Download Tackling Syntax--2014 Summer Academy

Robby Davis
Lee County High School
Leesburg, Georgia
[email protected]
It’s a scary damn word!
Yet we must gird our loins
and sally forth to battle!
The difficulties we face:
Close reading skills—Students don’t / won’t / can’t
read closely.
Limited reading experience—Students don’t know
the texture of good writing.
Vocabulary—Students lack vocabulary to describe
what they see and hear in what they do read.
Limited revision experience—Students don’t really
know what their choices are. Lots of teachers
don’t teach those choices.
We are teaching . . .
Readers
&
Writers
We are teaching . . .
Readers to analyze
&
Writers to utilize
Good Readers ask:
What choices did the writer
make?
What are the intended
effects of those choices?
Good Writers ask:
What choices do I have?
What are the probable
effects of those choices?
Thankfully, there are
ONLY 3 Considerations
for both
Reader and Writer:
• Structure
• Diction
• Syntax
“The best words in
the best order.”
Coleridge
As teachers of college-bound
students, we know that . . .
Skilled readers must be
able to contend with
complex sentence
structures.
As teachers of college-bound
students, we know that . . .
Effective writers must be
able to create complex
sentence structures
effectively.
We’re going to explore . . .
Instructional strategies and
exercises that you can
reshape to meet the ability
level and needs of your
students—as well as the
requirements of your
curriculum.
Initial activities and discussions
• to establish or remind students
of the vocabulary of syntax
• to draw students in to the
close reading of sentences
Begin with some sentences
they know but have never read.
The Pledge of Allegiance ?
• How many sentences?
• What does the sentence(s) consist of?
• How is it (are they) punctuated?
I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of
America and to the
republic for which it stands
one nation under God
indivisible with liberty and
justice for all.
I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of
America and to the
republic for which it
stands, one nation under
God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
Give them
sentences to
play with . . .
Play with sentences . . .
• Take those DOL concept to the next level:
revision. Play with sentences, as well as
correct them.
• Play with sentences from the texts they’re
reading.
• Play with sentences that students write.
• Play with analysis & revision.
I have a little shadow
that goes in and out
with me and what can
be the use of him is
more than I can see.
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 1
This sentence may be hard to read because
one comma has been left out. Where
would you put a comma to break up the
sentence into two main parts?
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 2
What kind of sentence is this?
a. simple
b. compound
c. complex
d. compound complex
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 5
• What is “and”?
a.
b.
c.
d.
a coordinating conjunction
a relative pronoun
a subordinating conjunction
a preposition modifying “what”
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 12
What is the subject of the first subordinate
clause?
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 16
What is the verb of the second independent
clause?
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Question 18
What are “in” and “out”?
a. prepositions
c. objects of goes
b. adverbs
d. adjectives modifying
“with me”
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
PART II, Item 4
Start with “Do you have”
I have a little shadow that
goes in and out with me, and
what can be the use of him is
more than I can see.
Do you have a little shadow that
goes in and out with you, and
is what can be the use of him
more than you can see?
Creating MC Items:
•
SENTENCE: Coming to the city as a
young man, he found a job as a
newspaper reporter.
• DIRECTIONS: Change Coming to He
came.
a. and so he found
b. and found
c. and there he found
d. and then finding
e. and had found
MC Items:
He came to the city as a young man and
found a job as a newspaper reporter.
a. and so he found
c. and there he found
e. and had found
b. and found
d. and then finding
Play with sentences . . .
Don’t merely
correct them!
Now, let’s talk about . . . where English
sentences come from!
S-V-C: It’s the
framework for our
ideas!
the woman read a novel
the cat slept
the milk is in the refrigerator
the road is long
the thief seemed remorseful
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
• I. NP
“be” ADV
The students are upstairs.
• II. NP
“be” ADJ (subject complement)
The students are smart.
• III. NP1 “be” NP1
The students are scholars.
• IV. NP
V-linking
ADJ (subject complement)
The students seem smart.
• V. NP1 V-linking
NP1
The students became scholars.
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
• VI. NP
V-intransitive
The students slept.
• VII. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (direct object)
The students read their books.
• VIII. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (i. o.) NP3 (d. o.)
The students gave their teacher a gift.
• IX. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (d. o.) ADJ (ob. comp.)
The students consider the teacher mean.
• X. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (d. o.) NP2 (ob. comp.)
The students consider the teacher a monster.
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
Exercise—Identify the Pattern
1.The teacher made the test hard.
2.The batter hit the ball hard.
1. IX. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (d. o.) ADJ (ob. comp.)
2. VII.
NP1 V-transitive NP2 (direct object)
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
Exercise—Identify the Pattern
1.The cook tasted the soup.
2.The soup tasted good.
1. VII.
2. IV.
NP1
V-transitive NP2 (direct object)
NP
V-linking
ADJ (sub. complement)
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
Exercise—Identify the Pattern
1.My husband made me a
chocolate cake.
2.My husband made me a happy
woman.
1. VIII. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (i. o.) NP3 (d. o.)
2. X. NP1 V-transitive NP2 (d. o.) NP2 (ob. comp.)
The SVC Structure
Recognizing the 10 Patterns
Exercise—Identify the Pattern
1.We set off through the woods at
dawn.
2.We set off the fireworks at dawn.
1. VI.
2. VII.
NP
V-intransitive
NP1
V-transitive
NP2 (direct object)
Every idea
begins as a
S-V-C structure!
the woman read a novel
the cat slept
the milk is in the refrigerator
the road is long
the thief seemed remorseful
But
we can do
magic!
We can
transform
S-V-C!
the woman read a novel
While the woman read a novel . . .
the cat slept
The cat that slept. . .
the milk is in the refrigerator
The milk in the refrigerator . . .
the road is long
The long road . . .
the thief seemed remorseful
Seeming remorseful, the thief . . .
Knowing about transformations
allows the reader to recognize
them when she see them.
Knowing about transformations
allows the writer to build more
mature and effective sentences.
Let’s look at the handouts.
For example—Participles
Samples for PARTICIPLES in handout:
• Introduction:
A participle is a form of a verb that acts as an adjective.
• Present Participles are constructed by adding ing to a
base verb.
shake becomes shaking
• Past Participles are typically constructed by adding d or
ed, but sometimes irregular verbs require endings such
as n or en. Some verbs require individual forms.
disturb becomes disturbed, throw becomes thrown,
sing becomes sung
Transforming w/ Participles
• Models to Consider and Discuss:
The old heavyweight proved an easy knockout victim. He
was dazed. He was reeling.
▼
Dazed and reeling, the old heavyweight proved an easy
knockout victim.
or
The old heavyweight, dazed by a series of hard punches
to his body and reeling from a powerful jab to his
head, proved an easy knockout victim.
Transforming w/ Participles
• Participial phrases can animate a sentence with
movement:
Possums employ a whole range of responses to defend
themselves from an enemy, baring their teeth, hissing
like and angry cat, clambering up a tall tree, or, as a
last resort, falling into a comatose state, body limp and
eyes open.
• Participial Phrase can suggest relationships:
Disillusioned by the American public’s negative
perception of the war, some Vietnam vets suffered severe
mental problems when they returned to civilian life.
Transforming w/ Participles
• Special Issues:
Positioning participial phrases
 Keeping one eye on his professor, Ricky
quickly scanned the X-Men comic hidden behind
his bulky microbiology textbook.
 Ricky, keeping one eye on his professor,
quickly scanned the X-Men comic hidden behind
his bulky microbiology textbook.
 Ricky quickly scanned the X-Men comic hidden
behind his bulky microbiology textbook, keeping
one eye on his professor.
Transforming w/ Participles
• Special Issues:
Positioning participial phrases
 Keeping one eye on his professor, Ricky quickly
scanned the X-Men comic hidden behind his bulky
microbiology textbook.
 Ricky, keeping one eye on his
professor, quickly scanned the X-Men
comic hidden behind his bulky
microbiology textbook.
 Ricky quickly scanned the X-Men comic hidden behind
his bulky microbiology textbook, keeping one eye on
his professor.
Transforming w/ Participles
• Constructing Participial Phrases
Example
1. He was slowed by Parkinson’s disease.
2. Muhammad Ali moved deliberately among the adoring
children at the mall.
3. He signed autographs.
4. He shook hands.
5. He spoke in a soft voice.
▼
Slowed by Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali moved
deliberately among the adoring children at the mall,
signing autographs, shaking hands and speaking in a
soft voice.
Transforming w/ Participles
•
You try one:
1. A team of scientists relied on DNA extracted
from a preserved giant dodo.
2. A team of scientists has concluded that
genetically the extinct bird was just an
overgrown pigeon.
Relying on DNA extracted from a preserved giant
dodo, a team of scientists has concluded that
genetically the extinct bird was just an
overgrown pigeon.
Transforming w/ Participles
• Creating Participial Phrases
Example
I stared at my mom for a minute.
▼
Horrified at her latest fashion statement, I stared at
my mom for a minute, examining the small gold
ring in her eyebrow.
Transforming w/ Participles
You try one:
The toddler threw his half-eaten banana at the
nearby crowd of shoppers.
The toddler threw his half-eaten banana at the
nearby crowd of shoppers, pegging a portly
woman between the eyes.
Having had his fill of healthful food alternatives, the
toddler threw his half-eaten banana at the
nearby crowd of shoppers.
Possible DOL format:
Page 13 in the handouts.
THE CHART
Let’s look at the handouts.
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
the woman read a novel
the cat slept
the milk is in the refrigerator
the road is long
the thief seemed remorseful
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
the woman read a novel – pattern VII
the cat slept – pattern VI
the milk is in the refrigerator – pattern I
the road is long – pattern II
the thief seemed remorseful – pattern V
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
Awareness of the rules,
structures, and available
transformations can be vitally
important for both
reader and writer.
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
The writer can make himself aware of the
choices open to him and the consequences
of those choices.
The reader can make herself aware of the
choices made by the writer,
his intended effects,
and the degree of his stylistic and rhetorical
success in executing those choices.
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
Playing with grammatical
possibilities for style and rhetoric
can help build awareness for both
reader and writer.
Structure and Effect:
Analyzing Syntactical Choices
Let’s look to the handouts
and play with some choices.
Page 19
We are teaching . . .
Readers to analyze
&
Writers to utilize
2 Questions for
the Reader:
What choices did the writer
make?
What are the intended
effects of those choices?
2 Questions for
the Writer:
What choices do I have?
What are the probable
effects of those choices?
Robby Davis
Lee County High School, Georgia
[email protected]