The only quarrel that I have with what Martha has said is the statement that
the absolutes are used exclusively in writing. I have in fact heard them on
local weather reports! Maybe Seattle has such elegant weather that it must
be described in this elegant structure! (I can hardly wait to hear that
elegant is not the judgment that should be made!)And I have heard them once
in a while on NPR--there in more narrative context giving details. The
weatherman used it in the cause way.
Edith Wollin

-----Original Message-----
From: Martha Kolln [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 5:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: More on Absolutes


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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