Bruce,
You and I have been on different sides of this discusision before
(generally repsectfully, I might add) so it's interesting to see you
question your own position.
From a functional perspective (I won't say functional grammar, since
that's a loaded term for many people), you can look at syntax as a way
to carry out certain purposes. If in fact we want to express the
passive (or focus a statement on the receiver of the action rather than
the doer of the deed), the language offers us this option or
opportunity. If what's important is the current state of the building
(demolished), then the language allows that as well. Syntax doesn't
become unimportant at all--on the contrary. To be an effective writer,
you need to work in harmony with that syntax, consciously or
unconsciously, and to work with developing writers, it certainly helps
to have ways to bning these decisions into focus.
If grammar is simply correcting syntax apart from its context, then
we will continue to see a great deal of tension between writing teachers
and grammarians. If grammar allows us to focus on nuances of meaning,
or on the way sentences worj in harmony with other sentences and in
harmony with the writer's evolving sense of purpose, then the tension
dissolves.
Ambiguity is also inherently a part of language, and we can intend
one thing and "say" another, quite easily.
I thought about this discussion in my writing class today and wished
they had the background to bring it fully into view. A student picked
out this sentence from an essay by Scott Sanders on "the inheritance of
tools": When the bubble is lined up between two marks etched in the
glass tube of a level, you have aligned yourself with the forces that
hold the universe together. Is the verb in the "when" clause passive?
By itself, I would say no, but the active nature of the main clause
(you have aligned yourself...) makes it retroactively active. It is
something that you have done, not just something that happened to the
bubble. To me, the writing is brilliant precisely because these
syntactic decisions work in harmony with each other. He goes back and
forth between stative (the joints are square and the members upright) to
dynamic and active (When you miter the corners of a picture frame.) If
there is a value in corners being square, then there is also a value in
taking the patient care required to accomplish this.
Perhaps syntax has a reality outside of context; I'm rather tired
of the argument. Most important, I think, is a recognition that
syntactic adjustments adjust nuances of meaning, and in the hands of a
careful writer, they are made within context. Looked at this way,
grammar is deeply compatible with meaning centered approaches to
writing. And it deserves far more attention within the curriculum.
Craig
Bruce Despain wrote:
> Johanna, Craig, Carol, et al.,
>
> Of interest to me in this discussion is how the syntax has taken a
> back seat in explaining our interpretation of the past participle in
> English. We must indeed take the context into consideration. So, in
> this case, is seems clear enough that we can be distracted, if not
> misled, by looking at the syntax. Maybe we should be more careful in
> making general, too sweeping statements about how learning syntax will
> help our students write better. The anecdotal evidence seems to come
> down on both sides.
>
> Bruce
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 2/7/2005 6:50:09 AM >>>
> 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
> <http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/%7Ejrubba>
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
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> >
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