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???? TEFF HAS Twelve years on WDC! FORUM keeps ADC records. |
Date:6/6/10 @ 12:04pmFrom:Valerie Jean /// SourceSubject:"Invalid Item"  June Newsletter  VOICE LESSONS By just4him     As I was walking past the park on my way home I saw a huge sign that read: Voice lessons in the park Saturday morning 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Bring your laptop. We will have fun and you will go home with a new voice. That is our promise and our guarantee.      A new voice I thought to myself as I hurried home. All my life my family had complained about my voice, well I'll show them. I'll be able to reach those high notes for sure by the end of day Saturday.      Saturday morning I hurried to the park and saw more signs. With laptop in hand I hurried to the lily pond in the center of this graceful park with centuries old oak, elm, and birch trees; playgrounds for children interspersed among the trees; along with games of horseshoes and bocce ball for young and old alike. I was almost late. I had tuned up my voice running through the octaves and measures before I left the house. I was sure I was in good form and ready.      I stopped when I saw a group of people, laptops open sitting comfortably on the ground or in chairs around the lily pond, all with their laptops ready to go. I found a spare blade of grass and sat on the blanket I brought with me and proceeded to open my laptop.      As I looked around, this didn't have the makings of the kind of voice lessons I had in mind. There was a large viewing screen, for the moment blank in front of the long rectangular shaped lily pond with its lily pads making a fascinating backdrop for whatever was about to take place. I watched two women come forward. One hit the projector button and a message flashed on the screen.      The two introduced themselves. "Good morning, my name is Passive Voice, and my sister is Active Voice. Today we are going to teach you all about what not to write, and how to make what you write sparkle with enthusiasm."      Okay, definitely not what I was expecting, but since I was a writer, hey I write letters once in a while, I even send them out. Does that qualify?      Active voice pointed to the screen. "I want you to direct your attention to the screen for the definition of Passive Voice." A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of the sentence.      "Passive Voice is going to show you some of her famous work. I want you to take her work and turn it into something you would see come from me, Active Voice."      Passive Voice joined her sister in front of the screen. "I'm going to show you one passive sentence at a time. Take the sentence and make it active." Cheese is always eaten by mice.      I studied the sentence with what I saw on the first screen. This was going to be easy. True or False: Planets are always aligned by the sun. Cars were stopped by the light. A javelin was thrown at David by King Saul. A hundred foot soldiers were stopped by grenades. American, British, and Canadian troops numbering 160,000 were seen storming the beaches of Normandy France on June 6, 1944. Traffic was stopped by police because there was an accident by a semi and a pick-up truck.      I studied each sentence against the definition of passive voice and turned each sentence into active voice. This was easier than I thought it would be. I would need to take a look at my letters before I sent them out to make sure I hadn't made any passive voice errors. Won't my friends by amazed by my newfound knowledge. Oh well, they might never notice. But I will. This is fun.      Active voice stood in front of the screen. "Wasn't that fun? Did you all get the sentences fixed to active voice? That's wonderful. Passive Voice will now show you some other forms of passive voice."      Active voice sat in one of the lawn chairs near the projector while Passive Voice stood beside the screen. "On the screen you see a box with the conjugation of passive voice as it relates to one sentence. It is important when writing not to fall into this trap. Your work will come back with all kinds of editor's marks on it."      I studied the box and realized how often I talked and wrote just like the examples shown. I made a mental note to make serious changes in my writing style. (While posting Val's June NL for the forum record --- Teff says: this part is better read in the original NL) Tense Subject Auxiliary Past Participle Singular Plural Present House/Houses is are designed Present perfect House/Houses has been have been designed Past House/Houses was were designed Past perfect House/Houses had been had been designed Future House/Houses will be will be designed Future perfect House/Houses will have been will have been designed Present progressive House/Houses is being are being designed Past progressive House/Houses was being were being designed      "Now we're going to change things up a bit. We're going to talk now about active voice starting with the definition of active voice. Look at the screen."      Passive Voice sat down and again Active Voice stood before them. Passive Voice pressed the button on the projector and the active voice definition popped up on the screen. In every sentence the subject performs the action.      "I'm going to give you a list of sentences. Tell me whether they are passive or active voice." Cars at the Indy 500 run over 200 miles per hour. This year's Kentucky Derby was won by Super Saver. It takes 365 days for the earth to travel around the sun. Weather forecasting is done by meteorologists. General Custer was met by Sioux warriors at the battle of the Little Big Horn. Gold was discovered in 1848 by James Wilson Marshall. Electricity was discovered by Benjamin Franklin.      Active Voice stood beside the projector and looked out at the sea of writers interested in learning how to write proper sentences. "Finished? Now for the next hour I want you to write a short story, no more than 750 words using only passive voice. Take one of the passive voice sentences on the screen. You can use any of the passive voice sentences we've discussed today."      I mulled over each of the sentences thinking about each one before I settled on one that sounded easy enough to write in passive voice. I realized the word count would be the hardest part as I began writing.      Active voice stood in front of us. "When you're done with your passive voice story, take another sentence, not the same one and write an active voice story of not more than 750 words." That meant I had to write two short stories or articles. I chewed the end of my index finger on my left hand wondering how I would get it all done in the time scheduled for this lesson. Times a wasting I better start writing something. |
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