class #4.1 quiz return quiz 2 & memo punctilio jokes clip of the day punctuation jh: the commonplace & reframing coursepak: more passive voice

Transcription

1 class #4.1 quiz return quiz 2 & memo punctilio jokes clip of the day punctuation jh: the commonplace & reframing coursepak: more passive voice

2 Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) from Up in the Air

3

4 english bootcamp

5 punctuation

6 I went to the store I bought my favorite fruits.

7 I went to the store. I bought my favorite fruits. I went to the store; I bought my favorite fruits. I went to the store, and I bought my favorite fruits.

8 I love three fruits apples oranges and grapes

9 General = particular General : particular

10 I love three fruits: apples oranges and grapes

11 I love three fruits: apples, oranges, and grapes.

12 I love three fruits--apples, oranges, and grapes.

13 My three favorite fruits are: apples, oranges, and grapes.

14 commas, dashes, parentheses

15 Butch s bulldog, which has one white ear, won first in show. Butch s bulldog--which has one white ear--won first in show. Butch s bulldog (which has one white ear) won first in show.

16 lie/lay lie lying, lay, lain sit sitting, sat, sat lay laying, laid, laid set setting, set, set

17 fewer/less

18 principal/principle

19 nauseous/nauseated

20 affect/effect

21 comprise/compose

22 sentence style coursepack p. 17

23 yang vs. yin hot vs. cool

24 active = yang passive = yin

25 more on passive voice

26 actor action object both share three elements:

27 The carpenter hit the nail. The nail was hit by the carpenter. The nail was hit (by the carpenter). The nail was hit.

28 object emphasized actor deemphasized verb = past participle + to be

29 Dear Frank, Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated. Moreover, your invitation to serve on the hospital's data processing evaluation team is received with gratitude, albeit with some concern. The evaluation team must be composed of persons free of alliances with any of the vendors submitting proposals. For that reason, it is felt that my services on the team could be construed as a conflict of interest. Perhaps help can be given in some other way. Again, please be assured that your invitation has been appreciated.

30 Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated. Actor: by Action: Object:

31 Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated (by me). Actor: Action: Object:

32 Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated (by me). Actor: I Action: Object:

33 Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated (by me). Actor: I Action: appreciate Object:

34 Your comments relative to your respect for my professional opinion are most appreciated [by me]. Actor: I Action: appreciate Object: your comments

35 Moreover, your invitation to serve on the hospital's data processing evaluation team is received with gratitude [by me], albeit with some concern. actor: I action: receive object: invitation

36 I receive your invitation with gratitude. I appreciate your invitation.

37 When not to use the passive voice: When passive constructions are vague, confusing, pompous sounding: When the business plan is finished, it is suggested that it be rerouted for final approval.

38 When it creates an abstract, vague, "state" feeling as a compound with the verb to be: It is observed that many students are registering late for class.

39 When it leads to wordiness: It was recommended by the budget committee that the program be discontinued by the department. (15 words) The budget committee recommended that we discontinue the program. (9 words)

40 OK to use passive voice: When you want to emphasize the object of the action: Johnny Jensen, our shipping clerk, shipped your order on November 15. (active) Your order was shipped November 15. (passive)

41 To deemphasize the actor: You waste my time.(active) Time is being wasted.(passive)

42 when there s a punchline: The gold medal in the five-hundred-meter, one-man bobsled competition has been won by a six-year-old child.

43 To occasionally provide some variety to sentence structure.

44 informative messages (p. 24 in coursepak)

45 class # 4.2 rhetorical considerations english bootcamp persuasion

46 rhetorical considerations

47 ask for definition the commonplace

48 (locus communis)

49 shared ground common ground

50 it s common sense it s where we all agree

51 so

52 it s a verbal tactic that leans heavily on the ethos dimension of your argument--

53 it works with the pre-fab, communal consensus.

54 (i.e., the conventional wisdom)

55 ideas codified in proverbs or slogans that everybody accepts without question

56 (early birds get the worm, freedom isn t free, etc.)

57 plays to basic attitudinal and value assumptions of your audience

58 most northerners think that the american civil war was about freeing the slaves

59 dixie patriots think slavery had nothing to do with it

60 it was about repelling the northern aggressor

61 that s just common sense

62 (unless you re some sanctimonious yankee idiot)

63 nobody within a particular tribal mentality would even think to challenge the basic assumptions embedded in a commonplace

64 you may want to

65 (or have to)

66 but understand what you re up against

67 but for every commonplace truth, you can find its opposite...

68 look before you leap

69 but

70 he who hesitates is lost

71 you re never too old to learn

72 but

73 you can t teach an old dog new tricks

74 don t judge a book by its cover

75 but

76 clothes make the man

77 out of sight out of mind

78 but

79 absence makes the heart grow fonder

80 (you get the idea)

81 arguments are often won by whoever most skillfully deploys the most robust commonplaces

82 (when robust means most resonant with the biases of the audience)

83 so

84 if you re in an argument, and someone hits you with a commonplace...

85 hit back with one of your own

86 (prove your cliches are better)

87 from Thank You for Smoking

88

89 reframe the argument

90 otter s student-court speech vanilla v. chocolate nick s senate testimony

91 redefine terms

92 don t accept your opponent s definition

93 flip it

94 if someone accuses you of talking like an egghead...

95 your reply: if talking like an egghead means knowing what i m talking about, then, sure, i m talking like an egghead