(i) Click on each sentence in turn to see our grammatical analysis.
Our Conclusions:
Besides being pretty short, as we saw in task B, Steinbeck's sentences
are pretty simple. The last two sentences have only one main clause,
and so, in grammatical terms, are examples of what are called 'simple
sentences'. Sentences 1 and 2 are compound, or linked sentences, consisting
of two main clauses joined together by the conjunction 'and'. This MCl
& MCl structure, which is one of Steinbeck's favourite sentence
structures, is pretty simple in style terms (though not quite as simple
as sentences 4 and 5). Of course you could compound more than two clauses
together, but Steinbeck typically restricts himself to two main clauses
conjoined by 'and'. The only complexity in clause structure terms in
the passage comes in sentence 3, which has three brief adverbial clauses
embedded (or nested) inside the second main clause. Although this sentence
is more complex than the others, it is still pretty low down the complexity
scale compared with many other writers. So the grammatical analysis
confirms the overall feeling of simplicity we noted in task A. The majority
of predicators are 'be' verbs ('were', 'was'), helping to give the passage
its descriptive quality. There are no verbs of speech or thought and
little in the way of dynamic verbs either. The phrases are also pretty
simple structurally, confirming once again the overall feeling of simplicity
of the description.
Back to task
G
