Gretchen Lee wrote:

> Hi,
>  
> Our curriculum committee just presented us with a draft of the 
> language arts standards for our private school.  Here are my seventh 
> grade grammar standards:
>  
> 1. Place modifiers properly and use the active voice.
> 2. Identify and use infinitives and participles and make clear 
> references between pronouns and antecedents.
> 3.  Identify all parts of speech and types and structure of sentences.
> 4. Demonstrate the mechanics of writing (e.g., quotation marks, commas 
> at the end of dependent clauses) and appropriate English usage (e.g. 
> pronoun reference).
>  
> Anyone have any comments on these?
>  
> Thanks,
> Gretchen
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Gretchen,

I would be careful of outlawing the passive voice. It has legitimate 
uses in writing, and to say it is always wrong and should never be used 
is just not true. Notice the passive voice in the preceding sentence?

Marshall

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