Natalie,
One strategy I've used with *some* good results involves having students
simplify what they're looking at so that they don't have to think about
as much material at once. For example, if they've spotted a restrictive
relative, they use some kind of small placeholder symbol and just
substitute it in, attaching it to the noun it modifies. I'll use "#":
James Bunley, a Washington attorney#, says the complexity of Next-Gen is
one of the reasons#.
Similarly, for noun clauses, they can try switching in a placeholder and
expanding it on a separate line (I ask them to go through and do the
"something test" first; the Xes and Ys just stand for different
somethings):
Bjorn said that Brunnhild was asking where her alpenhorn was. -->
Bjorn said X
X = Brunnhild was asking Y
Y = where her alpenhorn was.
Sincerely,
Bill Spruiell
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Natalie Gerber
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: question on a relative clause
Beth and Dick,
Thanks very much. That is what I meant to say. The entire noun phrase,
including the restrictive relative clause, is an appositive.
I wanted to double check because this example just about sent my
college-level grammar class reeling today. If anyone has helpful cues or
resources for simplifying relative clauses and their appearance within
appositives for students (I've been using Longman, Graeme Kennedy, and
OWL, along with examples from newspapers such as this one), please let
me know.
Natalie
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Beth Young
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: question on a relative clause
That's pretty much what I would say, except that I'd call the whole
thing [a Washington attorney who served as the last
Transportation secretary in the Reagan administration in 1987-89] an
appositive and say that the appositive had a restrictive relative clause
embedded in it.
i.e., this particular appositive = determiner + noun + NOUN HEADWORD +
relative clause.
Maybe that's what you were saying,
Beth
Dr. Beth Rapp Young
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~byoung
University of Central Florida
Reach for the Stars
>>> Natalie Gerber <[log in to unmask]> 4/23/2009 2:06 PM >>>
Dear all,
May I ask for your help parsing the relative clause in the following
example?
James Bunley, a Washington attorney who served as the last
Transportation secretary in the Reagan administration in 1987089, says
the complexity of Next-Gen is one of the reasons the new system hasn't
gained funding.
I analyze this example as a restrictive relative clause specifying which
Washington attorney; i.e., a restrictive relative clause modifying an
appositive, which itself is a nonrestrictive element modifying the
proper noun James Bunley. Is this correct?
Thanks very much,
Natalie
____________________
Natalie Gerber, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
SUNY Fredonia
ph. (716) 673-3855
fax (716) 673-4661
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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