AS/A2 English Language and Literature

WORKING WITH GRAMMAR CLAUSES

Clause analysis is a powerful tool for showing how a writer organises the information in a text in order to create specific effects. Being aware of the options available when constructing clauses can also improve your own writing. Constructing clauses Exercise 1 (on your own) Clauses are constructed by joining together words and phrases. Make four different clauses by joining together some of the words and phrases below:

with a soft chuckle used to know in the garden ate unpredictably unfortunate under the bed the doctor yesterday is a bald chicken this cheese pie

his grey hat was has forgotten my great aunt Blossom another young soldier gave clutched made may have been watching put very unusual indeed delicious

e.g. Yesterday | a bald chicken | ate | the doctor. Analysing clauses When we analyse a clause we break it down into its different elements. Clauses are made up of one or more of the following elements : SUBJECT VERB OBJECT COMPLEMENT ADVERBIAL These elements are often referred to by their initial letters for short:

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SVOCA

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The following table explains more about each element: what is means, which grammatical units can perform the role, and some examples.

Element Subject

What meaning does it convey? Identifies who or what is performing the action Describes the action, process or state in the clause. Identifies who or what is affected by the action. Gives information about the subject or object.

What can perform this role? Usually nouns, noun phrases and pronouns A verb or verb phrase

Examples Tigers growl. The students fell asleep. I bit my tongue. He gnawed the table. You are late. I may have to go out. He kicked the TV She gave me the gun. Im the president. Im happy. My brain is grey and squishy. They snored loudly. She spoke very sharply. Im going to heaven. I swam this morning.

Verb

Object Complement

Adverbial

Gives information about how, when and where the action (verb) takes place.

Usually nouns, noun phrases and pronouns Mostly: Nouns & noun phrases. Adjectives & adjective phrases. Mostly: Adverbs & adverb phrases. Prepositional phrases. Some nouns & noun phrases.

The spider diagram below is a good way of analysing clause structure:

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S =
Who? What?

Who? What?

= O

Find the verb/verb phrase (V)

4
How? When? Where?

What kind of S or O?

= C

5
Exercise 2 (on your own)

= A

Using the diagram, label the different elements of your new clauses. Eg Yesterday a bald chicken ate the doctor. 1. Find the verb 2. Ask who or what ate? 3. Ask a bald chicken ate who or what? 4. Ask what kind of bald chicken or doctor? 5. Ask a bald chicken ate the doctor how, when or where? Analysis = = = = ate a bald chicken the doctor label V label S label O

n/a

n/a

yesterday

label A

A S V O Yesterday | a bald chicken | ate | the doctor

Seven basic clause types There are seven basic clause types. These seven patterns of S, V, O, C and A

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elements account for the majority of clauses: S+V S+V+O S+V+C S+V+A S +V+O+O S+V+O+C S+V+O+A Josh / yawned. He / rubbed / his head. He / was / hung-over. He / stumbled / into the kitchen. His flatmate / gave / him / a cup of coffee. He / called / Josh / a hopeless fool. Josh / held / his head / in his hands.

Exercise 3 (in pairs) Using the words and phrases from the list on page 1, produce two examples of each of the seven basic clause types (14 clauses in total). Exercise 4 (on your own)

Create a short piece of writing of nine clauses using the A3 handout from your teacher. Here is an example:

clause 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

subject I It All those grown men I I I They One defender That

verb hate drives kicking loved was left hated called ended

object football. me a ball it

complement mad.

adverbial

in a field. when I was a kid. a winger. for dead. a w----r.

defenders my guts. me my career.

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Swap your piece of writing with the person next to you. Have the words and phrases gone into the right boxes?

Required and optional clause elements The verb element is always required and the subject element nearly always required, especially in writing. The other elements (O, C and A) may or may not be needed, depending on what information you wish to communicate. The most flexible element is the adverbial. It can take up various positions in a clause; you can even have number of adverbials in a single clause. A S V O A With a soft chuckle / the doctor / ate / my Great Aunt Blossum / in the garden.

Exercise 5 (on your own) Construct three more clauses from the words and phrases on page 1, using two or more adverbials in each clause. Label the different elements in each clause. Try to vary the positions of the adverbials.

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Using clause analysis to disambiguate

The word ambiguous means having an obscure or double meaning. The following sentence has two possible meanings: They are cooking apples. Doing clause analysis can help spell out what the two possible meanings are, especially if the modifiers and head words in each phrase are labeled:

S V O h m h h 1. They / are cooking / apples. S V C h h m h 2. They / are / cooking apples.

Can you see the two meanings?

Exercise 6 (in pairs) Use clause analysis to explain the two possible meanings in each of the following examples, clearly labelling the clause elements (SVOCA):

The boy has polished shoes. Picasso made that statue in London. The boy saw the man with the telescope. The detective followed the girl in the taxi.

(Extension activity: create some examples of your own.)

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Varying clause types to create effects Look at the following passage: Jenny saw Baron. A flash of metal caught her eye. The man was holding a gun. Jenny shouted a warning. Baron dropped his gun and raised his arms This short passage illustrates how SVO clauses are the core unit of narrative action, where the main concern is the relationship between the agent or causer of an event and the person or thing affected. However, without something else happening linguistically this would get boringly repetitive. Good writers add atmosphere by adding optional adverbials: Jenny saw Baron in a doorway. Suddenly, a flash of metal caught her eye. The man was holding a gun. Jenny shouted a warning. Baron reluctantly dropped his gun and slowly raised his arms More interest can be added by inserting SVs and SVCs to vary the pace. Here is the basic text with SVs and SVCs inserted at appropriate points: Jenny saw the foreign agent, and froze. A flash of metal caught her eye. The man was holding a gun. Jenny grimaced. This was no game. She shouted a warning. Baron wasnt a fool. He raised his arms Of course in a real story, writers would do both things at once. The important point to note is that different structures serve different purposes: SVO provides the core of an action narrative SVA and optional adverbials provide dramatic context. SV and SVC are good for atmospheric scene-setting and character description. Exercise 7 (on your own) Rewrite the narrative above using all the different clause types to produce a fluent, varied, attention-grabbing passage. (Have a look at how John Grisham does it in the passage below before you start.) The opening paragraph of Chapter 34 of John Grishams novel The Firm: Wednesday morning. Terry Ross climbed the stairs to the fourth floor of the Phoenix Inn. He paused on the landing outside the hall door and caught his breath. Sweat beaded across his eyebrows. He removed the dark sunglasses and wiped his face with the sleeve

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of his overcoat. Nausea hit below the belt, and he leaned on the stair rail. He dropped the empty briefcase on the concrete and sat on the bottom step. His hands shook like severe palsy, and he wanted to cry. He clutched his stomach and tried not to vomit. Varying clause structure to create effects You can create effects by varying the structure of the clauses themselves, putting the elements (SVOCA) into more unusual combinations. Here are four ways of doing this: Technique
Fronting Bringing to the front of the clause an element which does not normally go there. Postponement Putting something at the end of a clause which does not normally go there (requires an anticipatory it to fill the place of the original element that has been postponed). Inversion Changing the order of subject and verb (VS instead of the usual SV). Cleft sentences Adding the construction It was or It is at the beginning of a clause.

Examples
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...(ASVO) Rich, I want to be! (CSV) Its very nice, Paris. It wont help anything, crying your eyes out. Its gone, your last hope. It is important that you proof-read carefully. In goes Rooney for a hard tackle. (AVSA) Down came the rain. (AVS) It was Cole who scored an own goal. (focus on S) It was an own goal which Cole scored. (focus on O)

Effect
Brings increased focus to an element that usually goes after the verb (eg fronting adverbials for scene-setting) Brings special focus to an element that normally comes at the beginning. Can also add clarity to lengthy clauses (That you proofread carefully is important is awkward). Similar to fronting, but emphasises S as well which now comes after V (a double focussing effect). Enables you to spotlight a particular element in a clause.

Exercise 8 (on your own) Produce a short first-person narrative, setting a scene and creating tension (it can be autobiographical or imaginary, or a mixture of the two). Experiment with some of the techniques above to create effects. Add a short commentary, explaining your language choices and their effects. Aim for 500 words (250 for your text, 250 for your commentary). Example I turned the corner and there he was. My heart stopped. Gary, his name was. Gary, the most fearsome bully in the school. Out shot his arm. It was my throat he was grabbing for. I ducked, spun around and bolted... I have fronted the adverbial in there he was(ASV) in order to dramatise the bullys sudden appearance. I also use fronting to emphasise the bullys name: Gary, his name

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was (CSV), making him seem more powerful. I have inverted the normal SV structure in Out shot his arm (AVS). This creates a double focus on both the suddenness of the action and the bullys arm and enhances the impact of the dynamic verb shot with its connotations of violence. My use of a cleft sentence brings the object of the clause (my throat) into special focus; this conveys my sense of vulnerability more expressively.

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