Text level grammar is concerned with how language operates in constructing the text. Each text type has a particular structure which correlates with its purpose; for example, the narrative has a basic structure of orientation, complication, resolution and coda. The structure, of course, varies with the text type of which there are several. [Please refer to the WebCT Grammar Support Course for a detailed treatment.]
A further consideration is the choice of language deliberately made by the writer, that is: what nouns, verbs and tenses are being used? [Already dealt with above in 6.1] Add to this: How is the material divided into paragraphs? What length is each paragraph? Why does each paragraph deal only with a single topic? Further, how can a flow of ideas be achieved?
In addition, each paragraph contains a topic sentence, usually the opening sentence. It indicates what will be discussed in the paragraph and is followed by description, explanations, definitions, supporting evidence, depending on the purpose of the text.
Returning to the idea of flow in the paragraph, one needs to consider what is called theme which is the beginning of the clause in the first sentence of the paragraph. There is, in fact, a theme in every sentence in the paragraph. These may continue the theme in the first sentence or show how that theme is being developed in the paragraph.
Example:
That night Joseph [topic][theme] told his mother that he was feeling tired and went to bed early. [topic sentence] He [theme] waited patiently in the darkness until he heard the television in the living room being switched off and windows being latched shut. The house [theme] slowly settled into silence and Joseph let another hour pass before he decided that it was safe to venture from his room.
[Michael Gerard Bauer: The Running Man, p. 215]
Analysis:
The opening sentence of the paragraph above is the topic sentence. The topic is also the same as the theme, ‘That night Joseph’. The remainder of the sentence from the verb onwards, ‘told his mother that he was feeling tired and went to bed early’ is the control. It tells the reader that the paragraph is going to be both about Joseph and how he told his mother that he was tired and going to bed early and what happened after that.
The theme of the second sentence is ‘he’. So the second sentence is continuing the theme of the first which is ‘Joseph’.
In the third sentence the theme changes. The focus is now placed on ‘the house’ which at the end of the previous sentence was obliquely referred to through ‘the television in the living room’ and ‘windows being latched shut.’
The whole paragraph is dealing with one aspect - Joseph waiting in the night for silence to descend upon the house. Now let us turn to the paragraph that immediately follows.
He [theme] [topic] didn’t really know if what he was doing was right or wrong – [topic sentence] in fact he [theme] didn’t even want to think about it at all. He [theme] just knew that he had to see Tom Leyton, had to meet him face to face, not hide behind a silly drawing like a scared child. He [theme] knew also that Caroline would not be there, and for the first time he and Tom Leyton would be alone.
[Michael Gerard Bauer: The Running Man, p.215]
Analysis:
Again the topic is identical with the theme and the control starts with ‘didn’t really know’ and continues to the end of the next clause, at the words, ‘right or wrong’. A flow of thought has been achieved between the first and second paragraphs by the use of the personal pronoun ‘he’ which is referring back to Joseph. However, it is a new topic. Now Joseph is not waiting in the dark for the house to be silent but is looking at what he intends to do and is unconcerned about its moral consequences, if any. Notice that the theme of the first sentence, ‘he’ is repeated twice, so that the writer has achieved cohesiveness of thought throughout the paragraph and everything, in fact, refers back to the word, ‘Joseph’ in the first paragraph.
Again we have the whole paragraph dealing with one aspect, a different one from the paragraph preceding it. Here Joseph is thinking about his resolve to meet Tom Leyton openly and alone.
Note that the length of the two paragraphs is identical. This fact reflects the order and consistency of Joseph’s strategies and thoughts.
Cohesion occurs in writing when the author has linked ideas in, between and throughout the paragraphs with the use of one or several devices. In so doing, he/she has achieved coherence. We have already shown in the examples of paragraphing above how the use of the pronoun, especially the personal pronoun, links the ideas back to the noun/person which/who is of interest and is in the foreground, such as Joseph above. Think particularly of the demonstrative or pointing out pronouns, this, that, these, those.
Example:
The rows of houses came to an abrupt end and the open fields stretched before him. These [demonstrative/pointing out pronoun] were dotted with grazing sheep and the occasional tree. [‘These’ is not only the theme of the new sentence but it links back to ‘the open fields’ at the end of the first sentence.
There are several other referral and linking devices, such as: the definite article, words which replace verb or noun groups, or whole clauses.
The Definite Article
Examples:
A red-faced boy stood out in front of the class. He obviously was in trouble and seemed unable to answer any of the questions the teacher was asking him. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a large piece of plaster fell from the ceiling. The terrified boy just managed to leap aside as the piece came hurtling down amid a cloud of dust.
[The sentence above began with the indefinite article, ‘a’ before ‘red-faced boy’. The use of the definite article, ‘the’ before ‘terrified boy’ refers back to the noun, ’boy’ previously introduced and achieves linkage or cohesion.]
Replacement of verb/noun groups and clauses
I told them to catch the ferry at Circular Quay and they did. [This word replaces ‘to catch…’, an example of cohesion.] She had chocolates and nuts in a cellophane wrapper and my mouth watered for some. [This word replaces ‘chocolates and nuts’, an example of cohesion.]
“The three students failed their exam,” she said. “He merely replied, “I thought so.” [This word replaces the whole of the previous clause/statement, ‘The three students failed their exam’, an example of cohesion.]
The writer can also make links with a device known as word associations which consists of devices such as: repetition, synonyms, antonyms, collocation and word sets as explained below:
Repetition
Examples:
She told us how Grandmother was Hindu and not Muslim, had never known Allah; How she was Brahmin and her family was Brahmin and did not eat the food we ate, did not talk to the people we talked to. She told us how strong Grandmother was, so strong and sure that she had not done what her parents said was right but had left them and had married a bad Brahmin . . .
[Mena Abdullah and Ray Mathew: The Time of the Peacock, p.32.]
[The word, ‘grandmother’ is repeated and helps to keep clarity of meaning. As well, the writer repeats the word, “Brahmin” twice. This repetition emphasizes the distance that exists between the speaker who is Muslim and her grandmother. There is also a repetition of clause construction: ‘did not eat the food we ate, did not talk to the people we talked to’ This balanced reproduction again is strongly underlining the difference between Grandmother and the speaker. The word, ‘strong’ referring to the grandmother is also repeated and underlines the idea that this grandmother is no ordinary woman.]
Synonyms
With the use of synonyms the writer can build up a series of pictures.
Example:
The creek wound round the paddock and spread its waters over the flat lower surfaces below. Then it plunged, a waterfall, spilling into the large black hole that seemed so endless to the small child who believed that he had found a great river that made its way into endless caverns below, just like the story his uncle told him of Kubla Khan.
[The passage begins with the word, ‘creek’ and the writer refers back to it three times – ‘waters’, ‘waterfall’, ‘river’. The writer, by using these synonyms, has created, not only a linkage but given a picture of the creek meandering to its end as an imaginative passage of a large body of water.]
Antonyms
With the use of antonyms the writer can achieve balanced contrasts.
Example:
In the soft light of the garden, the suntanned newcomer wandered aimlessly along the numbered, winding paths intersecting among lush green lawns. The upturned faces of daisies and dahlias within the crush of blues and pinks and taller hollyhocks, in unbelievable abundance, were strange companions to her. Her verandah back home overlooked the burnt grasses in the harsh light of a summer’s day. The few distant trees highlighted the scarcity of vegetation elsewhere, and endless tracks criss-crossed the surface of the plain. These were familiar; all these were her friends, not this artificial display!
[All the antonyms are printed in italics. Their presence in the passage provides the contrast the writer is trying to achieve between an English country garden and an Australian outback station – ‘the soft light’ against ‘the harsh light’, ‘numbered, winding paths in contrast to ‘endless tracks criss-crossed’, ‘lush green lawns against ‘burnt grasses’, ‘abundance’ against ‘scarcity’, ‘strange’ against ‘familiar’.]
Collocation
In a piece of writing, one can find groups of words that describe/denote things and persons that usually occur together in situations [collocation].
Example:
It was an agreeable idea; easily carried out, and when the white cloth was spread upon the grass, with hot tea and buttered toast and crumpets, a delightfully hungry meal was eaten, and several birds on domestic errands passed to inquire what was going on and were led into investigating crumbs with great activity.
[Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden, p.186.]
Here Burnett has put together nouns that usually occur together in a context.
The children in the story are having a typical English afternoon tea [picnic] on the grass and the usual ingredients are there from the ‘white cloth’ to ‘hot tea and buttered toast and crumpets’. It is, indeed, to the hungry children a ‘meal’, and, of course, as the meal progresses, they drop ‘crumbs’ as they eat.
Word Sets
Word sets refer to groups of words that have a special connection. They form a relationship or maybe a class or sub-class.
Example:
The dog put its paws on the table and looked mournfully up at its owner with its large brown eyes. Its sadness quickly translated into joy at the touch of the owner’s hand patting its head and smoothing down its fur. Its tail wagged contentedly.
In the above example, the ‘dog’ is the whole and its parts are: ‘paws’, ‘eyes’, ‘head’, ‘fur’ and ‘tail’.
Text Connectives
These refer to words/phrases which assist a flow of ideas between/among sentences. [Refer to the Grammar Support for further detail.]
Example:
We rested at the base of the hill, putting our haversacks on the ground. At this moment a cry rang out across the road. We all turned suddenly to see who it was and saw a man coming from under the trees and waving excitedly. Then, breathless, he caught up with us and told us to go no further. Meanwhile, a car came speeding down the road and came to a halt right beside the stranger. “Take no notice of him,” said the newcomer in the car. “He imagines things.” Accordingly he stepped from the car and grabbed the first man roughly by the collar and pushed him into the car.
All the words/phrases in italics are connectives. They are pushing the events forward and connecting what happened in a preceding sentence to the one that follows.
Modality refers to the way the writer refers to action as having a degree of certainty or obligation which can be expressed through verbs, nouns adjectives and adverbs. Fowler [1986] describes modality as:
the grammar of explicit comment, the means by which people express their degree of commitment to the truth of the proposition they utter, and their views on the desirability or otherwise of the states of affairs referred to.
[p.131]
Examples:
The donkey could carry the load if you strapped it to its back. [verb] [low modality]
I shall try to do my homework. [verb] [high modality]
They should drop in to see us today. [verb] [medium modality]
There is a requirement for the miners to check out each day. [noun]
The necessary equipment is in the basket. [adjective]
He certainly never comes here. [adverb]
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