My initial impression is that the writer simply may not have a strong grasp
on the meaning of "to constitute." He or she may have semantically mixed
the traditional meaning of "to constitute" with a more complex verb such as
"to pass off" + a PP beginning with "as." Perhaps the intended meaning was
something more akin to "Reading a lot illuminates what passes itself off as
good and bad writing..." It's just a theory, but my students often produce
these types of unintended semantic mash-ups. I'm sure there are a number of
other possible explanations though.

John

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 9:16 AM, Martha Galphin
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

>  Why would one write "what constitutes as" as opposed to simpler and in
> my opinion the correct "constitutes"?
> "Constitutes" is a transitive verb not an intransitive verb. Example
> sentence where the incorrect use was found follows:  "Reading a lot
> illuminates what constitutes as good and bad writing. . . ." Why not
> Reading a lot illuminates what constitutes good and bad writing."
>
> I'd really appreciate a direct answer responding to "constitutes as" vs.
> "constitutes"
> for use in class today.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Martha Galphin
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