Johanna,
     I don't know about others, but I found these explanations 
particularly helpful.  I think I'll steal some of it for class (in the 
best traditions of ATEG.)  Thanks for taking the time.

Johanna Rubba wrote:

> Carol,
>
> The ambiguity of sentences like "The curtains were closed" is 
> well-known. The subject-complement reading is stative: the curtains 
> are in a closed state. The act of closing them took place at an 
> unspecified time prior to the arrival of the person viewing the scene. 
> This sense evokes a static picture in one's mind; there is no movement 
> of the curtains, no change from an open to a closed position. The 
> listener or reader doesn't even necessarily think about the closing 
> action.
>
> The passive versions are processual: they evoke a picture (maybe even 
> a movie) of the whole action, from start to finish.
>
> Note that passive sentences rarely occur in real texts with a "by" 
> phrase identifying the agent of the action. The context sorts out 
> which reading is most plausible. Consider:
>
> Thanks to high-powered explosives, the huge building was demolished 
> within seconds. (underwent the process of demolition from start to 
> finish)
>
> I didn't walk fast enough; by the time I got there, the building was 
> already totally demolished. (was in the resulting state of demolition)
>
> With verbs like "admire", which are not particulary dynamic, it can be 
> really hard to decide which reading is most plausible, and in most 
> cases, it probably doesn't matter.
>
> But maybe using verbs of dynamic action will help. Another good 
> example is "surround". Compare:
>
> 1. The castle was surrounded by a moat.
> 2. The castle was rapidly surrounded by the enemy hoard.
>
> The "moat" of #1 is clearly not an agent in any sense, and the scene 
> is static. In #2, there is clearly action; we visualize the army 
> starting their maneuver and follow the action through to its conclusion.
>
> Using adverbials can really help the students see the difference 
> between the readings: words like "gradually", "rapidly", "suddenly" -- 
> which signal a change over time -- aid the passive reading, while 
> time-point adverbials like "by the time I ..." or "already" aid the 
> stative reading.
>
> The example sentence "When I arrived, the curtains were always closed 
> by the attendant on duty" does not sound right to me. It seems a more 
> accurate expression would be "When I arrived, the curtains would 
> always be closed by the attendant". Using paraphrase ("in a closed 
> state") and visualization can help a great deal. I use this with my 
> college students. For example, in explaining the difference between a 
> present and past participle, I ask them merely to form an image in 
> response to a phrase that I say, e.g.:
>
> 1. A falling tree   vs.
> 2. A fallen tree
>
> After saying #1 and before saying #2, I ask them what they saw with 
> their mind's eye: Was the tree moving? Did they see it hit the ground? 
> Did they see it start to fall? Did they see it lying on the ground 
> after the fall? Most students answer yes, no, no, no.
>
> For #2, I ask the same questions, but the answers are then no, no, no, 
> yes.
>
> Students already know the subtle meaning differences between verb 
> forms, but the knowledge is subconscious. You have to use tricks like 
> paraphrase and visualization to bring the knowledge to consciousness. 
> Then they can apply the terminology to it.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Johanna Rubba   Associate Professor, Linguistics
> English Department, California Polytechnic State University
> One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
> Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-2596
> • E-mail: [log in to unmask] •      Home page: 
> http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web 
> interface at:
>     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/