e-prime - View Single Post - Agency and E-Prime

Tim Lyons · 02-14-2008, 05:20 AM

I find, in my work with students, that they use "to be" more or less constantly, generally after sentence-subjects that we would probably categorize as high-level abstractions. For example, "The program which is in progress is something we should continue." Or some such. We can replace this with something like, "This program seems to me like something to continue," and we've complied with the "rules" of e-prime but haven't improved the sense much. We might try, then, to find the operation that lies behind the assertion. Perhaps if we continue the program, more people will come to our restaurant, or vote for the Republicans, or laugh heartily until their sides ache, or whatever. So though when we speak about e-prime we often focus on the verb of the sentence, we should also look at the subject. High level abstractions generally don't take actions. (What, for example, does freedom DO?) Lower level abstractions often do. (Free people protest this and that.) Someone once coined the term "agent prose." I advise my students to write it and have designed some assignments to encourage them to do so. After nearly 20 years of teaching in a state university, I've concluded that if students wrote more agent-generated prose, they would a) have an easier time making the points they wish to make, and b) use "to be" a lot less, often without trying to do so.

02-14-2008, 05:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
Tim Lyons Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4	Agency and E-Prime I find, in my work with students, that they use "to be" more or less constantly, generally after sentence-subjects that we would probably categorize as high-level abstractions. For example, "The program which is in progress is something we should continue." Or some such. We can replace this with something like, "This program seems to me like something to continue," and we've complied with the "rules" of e-prime but haven't improved the sense much. We might try, then, to find the operation that lies behind the assertion. Perhaps if we continue the program, more people will come to our restaurant, or vote for the Republicans, or laugh heartily until their sides ache, or whatever. So though when we speak about e-prime we often focus on the verb of the sentence, we should also look at the subject. High level abstractions generally don't take actions. (What, for example, does freedom DO?) Lower level abstractions often do. (Free people protest this and that.) Someone once coined the term "agent prose." I advise my students to write it and have designed some assignments to encourage them to do so. After nearly 20 years of teaching in a state university, I've concluded that if students wrote more agent-generated prose, they would a) have an easier time making the points they wish to make, and b) use "to be" a lot less, often without trying to do so.