Johanna,

Thanks so much for all of the references, esp. the ones on discourse
analysis and linguistics. I agree that it is a gold mine for linking
grammar and rhetoric.

Sarah Wilson




At 03:52 PM 12/02/1999 -0800, you wrote:
>The field of discourse analysis is an excellent source on grammar and
>rhetorical structure. It may be hard to read because it is written for
>linguists, but it's very worth one's while to dig into it.
>
>Here are a few things to look for:
>
>Cumming, Susanna, and Tsuyoshi Ono. 1997. Discourse and grammar. In van
>Dijk, Teun A., _Discourse as structure and process_. Sage publications,
>Thousand Oaks, CA. This is a short reading with many recommended
>readings, including:
>
>Ono, Toshiyushi and Sandra Thompson. 1996. 'What can conversation tell
>us about syntax?' ub O. Davis, ed.,  _Descriptive and theoretical modes
>in the new linguistics_. Amsterdam: Benjamins
>
>Ochs, Elinor, E. Schegloff and S. Thompson. 1996 _Grammar and
>interaction_. Cambridge U Press.
>
>See also work by Knud Lambrecht, for example:1994. _Information
>structure and sentence form. Topic, focus, and the mental
>representations of discourse referents. Cambridge U. Press.
>
>Most of these deal with spoken language, but many of the principles
>carry over to written texts. Work by Talmy Givon is also useful, esp.
>certain chapters of his 'Syntax: a functional/typological introduction'
>(Benjamins, I think).
>
>Discourse analysis is a large field that I am only now scratching the
>surface of. But I believe discourse (that is, sentences connected into
>texts) is where the true insights about grammar lie. In other words, I
>don't think we can really understand grammar unless we study what it is
>used for, i.e. to organize information in texts. The traditional focus
>on the sentence is insufficient.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics
>English Department, California Polytechnic State University
>One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
>Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-259
>• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •  Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
>                                       **
>"Understanding is a lot like sex; it's got a practical purpose,
>but that's not why people do it normally"  -            Frank  Oppenheimer
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>