I believe that the adverbial placement of "Poe claimed" is called a parenthetical expression in traditional grammar. Many other parenthetical expressions also relate to the sentence as sentence adverbs.
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: question on the role of a clause
>
Scott,
This one is more straightforward than the other question, though also
very interesting. If "Poe" is subject and "claimed" is the main verb,
then the direct object would be the whole clause "Inspiration or chance
played no part in the poem's composition." This kind of direct object is
sometimes called a "projected clause", very common for verbal process
verbs.
Your other choice is to think of "Poe claimed" as a kind of sentence
modifier, parallel to "Inspiration or chance, according to Poe, played
no part in the poem's composition."
By putting "Inspiration or chance" first, the writer is certainly
giving it more prominence. Functional grammar would call it thematic
emphasis. That would explain why "Poe claimed", coming between commas
like an unessential modifier, seems more like an afterthought, even
though it can make claim to be subject.
In other words, the message structure of the sentence adds a meaning a
bit at odds with the constituent structure. It gives "Poe claimed" a
sort of in-between feel.
This is easier to understand if you recognize different systems at play.
Craig
List,
>
> In the following sentence, would you say that <Poe> is the subject and
> <Inspiration or chance played no part in the poem's composition> is the
> noun clause object of the claim? Is <Poe claimed> adverbial in nature?
>
> <Inspiration or chance, Poe claimed, played no part in the poem's
> compositon.>
>
>
>
>
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