Rhetorical Grammar : Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects

by Kolln, Martha

• ISBN13: 9780205283057
• ISBN10: 0205283055
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Rhetorical Grammar is a writer's grammar a text that presents grammar as a rhetorical tool, avoiding the do's and don'ts so long associated with the study of grammar. It reveals to student writers the system of grammar that they know subconsciously and encourages them to use that knowledge to understand their choices as writers and the effects of those choices on their readers. Besides providing key strategies for revision, Rhetorical Grammar presents systematic discussions of reader expectation, sentence rhythm and cohesion, subordination and coordination, punctuation, modifiers, diction, and other principles. Studying grammar from this rhetorical point of view defines the study of language as an intellectual exercise designed to open up students' minds to the versatility, beauty, and possibilities of language.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Introduction	1	(4)
PART I Understanding Sentences	5	(112)
Chapter 1 The Structure of Sentences	5	(19)
The Two-Part Sentence	6	(4)
Sentence Patterns	10	(6)
The Be Patterns	11	(1)
The Linking Verb Pattern	11	(1)
The Intransitive Verb Pattern	12	(1)
The Transitive Verb Patterns	12	(4)
"Clause" and "Sentence"	16	(1)
The Optional Slot	17	(2)
A Word about Wordiness	19	(1)
Punctuation and the Sentence Patterns	19	(4)
Punctuation Reminder	23	(1)
Chapter 2 Sentence Rhythm	24	(16)
End Focus	26	(2)
Controlling Rhythm	28	(4)
The It-Cleft	29	(1)
The What-Cleft	30	(1)
The There-Transformation	30	(2)
Rhythm and the Comma	32	(3)
Power Words	35	(4)
Correlative Conjunctions	36	(1)
The Adverbials of Emphasis	37	(2)
Rhetorical Reminders	39	(1)
Punctuation Reminder	39	(1)
Chapter 3 Cohesion	40	(20)
Reader Expectation	41	(2)
The Known-New Contract	43	(6)
Metadiscourse	49	(2)
Parallelism	51	(3)
Repetition versus Redundancy	53	(1)
Levels of Generality	54	(4)
Rhetorical Reminders	58	(1)
Punctuation Reminders	59	(1)
Chapter 4 Your Personal Voice	60	(17)
Diction	61	(4)
Contractions	65	(4)
Metadiscourse	69	(2)
Point of View	71	(4)
Rhetorical Reminders	75	(1)
Punctuation Reminders	76	(1)
Chapter 5 Long and Short Sentences	77	(40)
Coordination	77	(1)
Conjunctions	78	(1)
Punctuation of Coordinate Structures	78	(3)
Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences	81	(4)
Parallel Structure	85	(6)
Using and Effectively	85	(4)
And versus But	89	(2)
The Serial Comma	91	(3)
The Correlative Conjunctions	94	(4)
Subject-Verb Agreement	95	(3)
Conjunctive Adverbs	98	(2)
The Semicolon	100	(2)
The Colon as Sentence Connector	102	(3)
The Subordinating Conjunctions	105	(7)
The Because-Clause Myth	107	(1)
The Movability of Subordinate Clauses	108	(1)
Punctuation of Subordinate Clauses	109	(3)
Writing Short Sentences	112	(3)
Rhetorical Reminders	115	(1)
Punctuation Reminders	116	(1)
PART II Making Choices	117	(91)
Chapter 6 Choosing Verbs	117	(20)
Choosing Precise Verbs	118	(2)
The Overuse of Be	120	(2)
Verbs and Grammar	122	(12)
Tense	122	(3)
Agency	125	(1)
The Passive Voice	126	(8)
The Abstract Subject	134	(2)
Rhetorical Reminders	136	(1)
Chapter 7 Choosing Adverbials	137	(17)
The Prepositional Phrase	139	(4)
The Proliferating Prepositional Phrase	140	(3)
The Subordinate Clause	143	(5)
Elliptical Subordinate Clauses	143	(5)
Infinitive (Verb) Phrases	148	(1)
Movability and Closure	149	(2)
The Qualifiers	151	(2)
Rhetorical Reminders	153	(1)
Punctuation Reminders	153	(1)
Chapter 8 Choosing Adjectivals	154	(29)
Determiners	155	(2)
Adjectives and Nouns	157	(4)
Modifier Noun Proliferation	158	(2)
The Movable Adjective Phrase	160	(1)
Prepositional Phrases	161	(1)
Participal Phrases	162	(7)
Punctuation of Participial Phrases	163	(3)
The Movable Participle	166	(1)
The Dangling Participle	167	(2)
The Prenoun Participle	169	(1)
Relative Clauses	169	(5)
The Relatives	170	(1)
Punctuation of Relative Clauses	171	(3)
The Broad-Reference Clause	174	(2)
Other Nominals	176	(4)
Verb Phrases	176	(2)
Nominal Clauses	178	(2)
Punctuation Revisited	180	(1)
Rhetorical Reminders	181	(1)
Punctuation Reminders	182	(1)
Chapter 9 Making Stylistic Choices	183	(25)
The Coordinate Series	184	(1)
Repetition	185	(2)
Word-Order Variation	187	(2)
Ellipsis	189	(1)
The Deliberate Fragment	190	(1)
The Appositive	191	(8)
The Introductory Appositive Series	193	(1)
Restrictive versus Nonrestrictive Appositives	194	(1)
The Colon with Appositives	195	(1)
Avoiding Punctuation Errors	196	(1)
The Sentence Appositive	197	(2)
The Absolute Phrase	199	(8)
Rhetorical Reminders	207	(1)
Punctuation Reminder	207	(1)
PART III A Way with Words	208	(41)
Chapter 10 Word Classes	208	(21)
Lexical Rules	209	(4)
Semantic Features	213	(1)
Figurative Language	214	(1)
Parts of Speech	215	(2)
The Form Classes	217	(11)
Nouns	217	(5)
Verbs	222	(1)
Adjectives	223	(1)
Adverbs	224	(1)
Derivational Affixes	225	(3)
Rhetorical Reminders	228	(1)
Punctuation Reminder	228	(1)
Chapter 11 Pronouns	229	(20)
Personal Pronouns	229	(7)
The Missing Pronoun	230	(5)
We and Us as Determiners	235	(1)
Personal Pronoun Errors	236	(5)
Case	236	(2)
The Unwanted Apostrophe	238	(1)
The Ambiguous Antecedent	239	(1)
The Vague Antecedent	239	(2)
Reflexive Pronouns	241	(1)
Intensive Reflexive Pronouns	241	(1)
Reciprocal Pronouns	242	(1)
Demonstrative Pronouns	242	(2)
Indefinite Pronouns	244	(3)
The Everyone/Their Issue	245	(2)
Rhetorical Reminders	247	(1)
Punctuation Reminder	248	(1)
PART IV Punctuation	249	(11)
Chapter 12 Punctuation: Its Purposes, Its Hierarchy, and Its Rhetorical Effects	249	(11)
The Purposes of Punctuation Marks	250	(2)
Syntax	250	(1)
Prosody	251	(1)
Semantics	251	(1)
The Hierarchy of Punctuation	252	(3)
The Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation	255	(5)
Glossary of Punctuation	260	(10)
Glossary of Terms	270	(9)
Bibliography	279	(2)
Answers to the Exercises	281	(8)
Index	289