Grammar of English — Semester 1 2019
Students must submit their assignments electronically through the online submission portal available on the Assessment Submission page of the subject LMS site. This will act as an electronic receipt of theirsubmissionfortheirrecordsandforthesubjectcoordinator.Assessmentwillnotbeacceptedvia email.Studentsareexpectedtoretainacopyofallworksubmittedforassessment.Pleasenote:Wewill attempt to have the assignments marked by the 6th of June. This means you must submit your work before this date, or you will fail a hurdle requirement, and consequently, the subject.
- For each of the following phrases:
- Represent the structure of the bolded phrase and those embedded within it using a tree diagram and;
- label each constituent, in terms of function(s) (eg. head (H), determiner (Dtr), pre-head modifier(M),post-headdependent(Dep),complement(C),predicator(P),object(O),subject (S), predicate complement(PCO, PCS)) and lexical / phrasal category (eg. N, NP, Adj, AdjP, Adv, AdvP, S(ubordinator)1,subordinate clause (SCl),clause(Cl),Dtv,DP,Prep,PP,Ve);
Forexample: an equally noble act of creation
1. The key point of the presentation about Melbourne’s verypoor.
- (She was) really keen on saving those who areunsavable.
- Anamateur’sguidetothehighlydangeroussportofcompetitivetrepanation.
- You don’t need to assign a grammatical function to anysubordinators.
2. NounPhrases
RudolfOtto’sConceptofthe”Numinous” ForeachNPinthetextbelow,dothefollowing
using the format in the example provided:
- Identify and number theNP
- Describe itsfunction
- Identify the head of theNP
- If the NP contains any pre-head modifiers or post-head dependents list them and their phrasetype
Forexample:“Sheisagreatwriter”: NP1:[She]:Subject
Head: she;
NP2: [a great writer]: PCs Head: writer;
Pre-head modifier: [great], AdjP
Note:
- NPsfunctioningascomplementstoprepositionsshouldhavetheirfunctiondescribedas “Complement to Preposition” – not
- AnalysetheinsideofNPswithco-ordinationlikethisexample: “Mary and the childargued”
NP1: [Mary and the child]:Subject
Head: Mary/the child
“Ottowasaveryinfluentialthinkeraboutreligioninthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.Heisbest knownforhisanalysisoftheexperiencethat,inhisview,underliesallreligion.Hecallsthisexperience “numinous”andsaysithasthreecomponents: mysterium,tremendumandfascinans.”
- For each of the utterancesbelow:
- Determineitsclausetype(ortypes)andsupplyappropriatepunctuation(e.g.,?,.,!,,)
- Brieflygivearelevantcontextandidentifywhatyoubelievecouldbeits
- Someone hit thatzombie
- But why must we settle for anything but completevictory
- Kids let’s leave the catalone
- I tentatively asked her for her phonenumber
- How much does he enjoy thatspam
- What a near thing itwas
- Consider each of the followingsentences:
- identify the thematic structure(s) of the clauses (e.g. (agentless) passive, extraposition, existentialthere,it-cleft,pseudo-cleft,right-dislocation,left-dislocation,preposing,postposing, inversion)
- Write down the declarative sentence from which the thematic variant isformed,
- comment briefly on the thematic factor(s) motivating the selection of the particular thematic structure (e.g. end-focus, topic-comment, end-weight,front-focus).
For example: Eric was seen by her.
FormedbytheapplicationofapassivetothedeclarativesentenceShesawEric.Context:Weare talking about Eric and a woman, but Eric is the topic and we mention that a women saw him, conforming to topic/commentstructure.
- ItwasconsideredhereticalthatGalileobelievedtheearthorbited
- In came the doctor, in came the nurse, in came the lady with
- Galileo’schampioningofheliocentrismandCopernicanismwaswhatwasmost
- I want it known that I should have won thataward!
- Examinethetextbelowandfindeveryinstanceofnegationandnon-affirmatives,listing them in the order you find them. For each instance ofnegation:
- List the sentence/clause containing
- Determine whether the negation is clausal orsubclausal
- Preciselycategorizethenegationstrategy(e.g.,verbal,clausal,inflectional)
- Giveonepieceofgrammaticalevidence(usingoneofthethreetests)tosupportyouranswer regardingtheclausalorsubclausalnatureofeachnegationstrategyyou
“A criminal was once caught thieving and brought before the count so that his judgement should decide what was to be done with him. Immediately Raynard, with no pity at all, ordered that he be hungfromagibbet.ThecaptivetearfullybeggedRaynardtosparehislifeonthisoccasion,promising thathewouldneverrobagain,butnothingcameofthis.IndeeditonlymadeRaynardmorecruel,and he swore that the miserable suppliant should not live any longer. The criminal, seeing the sentence imposeduponhimcouldnotatallbechanged,wasonlyabletosecurethatheshouldbeshrivenofhis wickeddeedsbythebishop,whoshouldkindlygranttheforgivenessthatwasapowerofhisministry. Assoonasthiswasdonetheungodlyservantsdraggedthecriminalouttobehanged.Ashewasledto the appointed place he kept repeating these words: ‘Lord Jesus, thou who on this day was hung from the cross for the salvation of all men, have mercy upon me.’ For this was the Friday which is for this reason revered amongst all the faithful.2Well, he was bound, raised up, and hung by his constricted throat.Theneveryoneleftthisunhappysceneof(astheythought)execution,andhewasleftfordead, hanging there till the next day. But, through the will of God, the rope then snapped, and so he who wascompelledtosubmithimselftoaviolentdeathhoistedthroughtheyieldingair,felltoearthafree and living man. When he entered the city everyone found it a stupefying spectacle. Alas, few were surprised when he returned to his former ways and turned out wicked andimpious.”
Note:ThistextisfromRodulfusGlaberOpera.RodulfusGlaberwasaneleventhcenturymonkwho travelled through Europe at the turn of the first millennium (a time when many Christians believed Christwouldreturnandtheworldwouldend).Herecountsmanyfascinatingstoriesoftheera-along with some very interesting churchhistory.
- e., EasterFriday