ATEG Members,

 

I wonder what a construction like “as it were” is in the following sentence:

 

                     He knows a good deal about grammar. It is something, as it were, that many strive for.

 

The construction seems to be inflected for the plural with “were” that doesn’t agree with the singular subject. Does the subjunctive have anything to do with the construction?

 

I’d appreciate any help.

 

Marshall

 

 

Diane,
   Point well made. I think critical theory has given us ways to challenge the canon, but not ways to establish texts as valuable. If someone considers biblical texts sacred, they don't get there from a critical theory perspective.
   From a cognitive or functional perspective, the formation of sentences (constructions of various kinds) is itself highly meaningful. Calling a sentence "grammatical" is not highly useful in discourse analysis. Any statement is a construal of experience. Syntax is not neutral. To say it a different way is to say something different.
   I say all this in part because this is a grammar list. Grammar is not highly valued by progressive educators, which is why NCTE is in opposition to the direct teaching of grammar in the schools. The opposition comes in part because grammar is very narrowly defined. The conversation rarely happens because the two worlds are so far apart.

Craig

diane skinner wrote:

Craig,

The scriptures were sacred texts for Augustine. Yet your use of the

words "for his time" and " we also no longer" excludes those who still

consider the Scriptures to be sacred texts.

Nonetheless, I concur that much of critical theory seems to privilege

a sign's relationship to a range of other signs to determine the value

of that single sign over the study of the rules for the formation of

grammatical sentences in a language.

Diane

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 7:19 AM, Craig Hancock <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Diane,

 For Augustine and for his time, the scriptures were sacred texts. We also

no longer know how to value one text over another. It should be pointed out,

too, that this critical theory tradition seems to have pulled us further

away from syntax. For all the interest in theories about language, there

seems to be little interest in the forms it takes.

Craig

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