Ed,
I think one of the reasons FANBOY connectives often start sentences is
that conjunctions like "but" and "so" don't always simply connect two
clauses, but often signal a shift in meaning that can follow several
sentences and/or begin many more.
"She was always friendly. She always smiled. No one could fault her
everyday politeness. But something about her seemed cold." The "but in
a sequence like that marks a shift in thinking rather than a connection
to the previous clause.
This is not just a hypothetical example. It happens very, very often in
the best writing.
Students come to college thinking they know a few things about grammar,
and one of them is that "You shouldn't start a sentence with...." and
that list includes "and", "but", "because", sometimes suprising things
like "I." I don't see any reason for the rule. I would go even
further--it is a foolish rule and foolish advice.
I don't believe a single finite clause that starts with "for" is a
fragment in traditional grammar. A single clause that starts with
"because" would be. The details would differ, but Zwicky's overall
point, that the two are not the same, is backed up.
Craig
I agree that it's not a problem for Zwicky's description (which,
> thanks to Herb, I now have a clearer picture of), but sentences---
> indeed, paragraphs---beginning with FANBOYS connectives are quite a
> problem for a great many English teachers, even though as Craig
> pointed out earlier, college handbooks have never banned the
> practice. Warriner neither approved nor disapproved, but a recent
> Warriner clone warns against the practice in "formal writing."
>
> Ed
>
> On May 14, 2009, at 9:18 PM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote:
>
>> I don't think a for-initial fragment where "for" means "because"
>> would be a problem for Zwicky's description, precisely because it's
>> a fragment and so would be interpretable as being the second of two
>> clauses, the first being ellipted.
>>
>> Herb
>>
>> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
>> Emeritus Professor of English
>> Ball State University
>> Muncie, IN 47306
>> [log in to unmask]
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>> [[log in to unmask]
>> ] On Behalf Of Edgar Schuster [[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: May 14, 2009 2:22 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Equivalent expressions
>>
>> Ah, I suppose Arnold and I are talking about two different things.
>> Let me give an example from Oates of what I am talking about, an
>> example that has many interesting features---fragments especially---
>> besides the initial "for," which starts not only a sentence but also a
>> new paragraph.
>>
>> The "Weidel house," it would be called for years. The Weidel
>> property." As if the very land---which the family had not owned in
>> any case, but only rented, partly with county-welfare support---were
>> somehow imprinted with that name, a man's identity. Or infamy.
>> For tales were told of the father who drank, beat and terrorized
>> his
>> family . . . .
>>
>> Ed
>>
>> On May 14, 2009, at 2:02 PM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote:
>>
>>> Ed,
>>>
>>> I assume you mean the coordinate clause introduced by "for" comes
>>> before the clause that it's coordinate with. I don't have a copy of
>>> Oates and Atwan. You might send these examples to Arnold. He would
>>> find them interesting.
>>>
>>> Herb
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>> ] On Behalf Of Edgar Schuster
>>> Sent: 2009-05-14 12:42
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Equivalent expressions
>>>
>>> Herb,
>>> I read the Zwicky article, and thanks for it, but I am puzzled by
>>> his
>>> stance that "for" cannot be used sentence initially. (I hope I
>>> haven't misunderstood what he is saying.) Joyce Carol Oates uses
>>> "for" initially six times in her 1995 essay, "They All Just Went
>>> Away." Susan Sontag uses the same word initially five times in her
>>> "Notes on 'Camp'."
>>> And this is not a new phenomenon. In "The Handicapped" (1911)
>>> "for"
>>> is used by Randolph Bourne in sentence initial position 16 times, I
>>> believe. It's also used, though much more rarely, by several other
>>> writers.
>>> (All these essays may be found in "The Best American Essays of the
>>> Century" by Oates and Atwan.)
>>>
>>> Ed S
>>>
>>> On May 14, 2009, at 11:58 AM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote:
>>>
>>>> English has a lot of equivalent expressions that attract the
>>>> attention of writing teachers and grammarians. Consider because/
>>>> for, however/but, which/that, much/a lot, and others you can
>>>> probably come up with yourself. Here's a link
>>>> (http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/forbecause/
>>>> ) to an extraordinarily lucid and insightful posting on the topic by
>>>> that extraordinarily lucid and insightful grammarian Arnold Zwicky.
>>>> Follow the internal links, and you'll see a subtle, perceptive, and
>>>> witty mind at work.
>>>>
>>>> Enjoy!
>>>>
>>>> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
>>>> Emeritus Professor of English
>>>> Ball State University
>>>> Muncie, IN 47306
>>>> [log in to unmask]
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