The field of discourse analysis is an excellent source on grammar and rhetorical structure. It may be hard to read because it is written for linguists, but it's very worth one's while to dig into it. Here are a few things to look for: Cumming, Susanna, and Tsuyoshi Ono. 1997. Discourse and grammar. In van Dijk, Teun A., _Discourse as structure and process_. Sage publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. This is a short reading with many recommended readings, including: Ono, Toshiyushi and Sandra Thompson. 1996. 'What can conversation tell us about syntax?' ub O. Davis, ed., _Descriptive and theoretical modes in the new linguistics_. Amsterdam: Benjamins Ochs, Elinor, E. Schegloff and S. Thompson. 1996 _Grammar and interaction_. Cambridge U Press. See also work by Knud Lambrecht, for example:1994. _Information structure and sentence form. Topic, focus, and the mental representations of discourse referents. Cambridge U. Press. Most of these deal with spoken language, but many of the principles carry over to written texts. Work by Talmy Givon is also useful, esp. certain chapters of his 'Syntax: a functional/typological introduction' (Benjamins, I think). Discourse analysis is a large field that I am only now scratching the surface of. But I believe discourse (that is, sentences connected into texts) is where the true insights about grammar lie. In other words, I don't think we can really understand grammar unless we study what it is used for, i.e. to organize information in texts. The traditional focus on the sentence is insufficient. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johanna Rubba Assistant 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. 756-259 • E-mail: [log in to unmask] • Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba ** "Understanding is a lot like sex; it's got a practical purpose, but that's not why people do it normally" - Frank Oppenheimer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~