Grammar 1

Austin Allen Mrs. Jobst AP Language 10 February 2012 Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Pronouns

Exercise 1: 1. Popular culture once provided us with a common vocabulary, but now we have a hard time keeping up with the jargon. 2. For runners to keep up their pace, they must pay attention to nutrition. 3. If we measure our country’s commitment to education by dollars allocated, we can see that it’s not our top priority. 4. Baseball fans pay so much attention to percentages that they almost always have a sense of the improbability or likelihood of an event actually happening. 5. Most of the time teachers try to tailor writing assignments to interest their students. Exercise 2: Brady includes “I” or “me” or “my” in every sentence, usually many times. In her essay, in which she emphasizes how ignored she feels, repetition of first person pronouns causes the reader to focus on her. She uses this strategy to show that she does indeed exist, and that she wants someone to listen to what she has to say. In addition, she incessantly repeats “I want”, because she is sick of tending to everyone else’s needs, and she wishes that people would consider her needs for once. The repetition she uses is on the verge of being hyperbolic, which helps to effectively prove her point.

Allen 2

Exercise 3: When Woolf switches from first person “I” and third person “woman,” she sets herself apart from the majority of women. In so doing, she creates an argument that is relevant to the lives of her readers, instead of writing all about herself. Because Woolf does not write completely in first person, she avoids sounding self-centered. Her tone, as a result, is not a personal one, but rather a more objective one. Exercise 4: Since Lewis is giving a speech, it makes sense that he would use the second person, directly addressing the audience. In his last sentence, he says “you” to emphasize that the next step relies on them; it is their responsibility. When he speaks of strong emotions, he takes responsibility: “I’m filled with rage.” He also admits his shortcomings, taking responsibility again: “I’m way out of my depth.” He uses plural pronouns when he wishes to include himself in and group himself with the audience: “We must find a way […] with every instrument at our collective command.”