>Larry Beason:
>
>    In the interest of flexibility, what is the big deal over
>restrictive and non-restrictive constructions?
>
>    More information would be appreciated on this point.
>
>Sincerely,
>Richard Swerdlin
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Richard, I'm not sure if you saw the earlier post, but I was replying to a
query from someone else about whether or not nonrestrictive clauses might
somehow be linked w/ skilled writers.  I'm not sure it's really a "big
deal," but there indeed might be something to the notion that many skilled
writers use nonrestrictive clauses to PARTIALLY account for their skilled
writing.  If nothing else, a nonrestrictive clause suggests that the writer
is giving additional detail that's not absolutely necessary but nonetheless
useful, or perhaps he/she is giving an additional observation that again is
not crucial but offers an amusing aside or insight.  In many writing
situations, such "gravy" can add a good deal to the meat of the sentence.
 
Larry Beason,Director
English Composition Program
Dept. of English
Eastern Washington University
Cheney WA 99004
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