This is a delightful example. Thanks for forwarding it.
Natalie
From: Assembly for the
Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dick
Veit
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sequencing information in sentences
On occasion we have discussed a
speaker's grammatical options for shaping sentences (by choosing active or
passive voice, using extraposition, etc.) so as to get useful information to
listeners in an appropriate sequence. A letter to the editor in my local paper
today demonstrates how a writer can make some really bad decisions. Here is his
opening sentence:
I was dismayed to see President
Obama's plans
to simultaneously rebuild America's struggling
economy and find solutions to global warming--
through the introduction of clean, renewable energy
and a cap-and-trade system--come under attack
recently.
Talk about waiting until the very end of a long sentence to
insert crucial information that completely alters its meaning! Seems like an
instructive example to use in a writing class.
Dick Veit
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