Martha,
Thanks for the absolute summary.  I have a question about what I think is an
absolute.  This semester, many of my students are writing sentences that begin
with "The idea being that...”  I don’t remember seeing so many of these errors in
the past, and while listening to the news the other day, the light went on.  The
anchors on CNN news say, "The idea being that....”  My guess is that my students
hear this as a sentence and the anchors are saying it as an absolute.  What do you
think?   Thanks – Pam Dykstra

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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