English 109 Lecture Notes

Lectures & Topics Introduction: Professors Neil Randall and Andrew McMurry Topic 1: Introduction to the Course Topic 2: Analysis of a Student Essay The Genre of Academic Writing: Professor Andrew McMurry Topic 3: Introduction to the Academic Genre Topic 4: Defining and Summarizing Topic 5: Coherence and Organization Topic 6: Comparing Topic 7: Academic Styles Topic 8: Research Essays The Rhetoric of Academic Writing: Professor Neil Randall Topic 9: Introduction to Rhetoric Topic 10: Audience Topic 11: Ethos and Credibility Topic 12: Logos and Argument The Grammar Appendix: Professor Murray McArthur Topics 13 & 14: Parts of Speech Topic 15: Functions, Phrases, and Clauses Topic 16: Punctuation

1 1

2 10 21 26 34 43

48 52 57 61

69 84 94

Introduction Professors Neil Randall and Andrew McMurry

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TOPICS 1 & 2: INTRODUCTION AND STUDENT ESSAY

Introduction to English 109

Welcome and introductions General overview What can you expect to get out of this course? What are the secrets to good writing Plagiarism Analysis of a student paper (refer to the sample essay)

The Genre of Academic Writing Professor Andrew McMurry

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.1 (mis)Communication

Yo, wuzzahey!!!

Wuhwuh?? Sender (addresser)

Receiver (addressee)

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.2 The Communication Triangle (from the writer's perspective)

subject

{What do I know about my subject?}

{What does my reader know about the subject?}

Writer

reader

{What do I know about my reader?}

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.3 Ok, So It's A Bit More Complicated (according to Roman Jakobson)

Addresser (writer)

Context Message

Contact (medium) Code (e.g. English language)

Addressee (reader)

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.4 I See. That Must Mean (adapted from E. Lindemann)

When the focus is on the Writer/ addresser Reader/ Addressee Reality/ context Message The aim or purpose is to Express the self Persuade the reader Explain the world Which has examples in Diaries, manifestos Propaganda, debates, editorials Lab reports, textbooks, manuals Movies, jokes, songs, literature This overhead

Create a text to be appreciated for itself Keep lines of communication open Discuss language itself

Contact

Code

Dictionaries, grammars

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.5 The Upshot

Academic writing focuses on presenting messages of fact about the world

Academic writing is written the way it is to help persuade its readers to accept these messages

The two above goals are not mutually exclusive and should not cause you distress, because language is

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.6 The way we interpret expressions depends almost as much on their context as the words themselves.

Which is another way of saying

Form + Situation (words) (context)

= Genre (category of expression)

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.7 What Are These Rules?

Usually a linear organization Specialized vocabulary Presumption of shared knowledge Attention to factual detail, precision, and documentation Local rules of evidence apply Style may run from insipid to elegant Tone may run from bombastic to tentative

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TOPIC 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC GENRE

Topic 3.8 You and the Tradition

Even student writing has to be undertaken with these facts in mind--even if your writing does not actually add any new knowledge but simply reports on the current state of knowledge. In fact, the main purpose of student writing is to demonstrate an understanding of the state of knowledge and the associated tradition of inquiry. Your readers (professors) want to see certain features (stylistic, structural, and substantive) in your writing that shows your understanding and respect for this tradition. Only occasionally is student writing actually expected to add to the state of knowledge (e.g., at the graduate level of study).

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.1 Rational choice decision-making has long been the hallmark of mainstream economic explanations of human behaviour: economic decisions are seen as attempts by individuals to maximize their utilities, subject to their budget constraints. If I wanted to summarize this passage, I would have to decide where I would focus my eye. Look how the summary changes depending on that decision:

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.2 Follow the I/Eye

Rational choice theory says people follow their own best interests.

Mainstream economics uses rational choice explanations for understanding individual decisions.

Individuals make economic decisions based on an assessment of their own best interests.

[The boldfaced words indicate the high level of meaningthe concept on which you have focused your gaze. That concept becomes the focal point of the summary.]

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.3 Academic Summary: The Knowledge Hierarchy

When reading and writing academic summaries, in most cases we first abstract the general concepts. Depending on how much time we have, we may work our way to concrete facts at the lower levels.

High level =
Abstract concepts General principles Overall theories

Middle level =
Broad examples Possible results

Low level = Specific examples Actual results

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.4 Liberating the High- and Middle-level Concepts

Yet great changes were about to take place. They began in China during the Song dynasty. Although the Song paid huge sums of money for defense, commerce expanded. Various changes had occurred before 1000 which enabled China to shift from a command economy in which government officials set prices to a market economy in which prices were determined by supply and demand. In 611 the Grand Canal was completed linking the northern and southern cities. Canals served the same function a railroads in a later age. China developed regional trade network between the north and south via rivers and canals. A new kind of fast ripening rice was introduced in South China. Peasants could plant, harvest, and sell two crops a year. Grain was shipped north to trade for products like iron. The Chinese adopted Korean moveable type. Print technology made paper money possible. Since paper money could be transported more easily and exchanged for gold or silver in another market town, more people traded over longer distances. A credit system developed. The government switched from collecting grain for taxes to accepting cash for tax payments. By the Song period millions of ordinary peasants were able to sell their products, pay taxes in money, and use what was left over to buy things they neededtools, clothes and household utensils. Export of porcelain, silks, spices and other luxury goods also flourished. Chinese ships journeyed to Srivijaya, a Southeast Asian empire, for spices and the dominate economy. Print increased demands for books with practical information to improve everyday farming, knowledge of medicines, and mathematics. The lives of ordinary Chinese changed as an economy with modern characteristics expanded rapidly. This was the beginning of a series of changes that led to the modern world.

1000 AD marked great changes in the Song dynasty Development of market economy from command economy Transportation infrastructure extended New credit and tax system established Peasants have access to more goods Quality of life increasing Practical knowledge widespread because of printing technology Medicine, agriculture and mathematics education widespread. Birth of modern China

The origins of modern China can be traced to the first millennium. A market-based economy was established by the Song dynasty, with many of the tax, infrastructure, and technological features still used today.

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.5 So Tell Me the Secrets to this Extraordinary Technique! 1. Use the full name and title of the article you are summarizing in your first sentence. (Helps orient reader immediately.) Give a broad, high-level description of the source materials scope and research purpose in the first or second sentence. (Also helps orient reader.) Use narrowing signals as you work your way through lower level concepts. These help the reader focus on different components of the summarized material without forgetting the overall scope

2.

3.

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.6 Extraordinary Technique (con't) Examples of narrowing signals:

One aspect of this research is Another example of Among many problems is the question of

All such introductory clauses help readers anticipate where you are going, and remind them of where youve been.

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Topic 4.7 Extraordinary Technique (con't) 4. Use linking words and phrases to signal continuity and transition over the whole summary. (Keeps reader from forgetting the thrust.)

Examples of linking phrases:

Smiths study also shows Smith goes on to surmise The article further suggests

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Topic 4.8 Extraordinary Technique (conclusion) 5. Enforce the boundaries between what the summary says (i.e., its truth-claims) and your own ultimate goals and needs.

Examples of boundary keeping:

Smith claims According to the article

These highlighted words signal to the reader that your orientation toward the summarized material is not one of blind faith, but of critical distance

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.90 So Let's Try to Make Your Implicit Critical Stance More Obvious to Your Reader! (Some Tips) 1. Evaluate the summarized materials logic:

Are there weak connections in the reasoning? Are there strong connections in the reasoning? Is it hard to reconstruct the reasoning? Is it easy to reconstruct the reasoning?

Use signaling expressions in your summary that tell the reader of such findings. It is difficult/easy to see how Smiths discussion of

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.91 Your Critical Stance (con't) 2. Ask yourself, What does this article NOT tell us?

What is the other side of its argument? What views does the article support but perhaps does not state? If somebody wanted to oppose this argument, what might they say?

Use signaling expressions to announce these findings: Although Smith notes. The authors do not tell us if We might surmise that

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TOPIC 4: DEFINING AND SUMMARIZING

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Topic 4.92 Your Critical Stance (con't) 3. Dont forget the high level concepts:

How well does the material contribute to the general research topic you have selected? Are there any larger issues to which this material does/does not contribute?

Use signaling expressions to show links to broader issues and ideas: Smith among the first to have studied this His research project restricts its focus to the study of

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TOPIC 5: COHERENCE AND ORGANIZATION

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Topic 5.1 Let's Review Where We've Been (Part 2) We found that summaries were organized according to certain generic rules:

High and middle level (abstract) concepts are privileged. Low-level concepts are used selectively. Sequence of summary does not necessarily follow the sequence of the summarized material. Author tags, repetition, and signaling expressions are used to orient reader.

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TOPIC 5: COHERENCE AND ORGANIZATION

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Topic 5.2 Incoherence

Sometimes I worry that I left the stove on. A friend I trust once told me I tend to babble. At this point in the day Im starting to think about dinner. The absence of a dialogue between us invites my digressions. I cant always see whats on the overhead.

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TOPIC 5: COHERENCE AND ORGANIZATION

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Topic 5.3 Coherence It would be easy for me to become incoherent during these lectures because

Sometimes I worry that I left the stove on. A friend I trust once told me I tend to babble. At this point in the day Im starting to think about dinner. The absence of a dialogue between us invites my digressions. I cant always see whats on the overhead.

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Topic 5.4 Topic Sentence Tips for Academic Genres

The highest level topic sentence in your essay is the thesis. It needs to be reasserted vigorously every now and then, especially if there is a great deal of lower-level material intervening. The next level of topic sentences occur in each subsection and/or in paragraphs, usually at the beginning of the paragraph. They need to be reasserted less frequently, and then often in the context of the next high-level topic. These reassertions allow you to carry along high level meaning throughout the essay.

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TOPIC 5: COHERENCE AND ORGANIZATION

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Topic 5.5 Topic Sentence Tips for Academic Genres (con't)

Based on the generic expectations of academic readers, paragraph breaks tend to coincide with new topics (i.e., as new high or mid level concepts are introduced). As long as low level concepts can be made coherent by the current paragraphs topic sentence, you need not create a new paragraph.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.1 Coordination Lets just polish that paragraph a bit to improve transitions between the coordinating sentences: 1) It would be easy for me to become incoherent during these lectures. 2) The biggest mental challenge is that the absence of a dialogue between us invites my digressions. But from a practical standpoint, I cant always see whats on the overhead. Also, sometimes I worry I left the stove on, and, to tell you the truth, at this point in the day Im starting to think about dinner.

2)

2) 2)

[Note that we can, of course, make coordinate sentences into coordinate clauses.]

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.2 The Coordinate Relationship Coordinating sentences express a list-like relation.

And, but, or - type connections.

And stresses similarities between equal elements. But contrasts equal elements. Or establishes alternatives between equal elements.

Note: there are lots of other words that can substitute (also, however, nor, etc.). [Moreover,] no words are necessarily required to have these coordinating relations apply.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.3 Example of Subordination 1) The process of learning is essential to our lives. 2) All higher animals seek it deliberately. 3) They are inquisitive and they experiment. 4) An experiment is a sort of trial run to test an action in the real world. 5) The scientist experiments and the fox cub plays; both are learning to correct their errors in a setting that is not fatal. 6) Perhaps this lack of threat is what gives them both their air of happiness and freedom in these activities.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.4 The Subordinate Relationship Subordinate sentences express unequal relations.

Because or for express cause-effect relationships. So subordinates examples or other evidence to a conclusion. The colon signals a list of objects that belong to a general class.

Note: there are lots of other words that can substitute (thus, for example, etc.). Moreover, no words are necessarily required to have these coordinating relations apply.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.5 1) Hackers are regarded by otherswith considerable ambivalence. 2) On the one hand, the lives of hackers epitomize the values on which America was founded: 3) they are independent of rules and regulations, they embody the qualities of individualism and ingenuity2) On the other hand, they are marginal to North American society. 3) Many participate in the underground economy, a fact that is not lost on law enforcement. 4) Most instructive is a letter cited by Smith that expresses their resentment5) Lets jail em, he says. Coherence check: read any sentence x: is the one that follows (y) subordinated to it? If not, is y properly coordinated with sentence xs superordinate sentence. To ensure proper coordination and subordination, you must guide the reader up and down the levels through transition and linking words.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.6 How to Compare Concepts

involves finding relevant points of comparison between two or more data sets. the points of comparison are usually found by looking at lower-level material and noting differences and resemblances. yet you often cant see those points of comparison unless youve already defined the high-level concept(s). such concepts become your hypothesis about how the data might relate.

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.7 Two Basic Organizational Strategies for Comparing a Debate, Disagreement, or Difference in Perspective

Divided Pattern Position For High level concept x High level concept y High level concept z

Position Against High level concept x High level concept y High level concept z Conclusionsyours

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TOPIC 6: COMPARING

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Topic 6.8

Alternating Pattern High level concept x For Against High level concept y For Against High level concept z For Against Conclusionsyours!

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TOPIC 7: ACADEMIC STYLES

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Topic 7.1 Same Event, Different Genre

The night before the referendum, Mr. Chretien met with key advisors to discuss strategy. --a news report Well past the point of no return, the P.M. continued to butt heads with his own inner circle on issues that should have been settled long before. --an opinion piece Exhausted but unwilling to leave any stone unturned, Chretien and his advisors worked deep into the night to ensure the outcome he knew in his heart most Quebecois craved. --an authorized biography

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Topic 7.2 Example Original: The origins of gender differences in styles of interaction can be traced to the traditional roles that relegate women to the domestic realm and men to the economic marketplace, and although these roles have changed to some extent in our society, the social norms of interaction they have created remain to complicate and thwart social change. Plain Language Translation: Men and women still do the same things theyve always done because society makes it hard to do anything else.

Q: What gets lost in translation?

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TOPIC 7: ACADEMIC STYLES

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Topic 7.3 Noun Phrases One of the key features of academic style that contributes to complexity is its heavy use of noun phrases and a corresponding minimal use of verbs. This is also known as nominal style. E.g., contemporary large-scale human migrations (instead of migrations by humans that are big and are occurring today) transnational migration circuit (instead of a circuit of migration between nations) game-theoretic bargaining models (instead of models based on bargaining behavior as described in game theory)

In all three cases, we see a noun absorbing adjectives, other nouns, and whole predicates.

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Topic 7.4 An Example

The desire for discrete categorical community memberships is a product of academic needs... rather than the ambiguous, changing, and pragmatic perceptions of migrants themselves.

Notice how italicized modifiers in the noun phrases help narrow and classify the major core concepts.

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Topic 7.5 Example (continued) You can paraphrase, restate, or summarize complex nominals to help your audience: The desire for discrete categorical community memberships is a product of academic needs... rather than the ambiguous, changing, and pragmatic perceptions of migrants themselves. In other words, researchers impose their own notions of community on their subjects, who may have no rigid sense of community at all. This kind of restatement is very helpful for your readersespecially when it comes early in your paper.

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Topic 7.6 Sentence Constructions The nominal style may at first seem to work against sentence coherence. But it may also work for overall coherence, and thus make it easier to read individual sentences in the long run. Lets start with an example: Both the acclaimed analytical power and the oftnoted weaknesses of orthodox economic analysis owe much to the pervasive use of an AS IF transformation in economic reasoning. Q: Huh? What kind of weaknesses? What sort of transformation?...

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Topic 7.7 Passive and Active Sentences Another feature of many academic sub-genres is the use of passive constructions.

1. 2. 1. 2.

Byron wrote the poem. (active) The poem was written by Byron. (passive) We made a mistake. (active) A mistake was made. (passive)

Whats the difference? Passive means that the actual agent of the action is deemphasized. Along with the agent may go responsibility for the action.

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Topic 7.8 Our Pal, The Writer In some academic disciplines, the generic conventions permit a more conversational style: In these passages, Thoreau betrays the dual consciousness I think is characteristic of his work. We might describe this duality as taking the form of an alternating near- and far-sightedness: close up, with eyes focused on the minutiae of the world, nature and the built-world are continuous; but from a critical distance, culture (Thoreaus and ours) seems radically distinct from nature. Note that here the author alternates between I and we: whats the effect?

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Topic 7.9 Modalizing Reported Speech Words like typically, often, generally, for the most part, suggests, all work to modalize statements. They ensure that the statements do not tend to the universal, pushing the limits of knowledge too far, too fast.

In general, this suggests thatwomen have a comparatively greater advantage than men In the context of this study, therefore, the choicetheortic approach would draw attention to differentials in human capital endowments While culture is sometimes factored into neoclassical explanations as a potential constraint it is seldom explored in any systematic way

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TOPIC 8: RESEARCH ESSAYS

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Topic 8.1 So What Would a Good Introduction Look Like? Im glad you asked! An introduction in the academic genre

begins with an opening statement at an appropriate level of generality presents a series of statements that reviews the state of knowledge of the topic under discussion narrows to the level of the current research itself finishes with a preview of the research goals, methodology and/or description of the essays structure.

An introduction may be short or long; and it may vary slightly from this model (e.g., an expanded state of knowledge/background section that comes after the preview).

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TOPIC 8: RESEARCH ESSAYS

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Topic 8.2 The Funnel

The introduction begins broadly but, through an increasing subordination of ideas, leads the reader inexorably down to lowerlevel concepts.

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TOPIC 8: RESEARCH ESSAYS

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Topic 8.3 An Example Contemporary large-scale human migrations across national borders have affected very continent on the planet. (broad) Not surprisingly, anthropologists have sought to understand the significance of these movements for notions of community, nationalism, and identity. (narrow) Andersons (1983) notion of the imagined community has received particular attention in recent literature. (narrower) The purposes of this article are to examine contemporary notions of community in relation to international migration (goals)

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TOPIC 8: RESEARCH ESSAYS

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Topic 8.4 Conclusions Concluded Summation: We have tried to show that there are basic principles which are being shared and used in an anti-racist as well as a more racist discourse. Confirmation: My reading of the accounts given by the women workersleads me to conclude that Speculation: Had Bangladeshi immigrants found themselves in a more hospitable society, the negotiation process would probably have been very different. Contextualization: This, too, is a form of power that will increasingly inform anthropological theories... as anthropologists continue to work among the many displaced and mobile populations of the world. Continuation: We need more research analyzing and contesting the assumptions abut language underlying teaching methods which offer to cure all signs of conflict and struggle.

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TOPIC 8: RESEARCH ESSAYS

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Topic 8.5 Read and Write with a Critical "I"

Yes, academic writing creates new knowledge. But for who? For what reason? Whose interests are served by the new knowledge? Always read not just for content but for the big picture, the larger contexts within which the knowledge exists. Recognize that its a tough thing to doto take power for yourself by looking at academic writing, the university, and the world beyond critically when so often you seem to be rewarded for simply banking established facts. But remember: the university is not designed simply to be a training ground, a place to reproduce the established order. It is a place where you can critique that order, and pursue answers to questions that outside the university people are often too lazy or afraid to ask.

The Rhetoric of Academic Writing Professor Neil Randall

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TOPIC 9: INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC

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Meanings of Rhetoric

Popular meanings All available means of persuasion Symbols to induce social action The rhetorical situation Rhetoric is epistemic

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TOPIC 9: INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC

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Focal Points of Rhetoric

Invention Audience analysis Ethos and credibility Logos and argument Creating meaning

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Rhetoric in Everyday Language

Interpersonal communication Advertisements Newspapers and magazines Television Film Reports and summaries Institutional communication

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Rhetoric in Academic Writing

The thesis: having something to say The argument: supporting your thesis Ethos: demonstrate your understanding of the thesis and your ability to articulate it Applying existing knowledge Confirming or changing audience perceptions of the topic

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TOPIC 10: AUDIENCE

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Identifying Audience 1

For almost all academic papers, your audience is the people who grade your papers. Of course. But in English 109, since our concern is with the actual essay, rather than whether or not youve answered a question correctly, its a bit different. Your markers remain your primary audience. But you must tailor your argument to an external audience fully interested in the topic itself.

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TOPIC 10: AUDIENCE

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Identifying Audience 2

Determine the audience by reading other articles on the topic, or by recalling articles youve read in the past. Recall conversations youve had with others about the topic. Write about something that interests you, and write so that you would want to read your paper if it were written by someone else.

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Understanding Your Audience

Your external audience wants to know something new, or have confirmed what they already know. Your markers want you to demonstrate a progression in academic writing skills. Never underestimate either audience. Keep the requirements of each in mind at all times.

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Writing for Your Audience 1

Think, at all times, of who will be reading your paper. This does not mean that you have to tell them what they want to hear your argument can defy them. Make them listen, one way or the other. Plan, invent, write, and revise according to your audiences expectations and requirements. Remember that you are almost never your best audience do not write for yourself.

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Writing for Your Audience 2

Rhetoric demands that you cause change. Rarely is such change dramatic. Change can mean getting your audience to see a topic from very slightly different point of view. Or making them see two sides of an issue. Or giving them the tools necessary to argue a topic for themselves. Rhetoric can create knowledge. If you have something new to offer your audience, do so.

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TOPIC 11: ETHOS AND CREDIBILITY

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The Importance of Ethos

We seek advice from those whose advice we trust, those whose informed opinion might help us. Uninformed opinions are rarely useful, and are often harmful. We trust opinions from people we do not know only when we perceive those opinions as well considered or if the person has strong credentials. Ethos is about degrees of respect.

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Positive Ethos

Credibility Credentials Logic Sensitivity Eloquence Improvement Character

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TOPIC 11: ETHOS AND CREDIBILITY

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Negative Ethos

Opinions without basis Lack of articulateness Lack of credentials Lack of argumentative proofs Weak reputation Unwillingness to learn Poor preparation and non-logical conclusions

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TOPIC 11: ETHOS AND CREDIBILITY

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Ethos and Argument

Displaying sound background Arguing logically Anticipating counter-arguments Respecting other informed opinions Recognition of illogicalities Sensible conclusions Refusal to preach

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TOPIC 12: LOGOS AND ARGUMENT

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What is Argument?

Argument is the process of arriving at a conclusion about a specific thesis through the establishment of premises and conclusions that support that thesis. A thesis is an opinion, a point of view, a purposeful statement of existing knowledge, or a statement of making aware. There is no argument without thesis. There is no argument without division. Argument and discussion are two different things: related, but different.

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What is Important to Argument?

A workable, sustainable, supportable thesis. Sine qua non. Clear statement of premises, clear statement of relevance of premises. Logical conclusions from premises. Building of reader/listener anticipation of conclusion. Admission of possible illogicalities.

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Checking the Argument

Reread your thesis to make sure it still holds Plot out, on a separate paper, the path through the premises and individual conclusions to ensure that the argument makes sense. Reread the conclusion to ensure that it actually reflects the end of that path. Put yourself in the role of another person and try to poke holes in your argument. Realize that no argument is foolproof. There are always questionable parts. Even in Socrates famous syllogism.

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Article referred to on the audio tapes PROLOGUE: Is This a Frankenstein I See Before Me? *

I'm writing this on a Saturday morning in early 1996. My "office" is a portion of my unfinished basement, my desk an old kitchen table that happens to be large enough to hold the Pentium-based computer that represents the most expensive single piece of equipment in my entire house. Arguably, it's also the most valuable, especially when combined with a much cheaper piece of equipment, a small grey box known as a modem. What spurred me into this particular version of my prologue was a couple of articles in my morning newspaper. The paper happens to be Toronto's The Globe and Mail, but that's neither here nor there, especially since one of the articles was reprinted from The New York Times. The spur came mainly from the content of the articles, both of which were concerned with the Internet. "So what?" you might ask. You can't pick up a paper or a magazine these days, or even turn on the TV, without seeing something about the Internet. So what could possibly be so interesting about these two articles? The Net's old news, isn't it? Yes it is, and that's part of the point. The Internet is indeed old news, but it's constantly being written as new news as well. It's ubiquitous, and it's vastly overhyped, but it shows no signs of slowing down. It is, unquestionably, the hightech star of the '90s, having attracted business, media, governments, and social groups alike. Barring a collapse of enormous proportions, the hype might subside, but the interest will not. The Internet will remain in the news. But that's not really my point, either. Not in this prologue, at least. Instead, I'd like to take a close look at the content of the two feature articles. On the surface, there's nothing similar about them, but as we look closer we can see the Net's astonishing pervasivenessand the dangers and the excitement as well, as it spreads across the globe and into very nearly all walks of life. The first is labeled "Internet Racism," and it bears the headline, "Nazi hunters want to pull the plug on hate." Written by Peter H. Lewis for The New York Times, it reports on the efforts of the Simon Wiesenthal Center to ban racist and anti-Semitic messages and materials on the Net. This is hardly the first article to appear in newspapers about unrestricted hate materials on the Internet, but the involvement of the well-known Wiesenthal Center is certainly noteworthy. So, too, is the simple fact that Lewis' article, while perhaps alarming, is far from unusual. Throughout the second half of 1995, articles about Internet evils appeared with considerable regularity, to the extent that now, in 1996, they're practically expected in all the major news vehicles.

Neil Randall, The Soul of the Internet: Net Gods, Netizens, and the Wiring of the World, pp. xxvxxvIii. Copyright @ Neil Randall.

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The other article is much longer, and it's featured more prominently. On the front page of The Globe and Mail's sports section, we find a lengthy report called "Age of sports on the Web just dawning." The article explores the growing number of sports sites on the World Wide Web and discusses the increasing involvement of the "official" sports organizations in offering Web-based information. Lawyers for the professional sports leagues are set to prevent fan sites from using team logos and perhaps other types of information as well. In other words, the fans on the Web have become a threat to the potential for professional sports to make the maximum amount of money available. Let's take a close look at what these articles tell us about the state of the Internet in 1997. First, clearly, the Net has come to the attention of the world or, at least and this is importantto the attention of those nations of the world capable of sustaining high-technology development. Communications on the Net, once the concern almost exclusively of military and academic personnel, has now come under the scrutiny of the interest groups and governmental organizations who, until very recently, barely knew the Net even existed. For the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the United States Congress to raise the alarm about hate messages (and much else) means that the Internet has now become important enough to be seen as a threat to society. Or, at least, to some elements of society, and clearly some very large ones. John Lennon put himself in hot water 30 years ago by claiming that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ. Whether or not he was correct isn't the point; the comment offended a great many people, and the Beatles instantly became a threat to their society. Three decades later, the World Wide Web might very well have replaced the Beatles from the standpoint of sheer media drawing power, and the Net, like the Beatles back then, has gained global popularity. Lennon's point was that more people knew about the Beatles than about Jesus Christ, and given the number of non-Christian nations to which Beatlemania spread, that seems an incontestable point. Today's Internet has also expanded well beyond the geographical bounds of Christianity, and in that sense has also become "more popular than Jesus Christ." And, as a result, it too has become a threat, and not just to Christians. It has become a threat to Jews, to Muslims, to children, to moralists, to law-enforcers, and to a growing number of public interest groups. Of course, the Internet isn't the only technology in the latter half of the twentieth century to have become so popular that many perceive it as threatening. Television forged that path long before the Net was well-known enough to be mentioned in the same breath. Much like the Net, television was supposed to be a medium for education (the Net's focus was the sharing of research), and like the Net it quickly became a vehicle for trivial issues. But there's a profound difference between the threats imposed by television and those imposed by the Internet. While television is accused of eroding traditional values and implanting, especially in children, new obsessions with violence and mindlessness, the Net is far more directly interactive, far more capable of ongoing battles among real people expressing their real (or feigned) beliefs, and thus much more influential. In other words, TV is harmful, but at least it's passively harmful, and at least it's predictable, and at least it's regulated. The Net, by comparison, offers an active, constantly changing, unrestricted, 24hour playground, battleground, and merry-go-round. It threatens, because it's unlike anything the world has ever known.

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The sheer popularity of the Net is the true focus of the Web sports article as well. The professional sports leagues simply wouldn't care about the World Wide Web if thousands upon thousands of sports fans didn't use it every day to get their sports information. In the summer of 1994, I spoke with an executive at TSN, Canada's nationwide all-sports television station, about contracting me to build a Web site for the station. His response was to ask, very sensibly it seemed to me, why he would want a Web site when he already had a national TV network. During 1994, I suspect many similar ideas were proposed to other companies but barely considered. In most cases, and certain with TSN, the Web site has since become a reality (although I wasn't the builder, alas', as it has with ESPN in the United States and all major professional sports leagues in North America and increasingly in Europe as well. What does this mean? Simply put, it means that the Web has become too popular for professional sports or any other business to ignore. Whatever the reality of Internet-based commerce, business has flocked to the World Wide Web with an almost obsessive degree of fascination. At this point, businesses see the Web primarily as a marketing tool, but a marketing tool with a differencethis is real-time marketing, and it's as much about information as it is about selling. Which is to say, in essence, that the Web is about both giving things away and getting people to pay for something related. That is the enormous challenge of the Web, and it remains almost totally unfulfilled. The success of the public offerings of the stocks of companies who specialize in Internet software or servicesNetscape Communications is the primary exampledemonstrates as clearly as anything else that investors see the Internet as a major technological leader for the foreseeable future, even though they have no idea what that future holds, and even though none of the newly public companies had, at the time of the initial offering, made anything even approaching a profit. The mysterious lure of the Internet has changed not only business's way of seeing things, but in many ways its ways of doing things as well. For what does it mean to conduct business over the Net? What does it mean to conduct hate campaigns over the Net? What does it mean to distribute pornography, stalk children, and defraud readers over the Net? Or, for that matter, what does it mean to entertain over the Net? To educate over the Net? To build community over the Net? To engage in activism over the Net? To fall in love over the Net?

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Article referred to on the audio tapes AFTERWORD* Working within somebody else's secondary world (to use Tolkien's term) is almost as difficult as inventing your own. It shouldn't be. At least, that's what I kept telling myself as I worked through this book. David Drake's Arthurian England, it seemed to me, should be relatively easy to incorporate into a sequel because it is not a wholly invented world. Books of history, books of speculation, poems, novels, songsall are available to the researcher. What, I asked myself, could possibly be left to the imagination? Everything, as it turns out. Two problems became apparent right from the beginning. First was the staggering amount of research David Drake had done for The Dragon Lord itself. I don't think it's possible to read that novel without feeling somewhat in awe of the sheer realism of the setting. And I mean all aspects of that setting, from the vivid descriptions of landscapes to the detailed accounts of arms, armor, and buildings. Add to this Drake's obvious knowledge of the period's warfare and you have a very difficult act to follow. The second problem, like the first, is reflected in Drake's introduction to this book. There are many literary sources for the Arthurian age and, in the end, many becomes too many: Chretien de Troyes, the Gawain poet, Thomas Malory, Alfred Lord Tennyson, T. H. White, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Parke Godwin, and many anonymous authors. Where do you stop reading? All have different angles on the Arthur legend, and all are convincing in their own ways. The critic Harold Bloom has written of the anxiety of influence, where each writer tries to outwrite his or her predecessor. Surely, an author who attempts to retell the Arthurian sagas has as much anxiety as any author anywhere. There is just so much, and a lot of it is good. I solved these two problems in the only way I knew. I couldn't match Drake's brilliant research, and the great quests had already been told, by authors far more able than I. After considerable anxiety and even more influence, I decided to write my own Arthurian story, sticking as close to Drake as I could but bringing in ideas that interest me. Where Drake is obviously fascinated by the history of the period, I am more interested in the legends, the myths. The question of Arthur's historical existence has never really concerned me, because he exists today. For me, that is all that matters. David Drake's detailed world is absorbing and brilliantly drawn, but my concern is with the Round Table and the Holy Grail. Once I realized that, things got a little easier. I knew that I wanted to write about a quest for the Grail, but I wanted to avoid Arthur's legendary involvement in it, because Drake's Arthur is not the great, good prince of the early stories. My Arthur would want the Grail for selfish reasons, mostly to gain power. What power, though? First, the power to destroy the Saxons, thereby keeping the story inside Drake's realm. Second, the power to unitein a sensethe old tribes and the new against the Saxons. Arthur's role as a link between the ancient and the modern particularly interested me,
*

Neil Randall, Storm of Dust: A Crossroads Adventure in the World of David Drakes Dragon Lord, pp. 242-245. Copyright @ Neil Randall.

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especially since I had just finished reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. So I needed a Grail story that would link the old world with the new. From there, it grew easier still. As I found out by looking at several books of mythology, the Grail is, in Christian legend, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, but variations of it exist throughout Celtic mythology. Arthur is supposed to have stolen a cauldron owned by Diwrnach the Irishman and, in a Welsh poem, he takes a cauldron from the lord of Annwn, the underworld. I decided to incorporate all of these themes into my story, but the real clincher was the cauldron of the god Bran. This cauldron restored the dead to life. Bran, also called the Blessed, was a patron of the arts and is the true and good King of Britain. His sister was Branwen (the daughter of Llyr), who tragically married the king of Ireland. Add the fact that the number three was important to both the Celts and the Christians; the idea that Bran was the original Fisher King (a name also applied to Christ); and the notion that Uther Pendragon, father of Arthur, is supposed to have been buried at Stonehenge, and you have the origins of my story. Of course, the reader need know none of this. The background was necessary for me to provide a feel for the mythology. What I hope, above all else, is that the mythological basis of my story complements the extremely strong historical basis of David Drake's. If it does, and if it draws the reader back to the original book, then I have succeeded. There were other considerations in the writing of his book. The first was how to build in Mael and Starkad, The Dragon Lord's highly memorable major characters. I definitely wanted them in the story; readers of the original would feel cheated without them. So I gave them several major sections, trying to make their presence essential to the book's atmosphere. It's possible to avoid them, at least to some extent, but doing so robs the reader of an interesting part of the story. The second problem was one I have noticed in many books of this type. I wanted to provide an enjoyable reading no matter which paths the reader chose. Multiple path books are by nature restrictive, demanding a certain course of action to achieve the desired ending. To a degree, this is unavoidable, but I wanted to allow several interesting ways of arriving at valid endings. The reader can miss large sections of text as a result of choosing a particular action, but it also means that the book can be re-read, I hope several times. That, I think, is the true wish of every author.

The Grammar Appendix Professor Murray McArthur

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Parts of Speech Nouns: name persons, places, things, ideas or qualities usually substitute for nouns and function as nouns express actions, occurrences, or states of being finite, non-finite (verbals) describe or modify nouns or pronouns describe or modify verbs, adjectives, other verbs, or whole groups of words link words, phrases and clauses coordinating, subordinating relate nouns or pronouns to other words in a sentence express feeling or command attention, either alone or in a sentence

Pronouns:

Verbs:

Adjectives:

Adverbs:

Conjunctions:

Prepositions:

Interjections:

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Nouns Words that designate person, place, thing, quality, action or idea Problems: 1. Plurals: in most cases add -s: cats If the plural makes an extra syllable, add -es: bushes If the plural is irregular, look it up. 2. Possessives If singular, add -s: boys If plural, add -: boys A prepositional phrase is usually better for inanimate objects.

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Pronouns (1) Words substituted for nouns The noun to which the pronoun refers is called an antecedent. Problems: Ambiguous reference (a) the antecedent is not clear Unclear: Bob first met Ray when he was a student. Bob first met Ray when Bob was a student. Bob first met Ray when Ray was a student.

Clearer:

(b) demonstrative pronoun alone as the subject of the sentence Unclear: The home team won the game in the last minute. This was not expected. The home team won the game in the last minute. This late result was not expected

Clearer:

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Pronouns (2) 1. Relative pronouns: who, that, which (a) who refers to people; that and which refer to the rest Students who need assistance should contact the registrar. 2. (b) Cases of who (i) who is the subject form Who can say? (ii) whose is the possessive, not whos John, whose essay finally won the prize, worked very hard on his drafts. (iii) whom is the object form To whom did you give the money?

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Pronouns (3) 3. One used as a pronoun Awkward: Thus, one can see that when one reflects on ones writing one notes that writing is difficult. All writers know that writing is difficult.

Better:

4.

Gender of general reference nouns When a student comes to Waterloo, he finds (a) pluralize when possible When students come to Waterloo, they (b) use a formula like he or she When a student comes to Waterloo, he or she

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Verbs Terms used to describe verbs: Form: the spelling of the verb that conveys time, mood, and other information the time of the verbs action present, past, future the attitude of the verbs speaker or writer indicative, imperative, subjunctive the distinction between the active, in which the subject performs the verbs action, and the passive, in which the subject is acted upon the verb form that reflects whether the subject is speaking, spoken to, or spoken about the verb form that reflects whether the subject is singular, or plural

Tense:

Mood:

Voice:

Person:

Number:

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Verbs (2) Problems: 1. Use the correct form of regular and irregular verbs. (Consult the appropriate chapter in your text book for these five points.) Use the appropriate tense of verbs. Use the subjunctive verb forms appropriately. Use the appropriate person and number. Use the appropriate VOICE.

2. 3. 4. 5.

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Verbs Voice (3) (a) Verbs that indicate action have an active or passive voice. Active voice: Mary chose Waterloo for its engineering program. Waterloo was chosen by Mary for its engineering program.

Passive voice:

An over reliance on the passive voice weakens your writing and leads to grammatical errors. (b) Verbs that indicate states are linking verbs: is, was, were are the major forms; others are seems, feels, sounds. Linking: Waterloo is a superb University.

An over reliance on the linking verb also weakens your writing.

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Verbs (4) (ii) Trying to convert actions into states weakens your writing. Weak/Passive: Weak/Linking: Waterloo was chosen by Mary Waterloo was the one chosen by Mary.

Waterloo was the one that was chosen by Mary. Strong/Active: Mary chose Waterloo.

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Verbals Words derived from verbs to function as nouns or modifiers Infinitives, Participles, Gerunds

Infinitives:

to jump, to write, to be To learn to write well is the purpose of this course.

Participles: present: jumping, writing: past: jumped, written While writing the grammar test, I felt a great peace descend on me. Gerunds: jumping, writing My writing improved dramatically during the course.

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Verbals (2) Problems: (1) Verbals cannot function as the verb or predicate of a sentence. Incorrect: The problem being a lack of student interest. The problem was a lack of student interest. To be the best possible writer and the greatest student. I would like to be the best possible writer and the greatest student.

Correct:

Incorrect:

Correct:

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Adjectives/Adverbs Adjectives: words that modify nouns The wise student chooses the best University. Adverbs: words that modify verbs, adjectives or adverbs That student drives quickly. That car is extremely fast. Students learn grammar very quickly.

Conjunctive Adverbs: words that link ideas within a sentence or between sentences John hated grammar; nevertheless he studied parts of speech intensely. Mary grew tired of grammar exercises. She found, however, that the repetition improved both her knowledge and writing.

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Conjunctions function words that connect words, phrases, clauses Coordinating, Subordinating Correlatives Coordinating: join equal things John and Mary may not be able to identify a conjunctive adverb, but they use them all the time. and, but, yet, or, for, nor Subordinating: show relationships I enjoy grammar because the definitions are so clear. Correlatives: either or neither nor just as so

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Prepositions function words that show the relation of a noun to the rest of the sentence For the first time, Mary could name all the parts of speech.

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Interjections words that show an exclamatory intention: usually inappropriate in formal writing Wow! Grammar is really fun.

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Functions Parts of Speech: what words are in themselves Functions: how words function in any particular sentence

Subject, Verb, Object, Complement, Modifier Subject: the noun or noun equivalent that governs the verb

(a) noun: The committee gave Mary the prize. (b) pronoun: We approved of the choice. (c) gerund: Writing is my favourite activity. (d) infinitive: To write is to suffer. (e) noun clause: Whoever was interested, was invited.

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Functions (2) Verb: the word or group of words that describe the action or the state of the subject The Jays will win. The Red Sox should be playing in the circus. The pennant race will have been decided by that time.

Rules: Grammar: ALL SENTENCES MUST HAVE A VERB Style: THE STRENGTH OF THE SUBJECTVERB AXIS DETERMINES THE STRENGTH OF THE SENTENCE.

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Functions (3) Objects: with active or transitive verbs, the object completes the sentence

(a) Direct Object: answers the question what? or whom? The Jays won the pennant. (b) Indirect Object: answers the question to what? or to whom? Robbie threw John a perfect pitch.

Complements:

with a linking verb, a complement completes the statement

(a) predicate noun Mary is a student. (b) predicate adjective Mary will be happy.

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Modifiers elements of the sentence that modify a main sentence component (subject--verb--object or complement) 1. 2. Adjectives Adverbs

Modifiers Can Be Single Words Huck happily wore an old hat. Phrases Life on a raft was an opportunity for adventure. Huck Finn rode the raft by choice. Clauses The raft was on a river that was deep and wide. Huck and Jim rafted when the sun had gone down.

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Phrases and Clauses Phrase: a group of related words connected to a sentence by a preposition or a verbal

1.

Prepositional phrase: consists of a preposition (in, for, from, at, etc.) and a noun or noun equivalent and whatever modifiers it may have. Prepositional phrases function as modifiers. For twenty years, the committee from Engineering has made that choice.

2.

Participle phrase: consists of a participle plus related words. Participle phrases function as modifiers. Seeing this problem, I decided to find a solution. The winner, chosen for her great skill, was happy. The book containing the marked passage is on the desk.

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Phrases and Clauses (2) 3. Gerund phrase: consists of gerunds and related words. Gerund phrases can fulfill the same functions as nouns. Writing my first essay will be my primary goal this week. 4. Infinitive phrase: consists of infinitives and related words. Infinitive phrases can fulfill the same functions as nouns. My goal is to improve my writing.

Rule: PHRASES DO NOT HAVE A SUBJECT OR A VERB; THEY CANNOT STAND ALONE AS SENTENCES.

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Phrases and Clauses (3) Clauses: contain both a subject and a predicate, and can be independent or subordinate. Only an independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.

1.

Independent or main clause: makes a complete statement, contains a subject and a predicate, and can stand alone as a sentence. The sky darkened.

2.

Subordinate or dependent clause: like a main or independent clause, contains a subject and a predicate, except that it begins with a subordinating word, and it cannot stand alone as a sentence. When the sky darkened, we ran inside.

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Sentence Patterns Predicate

1. Subject The earth
Subject

Verb (intransitive) trembled.

Verb (transitive) Direct object

2.

The earthquake
3. Subject

destroyed chaos.

the city.
Subject complement: noun or adjective

Verb (linking)

The result 4.

was

Subject The government

Verb (transitive) Indirect object sent the city

Direct object aids.

5.

Subject

Verb (transitive)

The considered citizens

Direct object noun or adj. the earthquake

Object complement a disaster.

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Sentence Types 1. Simple sentence: one main or independent clause. Mary chose Waterloo for its Engineering program. The committee and the department both agreed on the principle and voted for its adoption. The first student, chosen for her ability, performed superbly on the examination and won the award. 2. Compound sentence: two or more main clauses. I did not follow the professors guide to punctuation, and I am now a sadder, but wiser writer. Good writing must be both correct and strong: grammar governs the rules of correct usage; style dictates the rules for strong sentences.

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Sentence Types (2) 3. Complex sentences: one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Mary won the award because her answers were more insightful. The person who makes that decision will be here on Friday. Although I never used the semi-colon before, I now realize that I must master this pearl of punctuation. 4. Compound-complex sentence: two or more main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. The student came to the place of examination; he saw the multitude of assembled questions; he conquered all of the verbals and clauses that were put before him. The decision must be made soon, but the committee that has the power to decide will not meet until Thursday.

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Punctuation Comma: 1. to punctuate a series or list of three or more elements Sentence functions include subjects, verbs, objects (direct and indirect), complements, and modifiers. Grammar tests are exhilarating, thrilling, yet peaceful experiences. 2. to set off introductory sentence elements (a) prepositional phrases In the fall of my freshman year at Waterloo, I learned the true meaning of the semi-colon. (b) participle phrases Derided by many, grammar is still essential to good writing. (c) subordinate clauses Although I struggled with parts of speech, I found great satisfaction in mastering verbals.

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Punctuation (2) 3. to coordinate independent clauses in compound sentences I followed the rules for punctuation, and my writing improved. 4. to set off appositives (a noun or noun equivalent placed beside another noun to supplement its meaning) John, my teaching assistant, instructed us in the higher mysteries of punctuation. 5. to set off non-restrictive modifying phrases or clauses (see your textbook) The Conservatives, who supported the Bill, should be condemned. The Conservatives who supported the Bill should be condemned.

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Punctuation (3) 6. to set off conjunctive adverbs You will find, however, that good grammar is profitable in the end. Therefore, I have undertaken a study of participles. Gerunds are difficult, however. 7. to set off disjunctive phrases (sentence interrupters) Of course, I never dangle my participles. Verbals, after all, are the most difficult part of speech to identify.

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Punctuation (4) Semi-Colon: 1. to coordinate main clauses without other connectives (i.e. coordinating conjunctions) Hamlet leaps into the grave; he wrestles with death, the dark foeman. Hamlet struggles with his courage; Claudius grapples with his conscience; Guildenstern slips on the steep slope of his incomprehension. 2. to coordinate main clauses with a conjunctive adverb Ophelia cannot take her place in the action; instead, she dwindles into watery madness. Hamlet leaps headlong into the grave; he finds, however, only an empty skull.

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Punctuation (5) 3. to punctuate a list with internal punctuation Three people remain on stage: Polonius, that fatuous old man; Claudius, the cruel king; Gertrude, his confused and troubled queen.

Colon: 1. to introduce a list (as above) RULE: do not separate verb and object or complement with a colon. The cast includes: a policeman, a lawyer, and a teacher. 2. to coordinate main clauses when the first anticipates the following Hamlet sees only one solution: he has to kill the king. Hamlet finds himself suspended between two loyalties: he must obey the ghost, his king and father; he must also obey his conscience, his last and only hope for a rational solution.

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Sentence Errors 1. Sentence fragment: a construction punctuated as a sentence that is not a complete grammatical unit. To be complete, a sentence must contain one main or independent clause. Although the idea was a good one. The first of our problems being a lack of supplies and the second a lack of ideas. 2. Subject-verb agreement: disagreement of subject and verb in number. Grammar and style is my favourite subjects. My major concern are commas. A verb agrees with its subject, not its complement or object. Commas are my concern. 3. Misplaced modifier: placement of modifier makes modification ambiguous or absurd. The professor made it clear why plagiarism is wrong on Monday.

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4.

Dangling participle: participle phrase modifies nothing within the sentence. Skating down left wing, the puck was shot high on the glove side. A participle phrase modifies something; therefore it should stand beside the thing it modifies. If it does not, the phrase is misplaced. If the modified is absent, then the phrase dangles.

5.

Comma splice: two main clauses joined with only a comma. The semi-colon changed my life, it has enabled me to meet new people, improve my marks, and make more money.

6.

Fused sentence: two or more main clauses joined without any connectives. I thought I would be bored by grammar I found however that it was the highlight of my week.

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7.

Pronoun reference: antecedent of pronouns ambiguous or unclear. After the student yelled at the teacher, he felt despondent.

8.

Split infinitive: an adverb or adverb phrase intervenes between the two words of an infinitive: Writers should learn to imaginatively punctuate their sentences.

9.

Anticipating construction (stylistic fault): the grammatical subject of the sentence merely anticipates the real subject of the sentence. It is Pips pride that is the problem in Great Expectations. It is the just fate of old grammarians to become young stylists.