I think I've heard absolutes in oral narrative at folk art festivals or
heritage festivals such as--near us here in Daytona Beach--Pioneer
Days.  So, in more formal speaking or in speech designed to create
suspense, one might find absolutes, I'd suspect.

==Reinhold

Martha Kolln wrote:
>
> I'd like to add a few more details to the recent discussion of absolute
> phrases.
> First, absolutes are one of the few grammatical structures that are used
> exclusively in writing, rather than speaking.  (There are others: The
> opening participial phrase, for example, is rarely used in speech.)  So I
> think that Fr. Laurence's observation that students who use absolutes are
> the good readers certainly makes sense.
>
> Absolutes are essentially noun phrases consisting of a noun headword with a
> postnoun modifier (which can also be compounded).  That modifier, while
> commonly a partiple or participial phrase, can take other forms:  adjective
> phrase, prepositional phrase, noun phrase.
>
> Here are some examples:
>
> Participle:  Julie tried to fit the key into the rusty lock, her hands
> trembling.
>
> Adjective phrase:  The old hound stood guard faithfully, his ears alert to
> every passing footstep.
>
> Prepositional phrase:  Hands above his head, the suspect advanced
> cautiously toward the uniformed offices.
>
> Noun phrase:  Her hair a dripping mess, she dashed in out of the rain.
>
> The absolute phrase introduces an idea related to the sentence as a whole,
> not to any one of its parts; hence, it is considered a sentence modifier.
>
> Absolutes are of two kinds, with different purposes and different effects.
> The preceding examples add a detail or point of focus to the idea stated in
> the main clause.  They move the reader in for a close-up view, just as a
> filmmaker uses the camera.
>
> In all of these examples, you'll notice that only a finite form of BE (is
> or was or were) stands between the absolute and a complete sentence.  In
> the deep structure, the postnoun modifier would be either the main verb (in
> the case of the participle as modifier) or a subject complement.
>
> The second kind of absolute, one that has commonly been cited in
> traditional grammar books (and,in my estimate, sounds quite stilted and
> formal), explains a cause or condition:
>
> Our car having developed engine trouble, we stopped for the night at a
> roadside rest area.
>
> The weather being warm and clear, we decided to have a picnic.
>
> In May of 1950, Francis Christensen published an article on the absolute
> phrase in both College English and The English Journal.  It was included in
> his book NOTES TOWARD A NEW RHETORIC: SIX ESSAYS FOR TEACHERS, published in
> 1967 by Harper and Row.
>
> I recommend that every teacher of writing read Christensen's article.  If
> you find the book in your library (I'm assuming it's out of print), you'll
> also find, in addition to the Absolute article, a wonderful discussion of
> restrictive/nonrestrictive modifiers (first published in College English in
> October 1957) in a chapter called Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Modifiers
> Again.
>
> I believe that high school writers will profit from learning about the
> absolute, and they will certainly see examples of it in the literature
> they're reading.  I suspect they'll feel powerful, knowing how to use
> absolutes and understanding their effect in their own descriptive prose.
>
> This is what grammar teaching is all about!
>
> Martha Kolln
>
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