My Swedish Grandmother Made Me Do It
“And now, Beowulf, best of men, I wish to love you in my heart as my son. From this time forth, keep well this new… Read More »My Swedish Grandmother Made Me Do It
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Literary Influences: Beowulf
Hwæt!
(Did it work? Do I have your attention?)
Beowulf is one of those works of literature that, quite honestly, never interested me. Some beefy warrior kills a monster, and then he kills another one, and there’s a dragon in there somewhere, and at the end (spoiler alert!), he dies. I maintained a scornful disinterest for this epic over the course of a decade, until my conversion in my mid-twenties. Here’s how it went down.
Verbs, Part 6: Conclusion (for now)
Objectives:
- Describe major verb features and their functions.
- Classify specific verbs according to the theta-roles they assign.
Skill level: Advanced
As indicated by the title, this is the final post in my verb series, though not necessarily my final post on verbs. (Who knows what the future holds, yeah?) This is mostly an overview post, so it’s short, quick, and to the point.
Literary Influences: Lloyd Alexander
“Melancholy men, they say, are the most incisive humorists; by the same token, writers of fantasy must be, within their own frame of work, hardheaded realists. What appears gossamer is, underneath, solid as prestressed concrete. What seems so free in fantasy is often inventiveness of detail rather than complicated substructure. Elaboration — not improvisation.” ~Lloyd Alexander, “The Flat-Heeled Muse”
When it comes to fantasy, everyone has a starter series, right? That first set of books that gives you a glimpse of worlds beyond, that whets your appetite and cultivates your imagination: the starter series sets the bar for every series that follows. Is it better? Is it worse? Does it have similar themes? Similar characters? Similar plots? Similar settings? Does it evoke that same sense of wonder, or a greater sense of wonder, or does it leave the acrid taste of disappointment in your mouth?
Verbs, Part 5: Copulas and Existentials
This post covers two essential constructs most commonly associated with the verb to be.
Objectives:
- Demonstrate understanding of copulas and existentials.
- Eliminate the existential construct in favor of a stronger subject and main verb.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Copulas, AKA Linking Verbs
In English, the term “copula” (or “linking verb”) refers to a verb that links a subject and a subject predicate. (The subject predicate, as indicated by its name, takes a nominative case.) The copula serves as a sort of grammatical placeholder and holds little lexical meaning despite its grammatical and rhetorical purpose.
Verbs, Part 4: Theta-Roles, or How to Eliminate Passive Voice
The discussion in this post requires a different view of language structure. For a deeper understanding, I refer you to Andrew Radford’s English Syntax: An Introduction (ISBN 0521542758), particularly pp. 190-193 . Much of this post draws from that source.
Objectives:
- Identify the theta-roles assigned to nouns by verbs.
- Revise Passive Voice from sentences by using verbs with alternate theta-role assignments.
Skill level: Advanced
Read More »Verbs, Part 4: Theta-Roles, or How to Eliminate Passive Voice
Verbs, Part 3: Transitivity and Voice
This post covers verb transitivity and its relationship to the fourth verb feature, Voice.
Objectives:
- Compare transitive, intransitive, and ditransitive verbs.
- Rearrange transitive verbs from active to passive voice, and vice versa.
Skill level: Intermediate
Literary Influences: L.M. Montgomery
Cynicism taints almost every facet of my life. This may seem like an odd confession to make at the start of a literary influences post—especially one that focuses on the eternally optimistic works of L.M. Montgomery—but I feel like it has to be said. I acquired my cynicism by degrees from a pretty young age. By the sixth grade, I was a smart-mouthed, sarcastic, socially isolated 11-year-old. My only reliable friends were books (and with little wonder, given my temperament).
That was the year I met Anne of Green Gables.
Verbs, Part 2: Tense, Mood, and Aspect
This post covers the verb features of Tense, Mood, and Aspect. It’s boring, and I’ve put off writing it forever because it’s boring.
Objectives:
- Define the verb features of Tense, Mood, and Aspect.
- Supply the correct form for a set of given verbs and features.
Skill level: intermediate
“The past and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.”
As grammar jokes go, this one is fairly awful. (But I laugh all the same, of course, because my sense of humor apparently sprouted in one of our local corn fields.) Of the verb features, Tense is probably the easiest to understand. Mood, and Aspect were once these nebulous terms to me, conditions that I understood existed but that I couldn’t pinpoint or keep track of. A fourth verb feature, Voice, merits its own post and will be discussed only minimally here.
Verbs: Part 1 of Many
This post is the first in a series on Verbs. Dry, dry, horrifically essential stuff.
Objectives:
- Discuss the difference between finite and non-finite verbs.
- Extract all the verbs from a passage of prose; categorize them as finite or non-finite.
Skill Level: beginner
If the five lexical categories were Tolkien’s infamous rings, the Verb would be the One Ring to rule them all. For writers, it can make or break a narrative. A wrong verb or a wrong tense on a verb can skew your intended meaning and instantly derail your reader’s focus. It can also summon grammar-wraiths to hammer their shrieking condemnation down upon your head. (Man, how I wish I were only kidding about that.)
Thus, as writers, it behooves us to be well acquainted—and perhaps even intimate—with our friend and sometimes friendly nemesis, the Verb.