible evaluation:
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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
122. 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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
123. 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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
124. 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.
Identifying Sentence Fragments
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
125. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
4. Style and Rhetorical Choice
http://www.fantom-xp.com/wp_23_~_Markers.html
Module 5 Key Markers
126. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
4. Style and Rhetorical Choice
http://www.fantom-xp.com/wp_23_~_Markers.html
Module 5 Key Markers
Rhetorical Use of the Passive
Passive Marker
• BE + [-en]
127. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
128. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
129. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
130. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
131. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
132. 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 Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
133. Potential passive constructions:
1. was formed
2. was concerned
3. was too ill-equipped
4. were convinced
5. was given
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
134. 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.
--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD
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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
135. 2. was concerned
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.
--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD
MVP + ADJP
Not a passive transformation, as concerned passes functional ADJ
tests.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
136. 3. was ill-equipped
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.
--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD
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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
137. 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.”
--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD
Passive Transformation
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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
138. 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.
--Excerpt from A Short History of the NCD
Passive Transformation
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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
139. 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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
140. 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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
141. One possible evaluation:
(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.
Identifying Rhetorical Use of the Passive
ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Key Markers
142. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
Module 5 Schedule
Module Five – Sentences
12 M Nov 10 Module 5 Overview; Analyzing
in Context/Markers and Keys
for Module 5
READ Section 7
COMPLETE Quiz 9; Quiz
10 by Nov 14
COMPLETE OLE 7; OLE 8
by Nov 14
COMPLETE Discussion
Posts by Nov 14
Online Work Proficiencies Available Nov 12
Send Samples to Dr.
Nagelhout by Nov 14
13 M Nov 17 In-Class Presentations; In-
Class Practice
Online Work Complete Proficiencies
Thanksgiving 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
143. ENG 411B
Principles of Modern Grammar
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