FYS 251: Spectacles of Blood

ROMAN GLADIATORS &  CHRISTIAN MARTYRS IN THE ARENA

Week 1: Writing Session

• Introduction
  • Good writing reflects the writer's mastery of: the following factors and the relationship between them
    • rhetoric, semantics, grammar, style
  • Rhetoric
    • attention to the generic forms (essay, letter, research paper, satire etc.), audiences and social context of the writing
  • Semantics
    • attention to the meaning of words, the level of diction, the lexical restrictions of grammatical function (e.g., "the water evaporates the dog")
  • Grammar
    • attention to generally accepted standards in a given social or rhetorical context for the ordering of words and the conscious decision to follow them or deviate from them
  • Style
    • attention to generally accepted standards of orthography and punctuation in a given social or rhetorical context and the conscious decision to follow them or deviate from them; and
      
      
    • attention to the sound value of words and rhetorical tropes that exploit them (e.g., alliteration).
      
      
      
  • Examples:
    • hyper textbook
    • Four score & seven years ago (87 years ago; once upon a time, after the battle of Gettysburg)
      
      
• The Clause Rank : "words and phrases are the constituents of the clause rank"
  
  
  • difference between clause and phrase
    • Clause: "A Clause is a part of a sentence that usually contains a Subject and a Verb. It is usually connected the other part of the Sentence by a Conjunction. It is not a complete sentence on its own." [http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/clause.html]
      
      
    • Phrase: "A phrase is a group of words that go together, but do not make a complete sentence." [http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/phrase.html]
      
      
  • you may find it helpful to review the discussion of the "phrase rank"
    
    
    • the noun phrase
      • determinative: some
      • premodification: badly needed
      • head: time
      • postmodification: with the family
    • the verb phrase
      • auxiliary
        • carries information about
          • mood: indicative, interrogative, imperative, subjunctive
          • tense: present and future, past
          • modality: (can, may, will, should, must, etc): modal + base
          • voice: passive, active
      • main verb
        • carries lexical information and inflection
          
          
    • the adjective phrase
      • premodification: quite
      • head: worried
      • postmodification: about the results
        • complementation: of the test
          
          
    • the adverb phrase
      • premodification: very
      • head: hard
      • postmodification: indeed
        
        
    • the prepositional phrase
      • non-headed (no word serves as the center on which other elements of the phrase depends)
        • preposition : into
        • complement : the thick of things
          • adverb
          • noun phrase
          • clause
            
            
  • Analysis of clauses
    • The news has been quite sad in fact.
      • Analysis by phrase type
        • Noun phrase: the news
        • Verb phrase: has been
        • Adjective phrase: quite sad
        • Prepositional phrase: in fact
      • Analysis by Grammatical Form
        • Article: The
        • Noun: news
        • Auxiliary: has
        • Main Verb: been
        • Adverb: quite
        • Adjective: sad
        • Preposition: in
        • Noun: fact
      • Analysis by Grammatical Function
        • Subject: The news
        • Verb: has been
        • Subject Complement: quite sad
        • Adverbial: in fact
          
          
    • Functional Categories of Clauses
      • subject
      • verb
      • object
      • complement
      • adverbial
        
        
    • Clause functions
    • subject:
      • Form:usually a noun phrase or clause
      • Position:
        • indicative: usually before verb: Clinton will send Congress his budget.
        • interrogative: usually after auxiliary: Will Clinton send....
        • imperative: absent (but implied): Send the budget...!
      • Agreement:
        • determines the number and person of other consitutents in clause
          • verbs:
            
        • Bush capitulates to the United Nations.
        • The Democrats capitulate to Bush.
        • subject complements:
          • Ashton is my nephew.
          • Emma, Kate, Mary Therese and Patricia are my nieces.
        • pronouns, reflexive pronouns
        • systemic relationship between subject and voice
          • active: Bush likes Rice.
          • passive: Rice is liked by Bush.
    • verb:
      • Form: main verb (plus auxiliaries where needed)
      • Posisition:
        • indicative: after subject: Clinton will send Congress his budget.
        • interrogative: around (literally): Will Clinton send
        • imperative: at beginning of the clause: Send the budget...!
      • Agreement: in number with subject
      • Tense: verb indicates
      • Aspect: (modal, perfect, progressive)
      • Voice: active/passive
    • direct objects
      • Form: noun phrase or clause: Quincy chased the squirrel.
      • Position: after subject or verb
      • Pronouns
        • reflexive: I cut myself; or
        • object case I cut him.
      • systemic relationship between object and voice
        • active: Bush likes Rice.
        • passive: Rice is liked by Bush.
    • indirect objects
      • Form:
        • noun phrase or clause: Clinton will send Congress his budget.
        • relative clause: Starr sent whoever wanted it the report.
        • prepositional phrase (to for for): Clinton will send his budget to Congress.
      • Position:
        • the direct object must also be stated in the clause
        • between verb and direct object
    • object complements
      • Form: usually noun or adjective phrase (can be a clause)
      • Position: only in clauses with objects; usually after complement: The elected him Class President.
      • Reference: object complements complete a reference to the object of a clause: The elected him Class President.
      • Agreement: usually agree with object in number
    • subject complements:
      • complete a reference implied by subject
      • Form: usually noun or adjective phrase (can be a clause)
      • Position: always after a linking verb in SVC pattern: Bush seems (is, sounds, appears) literate.
        • copular relationships
    • adverbial complements:
      • Position of complements:
        • in explicit copular relationship: Liz is in the park.
        • implicit copular relationship with an object: I put the cookies in the pantry: [The cookies are in the pantry]
    • adverbials
    • Position of adverbials is much less restricted than that of adverbial complements.
    • Form: adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, clause (sometime noun phrase)
    • Meaning: temporal, locative, concessive, contextual, comparative
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    • Status of functions in clause
      • central: subject & verb
      • peripheral: objects, complements
      • optional: adverbials
        
        
    • Sentences for analysis (from this morning's New York Times):
      • The civilian unemployment rate rose marginally last month - sliding down to 6.1 percent - as companies slashed payrolls by 93,000.
      • Friday's report sent mixed signals about the nation's overall economic health.
    • August was the seventh consecutive month of cuts in payrolls, a survey released by the Labor Department showed, indicating continuing weakness in the job market.