Hi Richard,
Your advice here reminded me of Ed Vavra's KISS method, which I first
came across on this list many years ago. I believe that Dr Vavra used to
participate here.
I looked up the structure Janet proposed on Vavra's site and found this
- See example 7 on the page below
http://www.kissgrammar.org/kiss/wb/G04/Apr/D15/Bluebeard_L4_Gerundives_Punct_AK.html
There is no easy way to explain this, however, I believe that students
who were accustomed to looking at text the way you and Vavra propose
would have no problem spotting and correcting this error.
For Janet, maybe the easiest fix is to suggest that students follow the
standard truncated APA form for this type of citation,
"According to Wegman (2014), people can be put behind bars .... "
Of course, they will not like this if they are also counting words.
Mark
On Tue, Mar 10, 2015, at 05:35 AM, Prof. Richard Grant WAU wrote:
> Hi Janet,
>
> If the construction in your example sentence isn’t ringing any ‘form’
> bells in your students’ ears, perhaps you could try presenting some
> alternative patterns for your students to use as models.
>
> Examples:
>
>
> **According to*** [author’s] [type of source] [name of source], [main
> idea.]***
>
> According to Jesse Wegman’s article, “The Injustice of Marijuana
> Arrests,” people can be put behind bars for smoking marijuana.
>
>
> **According to*** [name of source,] [type of source] *by*
> [author/writer] [main idea.]*
>
> According to “The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests,” an article by Jesse
> Wegman, people can be put behind bars for smoking marijuana.
>
>
> **[author’s] [type of source,] [name of source] [predicate]*
>
> Jesse Wegman’s article, “The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests,” explains
> people can be put behind bars for smoking marijuana.
>
>
> The third possibility is unlike the first and second because it starts
> with a subject, but its style may be what your students are
> subconsciously attempting to replicate.
>
> In addition to helping students contextualize sources, I’d also be
> working on essentials for writing clearly and more effectively in
> general:
>
> ·I’d teach students to identify a sentence’s subject and predicate
> (subjects can always be replaced with a subject pronoun)
> ·I’d give students a list of common prepositions/phrasal prepositions
> and practice identifying them
> ·I’d teach them the questions that adverbials answer (prepositional
> phrases frequently function adverbially)
> ·I’d work with them to show how prepositional phrases can be moved
> around in the sentence (beginning, middle, end) to highlight
> information
> ·I’d help them understand the subject of a sentence isn’t found in a
> prepositional phrase
>
> Then, their own names and ‘sources,’ I’d let them play with the
> language, coming up with different ways to say the same thing and
> noting how the different arrangements highlight different ideas.
>
> I don’t know what language background(s) your students have, but I
> work with several student populations from a variety of language
> backgrounds and proficiencies: students in ESL, ‘Basic’ English,
> traditional first-year composition courses, and Honors Rhetoric. I’ve
> had very good success with all those groups by raising their
> grammatical awareness and putting it to very practical use in their
> writing.
>
> I hope you are able to find ways to help your students as you’d
> like to.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Richard
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Castilleja, Janet
> *Sent:* Monday, March 09, 2015 7:04 PM *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* New topic
>
> Hello
>
> I am teaching a composition course in which we use sources. Here is a
> common problem that I see constantly:
>
> “According to the article “The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests” by
> Jesse Wegman (2014) explains that people can be put behind bars for
> smoking marijuana.”
>
> I have tried everything I can think of to persuade my students to
> include a subject in a sentence like this, but to no avail. Any
> suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Janet Castilleja
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Linda Di Desidero
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 17, 2015 10:43 AM *To:*
> [log in to unmask] *Subject:* Re: Passive Voice vs. Copular +
> Predicate Adjective
>
> You can register at the website or you can register in person on the
> day of the conference, Linda.
> Keep in touch!
>
>
> Linda
>
> Linda Di Desidero, PhD
> Director, Leadership Communication Skills Center
> Marine Corps University
> Gray Research Center, Room 122
> Quantico, Virginia 22134
> 703-784-4401
>
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 12:59 PM, Linda Comerford
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thanks for the helpful information from both of you who replied to my
> about an Indy conference.
>
> One more question: I’m not a member of CTE. May I still register for
> the conference? The sessions/panels you described sound interesting,
> and I’d enjoy finally meeting some of you in person after years at
> ATEG-listserv-only interactions.
>
> **Linda Comerford Cell: 317.696.4444**
> **Office and Fax: 317.786.6404 [log in to unmask]
> www.comerfordconsulting.com[1]**
>
> *From:* Linda Di Desidero [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *Sent:*
> Monday, February 16, 2015 4:48 PM *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Passive Voice vs. Copular + Predicate Adjective
>
> Hi Linda.
>
> The conference that is in Indianapolis at the end of March is that of
> the College English Association (26-28 March at the Hyatt Regency)
>
> There will be four panels in Grammar/Linguistics at the conference;
> several of these speakers are members of ATEG. (This is a new interest
> group at CEA)
>
> You can preview the program at this link http://www.cea-web.org/
>
> Let me know when you can be there and we'll set up a grammar group for
> dinner (maybe Thursday eve?)
>
> Look forward to meeting you!
>
> Linda Di Desidero
>
>
>
> Linda Di Desidero, PhD
> Director, Leadership Communication Skills Center
> Marine Corps University
> Gray Research Center, Room 122
> Quantico, Virginia 22134
> 703-784-4401
>
> On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 3:19 PM, Linda Comerford
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Changing subjects, am I writing to the correct people about what I
> believe is an upcoming grammar conference in Indianapolis at the end
> of March? I’m interested in both attending it as well as providing
> some guidance about Indy as I live there.
>
>
>
> If anyone knows anything about this and can provide some details, I’d
> appreciate it.
>
>
>
> Linda Comerford Cell: 317.696.4444
>
> Office and Fax: 317.786.6404 [log in to unmask]
> www.comerfordconsulting.com <http://www.comerfordconsulting.com/>
>
>
>
> From: Linda Di Desidero [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent:
> Sunday, February 15, 2015 8:32 AM To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Passive Voice vs. Copular + Predicate Adjective
>
>
>
> Just two more cents toward Herb's suggestion about stativity, as that
> clearly seems to be the key to this question:
>
>
>
> We think of something being closed as an adjective that describes the
> current state or condition of the thing. We do not think of it as
> something that has happened or been done to the thing. Even when we
> talk of something as partially closed, we are referring to the state
> of the object, not to what has been done to the object. For that
> reason, viewing "X is closed" as passive seems odd. Better to view it
> as stative/descriptive.
>
>
>
> On the other hand, if you add an agent, the passive view emerges:
>
>
>
> The window is closed by me every Wednesday at 2 pm.
>
>
>
> In this case, I am not referring to the state of the window so much as
> the action that is carried out on it.
>
>
>
> Linda
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Linda Di Desidero, PhD
>
> Director, Leadership Communication Skills Center
>
> Marine Corps University
>
> Gray Research Center, Room 122
>
> Quantico, Virginia 22134
>
> 703-784-4401
>
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 9:38 PM, Hancock, Craig G
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Herb,
>
> I think we can say that something is "partly" or "partially" closed.
> (window, door, bridge.) My university sometimes "partially closes" and
> is therefore "partially closed" as a result. (They cancel classes but
> keep the offices open.) "I didn't see who actually fired the shot
> because the door was partially closed." We can use "very" before open
> in some contexts ("He had a very open personality"), but it seems
> awkward to me in others. ("The window was very open" *?) I think we
> would probably say "wide open."
>
> You could explain it also as a question of "construal." Someone closed
> the port, but for a boat approaching from sea, that may be irrelevant.
> The child who wants to know if he has a snow day doesn't care who
> closed the school. And, of course, the TV station will give a list of
> "school closings," which construes the whole action as a "thing." We
> also have "the close of the show" as an option.
>
> I vote for teaching about prototypes early and often. We do a terrible
> job with parts of speech in our schools. Students memorize definitions
> that are close to worthless in application. Certainly, we should teach
> that the boundaries are not rigid or fixed and that words shift
> category routinely. Students recognize prototypes for things like
> furniture or fruit. My experience has been that they enjoy looking at
> language that way, not least of all because it seems to fit.
>
>
>
>
>
> Craig
>
> _____
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