Unit4 Sentence Base
Objectives:
At the end of this unit, the students should be able to
l Know how to choose an appropriate subject and where to put it;
l Use voices effectively;
l Use tenses and moods correctly; and
l Write extended notices.
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
|
PART II Focus |
|
PART III writing |
|
Subject |
|
Position of the subject |
|
Voice |
Part I Warm-up Activities
Form pairs and each writes a brief comment on a topic. Student A looks at File 1 and student B at File 2 for specific information.
|
FILE 1 Write a short comment on examinations from a student’s perspective. Are you for or against them as a means of evaluation? Is there a better way to evaluate students, achievements? |
FILE 2 Write a short comment on examinations from the perspective of a teacher. Are you for or against them as a means to evaluate students’ abilities? Is there a better way? |
PART II FOCUS
The sentence base, which is like the trunk of a tree, consists of at least one subject and one verb. The subject names something or somebody and the verb makes an assertion about the subject. To construct a good base is of primary importance in sentence writing.
Subject
Every sentence contains a subject, expressed or implied. The subject is usually a noun or a pronoun, though it may also be a phrase or a clause. To choose a good subject is the first crucial step in sentence writing. As for the feathers of a good subject, read the two sentences below and decide which is better:
The catching of fish provides enjoyment for polar bears.
Polar bears like to catch fish.
You will no doubt see that the second sentence is better because it is shorter and clearer. In fact, a human, or animate, specific noun or pronoun makes a much better subject than nominalization(the act of converting verbs into nouns by adding suffixes like –ing, -tion, -ity, -ment, -ness). A human, or animate, specific subject makes the idea clear and easy to follow whereas nominalization may make the sentence inflated and affected, and cause confusion.
The incidence of moonlighting in academia is high.
Many teachers moonlight.
His appearance indicated tiredness.
He looked tired.
Buying the wine was his responsibility.
He had to buy wine.
To most readers, the second sentence in each pair is clear, concise, and effective, while the first is unnecessarily wordy, weak and abstract. These pairs illustrate a rule of thumb about how to construct sentence bases: when you write, focus on human, animate and concrete nouns and pronouns as subjects and watch out for nominalization. In doing so, you can avoid writing inflated and abstract sentences.
Classroom Activities
1. Work in pairs to identify the subject in each of the following sentences and revise those whose meaning is unclear.
1) Freedom is an elusive term, because each of us defines it differently.
2) A reluctance to work steadily caused her to be unprepared for the presentation on Monday.
3) The horror of the movie made me unable to sleep for three nights.
4) A great deal of learning took place in my chemistry class.
5) The intelligence necessary to understand this concept is possessed by few peole.
6) The embarrassment left me wordless.
Position of the subject
The subject is usually, though not always, put at the beginning of a sentence. The beginning and end of a sentence are its strong points where the writer may put significant words to impress the reader.
Read and compare the following two sentences.
By reputation a dreary experience, but this time proving to be educational and even mildly enjoyable, language training came to an end.
Language training, by reputation a dreary experience, finally came to an end; in all, it proved to be educational and even mildly enjoyable.
Which is easier to understand? Why?
Normally readers appreciate knowing the subject early in the sentence because it reflects the process of comprehension. Besides, readers pay particular attention to the first and last parts of a sentence, where important information is usually available. If the subject does not occupy either of the two positions, it may be neglected and, more seriously, slow down comprehension as the first sentence shows.
The subject of a declarative sentence- — a sentence that makes a statement — usually precedes the verb. But in one situation, it follows the verb. Look at the following sentence.
In the center of the painting stands a lady in white.
Now compare it with another sentence.
A lady in white stands in the center of the painting.
The inversion of the subject-verb arrangement gives prominence to the subject as it violates the common order on purpose, thus capturing more attention from the reader.
Classroom activities
1. In each of the sentences below, the subject has been delayed for too long. Restore it to an earlier position.
1) Making chemistry his sole activity and participation in no extracurricular activities, Rod missed the fun of college.
2) Adding spice to their sauces and providing color as well, cayenne is used freely by Mexican cooks.
3) Barking up the wrong tree and defending an enormous territory not his own, the neighborhood was terrorized by the dog.
4) Paging through the classified ads and making large circles here and there, apartment hunting was begun by Patty.
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
1)
2)
3）
4）
2. Posts like to employ inversion in their poems so as to achieve some special effect. Read the following excerpts and underline the inverted sentences. Study them closely with your partner and find out why they are inverted and what are the emphatic parts .
Like a bird that seeketh its mother’s nest;
And a mother she was, and is, to me…
— Brian Waller Procter, “The Sea”
Down in a green and shady bed
A modest violet grew;
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,
As if to hide from view,
— James Taylor, “ The Violet”
A treacherous fellow is the Shark.
He never makes the least remark.
— Alfred Douglas, “ The Shark”
Voice
The voice of a verb depends on the relation between the verb and its subject. When the subject acts, the verb is in the active voice; when the subject is in the passive voice.
Choosing the active voice
The active voice stresses the activity of the subject and helps to make a sentence direct, concise, and vigorous. Compare these sentences:
Through her studies of child rearing, personality, and culture, world fame was achieved by Margaret Mead.
Through her studies of child rearing, personality, and culture, Margaret Mead achieved world fame.
The active voice removes the excessive words-was and by, thus, making the sentence more concise. Also, because it makes Margaret Mead the subject, the active voice puts more stress on her achievement.
Classroom activities
Change the voice of the verbs in the following sentences and try to compare the effects.
1) The huge iceberg was rammed into the luxury liner.
2) A good race was run by the Ferrari.
3) Some objects of arts were discovered by the amateur archaeologist.
4) Before my world record was set, I was a great fan of The Guinness Book of World Records and read each new edition from cover to cover.
5) For a while I had been secretly desired to be in that book myself-to get others astonished just as I had been astonished.
6) Classics like Middlemarch will always be appreciated by readers.
7) The question “who ever reads an American book?” was asked by an English critic in the nineteenth century.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Choosing the passive voice
Though the active voice is more commonly used in writing, the passive voice may be more suitable for the following cases.
When the agent is either unknown or unimportant, we use the passive voice. For example:
The book about motorcycles was misplaced among books about cosmetics.
In 1850, no trade of the glacier was found.
When the agent is followed by a long modifier, we use the passive voice to avoid suspension of the verb. For instance:
A mission to help thousands of starving local people was organized by Father Robert I. Charlesbois, a 48-year-old catholic priest fromGary,Indiana, with 12 years of experience working in disaster -stricken areas.
Classroom activities
1. Work in pairs and change the voice of the verb in the sentences if it is ineffective. Rewrite the sentences if necessary.
1) The road had been traveled many times by the salesman, but the old house had never before been noticed by him.
2) A safe trip was had by the tourists because all the dangers were carefully explained by the guide.
3) The nest was flown into directly by the mother bird, which brought a worm to feed its young.
4) Some young people are learning the almost lost art of blacksmithing and shoeing horses.
5) If you can learn how to use a thesaurus, it will be found quite useful.
2. In the following passage the passive voice predominates, and since almost every sentence has a different subject, the writing is not only tedious but unfocused. Work in groups and where you find the passive voice unjustified, change it into the active voice.
At Sunny Acres the campus must honor many traditions, including the custom of singing before an audience whenever they break a rule. If, for example, the dining hall is reached late for supper, the entire camp must be faced by the latecomer and sung to. The latecomer has to stand with his back to the kitchen, and his fellow campers have to be looked at. Then, without the aid of a piano or any other instrument, two stanzas of a camp song must be sung. If any words are omitted, the song must be begun again. (Before the performance, a camp songbook may be checked if he wishes to refresh his memory.) During the singing it is against the rules for other campers to call out or make faces. After the performance, there is applause for the latecomer, and a plate may be filled with a double helping. A good time is had by all, including the culprit.
3. Look at your comments on examinations again and see if the voice of some sentences should be changed so as to add force to your writing.