PRACTICAL GRAMMAR 4 Handout 1

INFORMATION STRUCTURE

BASIC CONCEPTS
Unmarked focus-DEFINITION: __________________________________________________________
1. APPROPRIATENESS AT A GIVEN POINT OF TEXT/DISCOURSE Marked focus-DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________
Fitch took the stairs to the first floor of the building and was met there by his How can such focus effects be achieved in writing?
driver, a large man named Jose. Together they approached the conference room.
(a) Which of the following sentences could be used to continue the story? Subject (S), Theme (Th), Topic (T)
Try to work out the definitions of these concepts by analysing the set of
(a) a) The door was opened by Fitch without knocking.
sentences below:
(b) What Fitch opened was the door.
(a) [The Prime Minister]S, T, Th stepped off the plane.
(c) It was the door that Fitch opened without knocking.
(d) It was Fitch who opened the door without knocking. (b) [[There]S emerged]Th from the cave [a huge bear]T.
(e) The door, Fitch opened it without knocking. (c) [In the morning]Th, [he]S, T stopped abruptly.
(f) What Fitch did was open the door without knocking.
(d) [Once upon a time]Th, [there]S lived [an old witch]T
(g) Fitch opened the door without knocking.
(h) There was a door that Fitch opened. Can you define the three concepts yet?
(i) Open the door, Fitch did. Subject-DEF. ________________________________________________
(j) Without knocking, Fitch opened the door. ________________________________________________
adapted from: J.Grisham, The Runaway Jury Theme-DEF ________________________________________________
2. SOME TOOLS FOR ANALYSING DISCOURSE ________________________________________________
Topic-DEF. ________________________________________________
Focus of information
________________________________________________
Ask appropriate questions in order to elicit focus on the elements marked below.
Two examples are provided. Why is it less easy for the ones in the right column? Can you label these sentences in a similar fashion?
(e) Worst of all was the lack of fresh water.
(No,) [ they]3 [are]2 [building]1 [a FLYover]4
[They are [ building [ a FLYover] ] ]
1 2 3
(f’) Najgorszy był brak świeżej wody.
Q1: …………………………………….. ? 1
Q : …………………………………….. ? (f’’) Brak świeżej wody był najgorszy.
Q2: What are they doing? Q2: …………………………………….. ? Translate these sentences into Polish (or into your mother tongue if you
don’t speak Polish) or English as appropriate. Any comments?
Q3: …………………………………….. ? Q3: …………………………………….. ?
(g) W pudełku jest diament.  ________________________
Q4: Are they building the bridge? (h) Diament jest w pudełku.  ________________________
(i) The boy got on the bus.  ________________________
unmarked focus marked focus
(j) A boy got on the bus.  ________________________
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PRACTICAL GRAMMAR 4 Handout 1
INFORMATION STRUCTURE

Theme vs. Rheme, Unmarked vs. Marked Themes [A]

(a) I can’t stand the noise. 1) There was a lot of splashing and noise, because there were three or four
girls and several boys in the pool (*itself)
(b) The noise I can’t stand.
2) There were three or four girls and several boys in the pool (?itself), all
(c) It’s the noise I can’t stand.
splashing and making a lot of noise
(d) What I can’t stand is the noise
3) It was three or four girls and several boys in the pool (*itself) who were
(e) The noise, I can’t stand it. splashing and making a lot of noise
(f) Alice went home.
4) Three or four girls and several boys in the pool (*itself) were splashing and
(g) Did Alice go home? making a lot of noise
(h) Where did Alice go? 5) Three or four girls and several boys were splashing and making a lot of
(i) Let’s go home! noise in the pool (?itself)
(j) Go home! 6) In the pool itself there were three or four girls and several boys, all
(k) Home Alice went. splashing and making a lot of noise
(l) Home did Alice go? [B]
(m) Alice went where? 1) I didn’t know the boys
(n) You go home! 2) the boys I didn’t know
Rheme-DEF. _________________________________________ 3) the ones I didn’t know were the boys
Unmarked Theme-DEF. _________________________________________ 4) the identity of the boys remained obscure
Marked Theme-DEF. _________________________________________
Can you motivate your choice and the rejection of the other options, using
HOMEWORK: EXTRA PRACTICE the concepts introduced so far?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Choose the best option from those listed below to improve the two items,
[A] and [B] in this extract from Roald Dahl’s ‘Man from the South’ (Someone _____________________________________________________________________________
Like You, Penguin Books 1970, p.35): _____________________________________________________________________________
There were plenty of deck-chairs around the swimming-pool and there were
_____________________________________________________________________________
white tables and huge brightly coloured umbrellas and sunburned men and
women sitting around in bathing suits. [A] All splashing about and making a lot _____________________________________________________________________________
of noise and throwing a large rubber ball at one another in the pool itself were _____________________________________________________________________________
three or four girls and several boys. I stood watching them. The girls were
_____________________________________________________________________________
English girls from the hotel, [B] it was the boys I didn’t know, but they sounded
American and I thought they were probably cadets from the US training naval _____________________________________________________________________________
vessel which had arrived in harbour that morning. _____________________________________________________________________________
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 PRACTICAL GRAMMAR 4 Handout 1
INFORMATION STRUCTURE

THREE PRINCIPLES OF DISCOURSE 3. Philip adored discourse…

GIVEN - NEW / END FOCUS (a) He kept talking about the structure of information.
(b) It was information structure that made him smack his lips.
Task: compare these two versions of the same text. Which version do you
4. Defeated by his supporters, (a) he turned to his former enemies.
think flows more naturally? How are the two versions different in terms of
(b) they turned to his former enemies.
the presentation of information?
Ver. 1 Norma has had a terrible four years. Someone stole her car and set it on Strategies of Topic preservation
fire in 1995. Two of her toes had to be amputated the year after that. A road
Task: the three extracts below illustrate three different techniques of Topic
accident killed her husband in 1997. The other driver’s carelessness was the cause
preservation. Can you see which is which?
of the crash. A storm damaged her house earlier this year.
(A) The Prime Minister stepped off the plane. She was immediately surrounded
Ver. 2 Norma has had a terrible four years. In 1995 her car was stolen and set on by journalists, but she refused to answer any questions. She climbed into a
fire. The year after that she had to have two of her toes amputated. In 1997 her waiting car and sped away.
husband was killed in a road accident. The cause of the crash was the other driver’s
carelessness. Earlier this year her house was damaged by a storm. (B) My grandma’s house was a small one. Behind it there was a small garden. At
the end of the garden stood a pale ghastly figure. He held a gun in his hand. The
gun was loaded.
The unmarked sequencing of information within a sentence is from ___________ to
___________ . This allows for ___________ information to receive End Focus. (c) St Vincent is 3 miles long and 2 miles wide. The coast is lined with palm trees,
while the interior is covered with misty mountains. The economy depends on
bananas. The people are poor but friendly.
Task: Improve the flow of the following extract, written by a pre-
intermediate student. Note the source(s) of its basic problem.
My grandmother’s house was a small one with two bedrooms and a sitting room. A [X] derived themes progression: macro-topic
large garden was behind the house. My grandfather had planted a lot of flowers in
the garden. Hyacinths and roses were these flowers.
TH1
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
TH2 TH3 TH4
TOPIC CONTINUITY (PRESERVATION)
Task: In each of the following items, choose the more naturally flowing [Y] continuous progression:
continuation. How do you decide?
th1 __ rh1  th1 __ rh2  th1 __ rh3  th1 __ rh4.
1. (a) What happened to Ann? (c) He (=Joe) married Ann.
(b) What happened to Joe? (d) She (=Ann) married Joe.
2. The picture mysteriously disappeared.
[Z] linear progression:
(a) It was later found in a Brazilian millionaire’s collection.
(b) A private detective found the painting later in a Brazilian millionaire’s Th1 ___ rh1  Th2 ___ rh2  Th3 ___ rh3  th4.....etc.
collection.

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PRACTICAL GRAMMAR 4 Handout 1
INFORMATION STRUCTURE

END-WEIGHT
Task: Analyse the following sets of examples. Note the relative length of
the phrases that appear towards the end.
1. (a) A man appeared carrying a puppy in his trembling hands.
(b) ? A man carrying a puppy in his trembling hands appeared.
(c) A man appeared.
2. (a) ? How willing to undertake such tremendous responsibility is he?
(b) How willing is he to undertake such tremendous responsibility?
3. (a) ? Everyone except the infuriated prima donna with her bodyguards
left.
(b) Everyone left except the infuriated prima donna with her
bodyguards.
(c) Everyone except her left as had been planned prior to the event.
(d) ?? Everyone left as had been planned prior to the event except her.
4. (a) He nervously inquired where the book was.
(b) * He nervously inquired where was the book.
5. (a) ?? He nervously inquired where the book that he had lent me the
other day was.
(b) He nervously inquired where the book was that he had lent me the
other day.
(c) He nervously inquired where was the book that he had lent me the
other day.
Discuss this set of sentences, using the three Principles of Discourse:
1. Yesterday I saw Alfred’s new cat. The beast is all black.
How does the listener (or reader) know that ‘cat’ and ‘beast’ are one and the same
thing?
2. What causes asthma?
(a) Allergens cause it. (b) It is caused by allergens.
Why is one of the continuations not natural, given the original question?
3. (a) What he’ll do is study music. (b) What he’ll study is music.
How is the speaker’s state of knowledge different in these two situations?
4. Shakespeare wrote The Tempest in 1611.
How can we put more emphasis on the date?
5. (a) It’s impossible that Roger could have committed such a crime.
(b) That Roger could have committed such a crime is impossible.
Which of these two is more likely to appear with an exclamation mark?
6. Question: _________________? Answer: He showed his drawings to Ann.
Question: _________________? Answer: He showed Ann his drawings.
7. They struggled up the mountains on hands and knees.

All things being equal, long, heavy phrases tend to appear towards the _________ of How to put more emphasis on the struggle?
a sentence. This tendency is often described as the principle of ______ Weight. 8. The starter’s pistol went off and the runners sped away.
Which of the following sentences do not comply with the three Principles of How to achieve a more dramatic effect?
Discourse:
9. A: Oh, I hear that Tom’s been admitted to the City Hospital.
[a] The castle stands on a hill [c] On the hill stands the castle. B: (who’s convinced that actually Tom has been admitted to the Western
[b] A castle stands on a hill. [d] On the hill stands a castle. Hospital) No, _______________________________________ !
in sum: 10. “We don’t want empty words, ________________________ !”

There are two privileged positions in the sentence, whose functions differ: The speaker wants immediate action. How should (s)he continue to get a maximal
effect?
[1] _____________________
[2] _____________________
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PRACTICAL GRAMMAR 4 Handout 1
INFORMATION STRUCTURE

EXTRA PRACTICE 1 (b) It is said/ hoped/ intended

Go back to the examples of End Weight in Part 1 above. Sets (1) – (3) provide It is said that she lived to be over a hundred.
examples of the so-called Postponement construction. *That she lived to be over a hundred is said
PostponementDEF - a part of a heavy constituent is transferred to the end (with (c) It’s high time/ a pity/ no use
no ‘copy’ left behind)
It’s a pity (that) they can't be friends.
What about the following examples? Discuss the similarities and differences. * That they can't be friends is a pity
(1a) That he changed the time of the meeting without telling us is annoying. Rarely, an NP/NP+relative clause can be extraposed, as illustrated below:
(1b) It is annoying that he changed the time of the meeting without telling us.
1. It surprises me, his insolence.
(2a) That he was guilty was obvious to his wife.
(2b) It was obvious to his wife that he was guilty. 2. It surprises me the amount of work (that) he can get through.
(3a) How much this child eats is unbelievable! 3. It’s unbelievable the lengths (that) some people are prepared to go to.
(3b) It’s unbelievable how much this child eats.
EXTRA PRACTICE 2
(4a) ? To interfere in such a delicate situation would be unwise.
(4b) It would be unwise to interfere in such a delicate situation. Improve the flow of information in the following fragment of a text about
Finland.
There are 80,000 lakes in Finland. More people are now concerned about them.
 The variants in (b) also display ‘movement’ of a ____________________ clause Chemicals have polluted most of the larger lakes. A Finnish government report
towards _______________________ to satisfy ______________________________________. recently confirmed that.
 But, the word _______________ (as if a grammatical ‘copy’) is found in the
logical position of the phrase that appears later in the sentence. EXTRA PRACTICE 3
[a] Decide on the best sequence for the five sentences about manufacturing.
[b] Re-write the sentences as one paragraph, changing the information
order within the sentences if appropriate.
Extraposition
[1] So the prices of many goods are now lower because of computerisation.
[2] The more economical use of raw materials is one of these changes.
Note that Extraposition is obligatory after the following (in the absence of
[3] Computers are an essential part of manufacturing industry.
other constituents):
[4] In addition, faster manufacturing processes have resulted from their
(a) It appears/ seems/ happens/ looks as if
introduction.
It seemed that he was determined to oppose her.
[5] Improvements in production have been made possible by computers.
*That he was determined to oppose her seemed.