Beth and other members of the List,
I have finally gotten a copy of One Day in the Life of the English Language by Cioffi which uses real-world language to illustrate both good writing and also the common grammar errors. Because of a similar grading avalanche, I haven't gotten to do much more than read the introduction, but it seems most interesting. Cioffi taught composition for many years and was dismayed that the students who made perfect scores on the work sheets then made the same errors on their papers. He saw the problem was due to the simple and sometimes stilted language of the work sheets, so he set out to create an "un-handbook handbook." He took one day, December 27, 2007, and worked through more than 600 articles, books, blogs, etc.. published that day to create his picture of real-life language. He even has an appendix which includes tips for teaching his book as part of a college class.
I would be interested in seeing other people's responses to this book.
Sherry Saylors
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Beth Young
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 11:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: the moment I read this clause
Thanks, Bill and Karl, for your thoughtful replies. I was buried under an avalanche of grading after sending my original plea and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I wound up explaining these as special noun phrases that require complementation and my students seemed satisfied with that.
Students regularly bring to class examples of real-life language that doesn't quite fit the categories we are studying. It's pretty amazing to witness how nuanced and complex our perfectly normal phrasing can be, and it's one of the fun parts of teaching grammar. Maybe next time I teach this class face-to-face (rather than online), I'll bring a copy of CGEL with me and plunk it on the desk next to our textbook, to give them an idea of how much there is to talk about.
Beth
________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Spruiell, William C [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 10:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: the moment I read this clause
Could you consider these as being content clauses acting as a complement to a noun? CGEL lists moment (and day) in the subsection on words that can head temporal noun phrases but that require complementation (p. 698).
This type seems to be in contrast to ones in which the "moment" is being discussed as a moment, like in this example from COCA:
In Greek theater, the epiphany is the moment when a god appears to impose order on the scene
The ones that are when-able look more relative-y.
- Bill Spruiell
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Beth Young <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 9:23 PM
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: the moment I read this clause
Wait a minute, maybe I'm looking at it backwards. Maybe "the moment" is the adverbial noun phrase that modifies "read"?
The moment I read this clause, I began to wonder.
Which would make "The moment I read this clause" an adverbial clause in which "the moment" is also adverbial (and can be replaced with "when") When I read this clause, I began to wonder.
However, if "the moment" is itself adverbial, it ought to be able to move around in its clause, and I don't think it can:
*I read this clause the moment, I began to wonder.
OK, back to the drawing board **sigh**
Dr. Beth Rapp Young
Associate Professor, English
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
University of Central Florida
"Reach for the Stars"
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] on behalf of Beth Young [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 9:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: the moment I read this clause
I'm trying to figure out how to explain noun phrases like, "the moment I read this clause."
The moment I read this clause, I began to wonder.
It's an adverbial NP, but what kind of clause follows "moment"?
You can say "the moment that I read this clause" but not *"the moment which I read this clause." A relative pronoun plays a role in its clause, but there's no slot for a pronoun here. So, not a relative clause.
On the other hand, if the clause is a nominal appositive, we should be able to swap it with the noun phrase it renames, right? But you can't do that here:
*I read this clause the moment, I began to wonder.
Maybe the elided word is "when"?
??The moment when I read this clause, I began to wonder.
Which would make it a relative clause that begins with an elided "when"? That doesn't sound especially grammatical to me, but maybe I've been thinking so much about it that I've got some semantic satiation going on.
My students are asking me about this kind of construction (another example: "The day I saw you, I fell in love") and I'm wondering how to describe it. I'll check CGEL too but thought maybe someone on the list has already developed a student-friendly explanation.
Thanks,
Beth
Dr. Beth Rapp Young
Associate Professor, English
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
University of Central Florida
"Reach for the Stars"
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