Thanks, Johanna, for this explanation. It is really helpful. The examples really help clarify, and I love the idea of using visualization with students. I'm certainly going to try it. 
Thanks for taking the time to explain this.
Carol 

> ----------
> From:         Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Johanna Rubba
> Reply To:     Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> Sent:         Saturday, February 5, 2005 1:20 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Past participle as Adjective or Verb
> 
> Carol,
> 
> The ambiguity of sentences like "The curtains were closed" is 
> well-known. The subject-complement reading is stative: the curtains are 
> in a closed state. The act of closing them took place at an unspecified 
> time prior to the arrival of the person viewing the scene. This sense 
> evokes a static picture in one's mind; there is no movement of the 
> curtains, no change from an open to a closed position. The listener or 
> reader doesn't even necessarily think about the closing action.
> 
> The passive versions are processual: they evoke a picture (maybe even a 
> movie) of the whole action, from start to finish.
> 
> Note that passive sentences rarely occur in real texts with a "by" 
> phrase identifying the agent of the action. The context sorts out which 
> reading is most plausible. Consider:
> 
> Thanks to high-powered explosives, the huge building was demolished 
> within seconds. (underwent the process of demolition from start to finish)
> 
> I didn't walk fast enough; by the time I got there, the building was 
> already totally demolished. (was in the resulting state of demolition)
> 
> With verbs like "admire", which are not particulary dynamic, it can be 
> really hard to decide which reading is most plausible, and in most 
> cases, it probably doesn't matter.
> 
> But maybe using verbs of dynamic action will help. Another good example 
> is "surround". Compare:
> 
> 1. The castle was surrounded by a moat.
> 2. The castle was rapidly surrounded by the enemy hoard.
> 
> The "moat" of #1 is clearly not an agent in any sense, and the scene is 
> static. In #2, there is clearly action; we visualize the army starting 
> their maneuver and follow the action through to its conclusion.
> 
> Using adverbials can really help the students see the difference between 
> the readings: words like "gradually", "rapidly", "suddenly" -- which 
> signal a change over time -- aid the passive reading, while time-point 
> adverbials like "by the time I ..." or "already" aid the stative reading.
> 
> The example sentence "When I arrived, the curtains were always closed by 
> the attendant on duty" does not sound right to me. It seems a more 
> accurate expression would be "When I arrived, the curtains would always 
> be closed by the attendant". Using paraphrase ("in a closed state") and 
> visualization can help a great deal. I use this with my college 
> students. For example, in explaining the difference between a present 
> and past participle, I ask them merely to form an image in response to a 
> phrase that I say, e.g.:
> 
> 1. A falling tree   vs.
> 2. A fallen tree
> 
> After saying #1 and before saying #2, I ask them what they saw with 
> their mind's eye: Was the tree moving? Did they see it hit the ground? 
> Did they see it start to fall? Did they see it lying on the ground after 
> the fall? Most students answer yes, no, no, no.
> 
> For #2, I ask the same questions, but the answers are then no, no, no, yes.
> 
> Students already know the subtle meaning differences between verb forms, 
> but the knowledge is subconscious. You have to use tricks like 
> paraphrase and visualization to bring the knowledge to consciousness. 
> Then they can apply the terminology to it.
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Johanna Rubba   Associate 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.  756-2596
> *>  E-mail: [log in to unmask] > *>       Home page: 
> http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
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