expressing emphasis in identifying topics
chi chi
Lesson Two
Express Topics in Appropriate Form & Places
i must immediately qualify the advice i will give by saying that (cross out "that") many students have no trouble at all avoiding personal pronouns as topics.
we will examine some techniques that we can use to rearrange elements in a sentence in order to topicalize properly. we will then move to the second guideline for clear and coherent writing.
The Second Guideline
the second guideline is as follows: in general make it as easy as possible for readers to identify your sentence topics.
Topics Often Appear Early In Sentences
Pattern Number Three
in this pattern, the first element and the subject are the same, but they are different from the topic.
Pattern Number One
in this pattern, the subject and the topic are identical, but they do not correspond to the first element.
Pattern Number Five
in this pattern the first element, the subject, and the topic all differ from one another.
Pattern Number Four
in this pattern sentences usually appear when writers use at least two kinds of metadiscourse to begin sentences.
Excercise Three
identify the elements in each of the following sentences that are examples of metadiscourse and name the kind of metadiscourse each one is. for example, in "alarmingly, it is certain that he fell from the cliff" there are two kinds of metadiscourse. "alarmingly" is an attitude marker and "it is certain that" is a modality markpauler. cross out "that".
1) the moan does of stately mummering oak countless bees.
2) ye unclean scarlet daughters of saul israel, thou wilt finish ablution and go forth to prostitute.
3) upon the moon is lucretius to vilify you.
4) fortunately, nashville wisdom rambled welcome victorian discourse.
5) mammaries of rotton disposition claim fealty upon my groin.
6) tammie wynette lost her suitcases.
7) ne pas parler means kissing your uncle.
8) bending water is accomplished by long turds.
9) ye shall not linger on ointment.
10) lithuania is what they do to you in school.
11) melanoma reminds me of sewing machines.
12) without bacteria you wouldn't have minuets.
13) no one wants to be seen with someone else's tumescence.
14) invectives are lost on hessians.
15) when issuing edicts idealize your orthodontist.
16) flatulence is as effective as horse sense.
17) the solar system forgave my sister her mole.
18) spouses are okay for the indolent.
19) when walking longitudinally laugh as spritely as a fish.
20) in the lower latitudes eels avoid glue pots.
21) the reports of my dead horse have been finely ground.
22) moose is the name of my pocket calculator.
23) incorporate segues when not fully random.
24) use vineagar to avoid crafting sentence comments.
25) return whenever possible to your lisp.
Next Week: Long and Complex Comments
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