| Subject: Re: For all 6B boys |
Author:
passer-by A
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Date Posted: 15:50:57 01/18/04 Sun
In reply to:
B~
's message, "For all 6B boys" on 21:46:37 01/16/04 Fri
>Please allow me to say something here.
I'm not at any side but just interested in the message posted here which arouses a lot of argument among students.
People may argue that there is no problem about grammar concerning that message. Indeed, you are right. However, a passage or chunks of sentences put together require more than just grammaticality. Consistency in formality is one kind which falls within writing style. I believe what the people argue about the awkwardness of the message lies here. Since the target readers of the message are senior students and the purpose of posting it is to inform students in an informal channel, it is assumed that informal writing style is used to express that purpose. What we see here is mixed syles -- informal as well as formal. That's one difficuly non-native English speakers try hard to cope with. Take the message as an instance, 'Concerning' is a good word to start with a matter, however,when we keep reading the whole paragraph, we might find that there is barely a word compatible with it in terms of formal style. It makes the whole word stands alone and sounds strange. If we use the word 'About' to start the paragraph, it might be more acceptable. Just like what I show you in that paragraph, I use 'chunks' in that close-to-formal paragraph, you might feel uncomfortable to read that word as it is slightly informal.
Second, 'illustrations' shown in the same paragraph does not arouse any grammar problem. Yet, we found similar words appear before it, 'pictures' and 'videos'. These three words all express the same media -- visuality. Moreover, 'illustrations' means pictures or videos (any visual aids) you use to help explain some textual products. Naturally it seems odd to find something repetitive here.
The phrase 'produce a project' sounds strange because the verb and the noun are not a good pair. We tend to more accept the verb 'do'. Again, this is about colloguial use. There may be some kind of hypothetical explanation but I think it may take long to explain.
Lastly, 'Use your creativity to make your presentation more lively!' stands out as one paragraph which makes the whole message quite funny. On the one hand, the tones of the sender are of encouraging and cordial so as to lessen the anxious and intimidated feelings caused by the teachers and the work. On the other hand, we might immediately feel like being threatened when we come across that sentence as it uses command style (use verb of command in the beginning)to address to the same group of people.
What I just opined may be unwelcomed to some people. I would like to apologize for any unpleasantness I arouse here.
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Re: 是Concerning about ,還是concerning?