The Little Red Schoolhouse
Session Four
The Grammar of Clarity:
Topic, Stress, & Strings
The University of Virginia
6
S
T
R
E
S
S
4
page 106
Clarity
Information Flow
The University of Virginia
LRS
Clarity
page 107
Information Flow
Sentence Topics
The Topic of a sentence is the particular word or
phrase on the page that the writer goes on to say
something about.
The Sentence Topic is often the grammatical subject of a sentence, but not
always. In this next sentence, the subject is we, but the sentence is “about”
the statute of limitations (the topic is capitalized):
In regard to THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, we must refer here to Squire.
The Sentence Topic is important to a reader’s sense of coherence. It
establishes a point of reference for the rest of the sentence. If that point of
reference is clear, simple, direct, and familiar, the reader starts out in
familiar territory. If that point of reference – the topic – is long, complex,
abstract, and new, the reader will be confused.
We must therefore combine the principles of Verb/Action and Subject/Agent
with another, in some ways more important principle of style:
fix ed
positions
TOPIC
INFORMATION
LEVE L
movable
information
fix ed
positions
movable
story
elements
LRS
Long / Complex
Short / Simple
OLD
Subject
NEW
Verb
Complement
SE NTE NCE
LEVE L
Character
Action
The University of Virginia
4S6
T
R
E
S
S
6
S
T
R
E
S
S
4
page 108
Clarity
Information Flow
Subjects and Topics
By Sentence Topic we do not mean something like the gist of a sentence, a general idea
that the writer is addressing. And we do not mean by Sentence Topic whatever might be
captured in the title of a document. In that sense, the “topic” of this handout is something
like “writing clearly and strategically.”
Instead, our definition of Sentence Topic is something very different. The Sentence Topic
is the position at the head of a sentence a sentence from which readers draw their clues
about :
THIS LETTER should confirm the arrangement recently made between First National Bank of
Oregon and your firm for meeting certain firm-related borrowing needs of the partners and, in
certain cases, the senior associates.
FNB OF OREGON has agreed, under certain circumstances, to make loans based on its Small
Business Prime Rate.
The Topic character of a sentence is usually the same as the subject of a sentence. The
Topic of this next sentence is China:
CHINA is on the verge of either an industrial explosion that will forever change world
commerce, or a population explosion that will forever change world ecology.
The sentence is “about” China. The writer puts forward the concept “China,” then says
something about it.
Sometimes, however, Subjects and Topics are not the same. Consider this sentence:
In regard to China, we can confidently predict that it is either on the verge of an industrial
explosion that will forever change. . .
This sentence is about China, but China is not its subject. The main subject of this
sentence is we. But the sentence is not “about” us. The sentence is “about” China. Now
consider this sentence:
We can confidently predict that China is either on the verge of an industrial explosion that will
forever change. . .
This sentence could be about “us,” given the right context: “You are really smart. You
predict all sorts of things. Tell me something about yourself. “ But on an ordinary
reading, the “psychological subject” is China.
Here’s the point: The more sharply and concisely you present the Topic/Subject of each
sentence, the more easily your reader can read that sentence.
When a writer constructs sentences with long subjects, she gives her reader complex and
difficult Topic/Subjects. And when she puts at the beginning of her sentences information
that doesn’t have much to do with her real topic, she makes it difficult for her reader to
follow her prose.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Clarity
page 109
Information Flow
Topic Position
The difference between Topic position and topic character is the difference
between a grammatical position present in all sentences and the word (or
phrase) filling that position in a particular sentence. Strictly speaking, a
Topic is a position or slot in every sentence, just as Subject is a position or
slot in a sentence. The Topic position is filled by words that we, loosely
speaking, call “the topic” of the sentence, just as the subject position is filled
by words that we, loosely speaking, call “the subject” of the sentence. In this
sentence, the subject position is filled by the words, “the subject position.”
Though we call those words the subject of the sentence, the subject is strictly
speaking the slot that those words happened to fill in that sentence.
A Complicating Clause
From our old friend, the Breton lai article:
a. Most romances centered on the concept of “amour courtois,” or courtly love,
and the development of the Breton lai was strongly influenced by the
exaggerated attitude toward love and chivalry that was expressed in the
courtly love tradition.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4S6
T
R
E
S
S
6
S
T
R
E
S
S
4
page 110
Clarity
Information Flow
Stress
1
a. He's rather strange, but people like him.
b. People like him, but he's rather strange.
2
a. Times are hard, but you deserve a raise.
b. You deserve a raise, but times are hard.
3
From a nursery's mail order catalog. The writer tries to stress the benefits
of newer varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, particularly for people who live
in the southwestern United States.
a. If the summer is hot and very dry, Kentucky bluegrass may go
dormant: the crown and roots will remain alive and capable of
regenerating the plant when moisture returns, although the leaves
will brown and die.
b. If the summer is hot and very dry, Kentucky bluegrass may go
dormant: although the leaves will brown and die, the crown and roots
will remain alive and capable of regenerating the plant when moisture
returns.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Clarity
page 111
Information Flow
4
A biographer examines the actions of Kim in relation to Lee. Does the
writer want us to admire Kim in spite of his faults?
In the episode as a whole Kim, who had previously disapproved of federal
action against libel, was more inconsistent than he could bring himself to
admit, but. . .
his actions are explicable in human as well as political terms and
they should certainly be viewed in their full setting of vexatious
circumstances.
Some allowance must be made for the fact that the contrast between Kim
and Lee was much less clear and sharp to them at the time than it now is
to those who view the two, but. . .
the man most responsible for the decision offers one of the most
flagrant American examples of putting the interest of part above
those of county.
Emphasis should be laid not on the weapons Kim used, but. . .
on the ends he sought.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4S6
T
R
E
S
S
6
S
T
R
E
S
S
4
page 112
Clarity
Information Flow
5
From a university handbook.
a. A gross violation of academic responsibility is required for a Board of
Trustees to dismiss a tenured faculty member for cause, and an
elaborate hearing procedure with a prior statement of specific charges
is provided for before a tenured faculty member may be dismissed for
cause.
b. Before the Board of Trustees may dismiss a tenured faculty member
for cause, it must charge him with a gross violation of academic
responsibility and provide him with a statement of specific charges
and an elaborate hearing procedure.
6
A writer tries to stress a stock fund's success.
From its inception the Bairnes Fund has consistently out-performed all
the major market indexes, although the record of the past is not
necessarily indicative of future results.
7
A literary critic attempting to stress that there is a difference between
literary principles and literary conventions and traditions.
They are thus distinct, as principles, from conventions and traditions,
although they may be obscured, for poets as well as for critics, by the
particular historical conventions poets have necessarily used in applying
them, and although they tend to be forgotten easily, except as embodied
in the traditions of the various poetics kinds effective on poets at a given
time.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Clarity
page 113
Information Flow
8
From a proposal requesting funds to improve a pilot training program.
The author, director of the program, attempts to persuade a review board
to grant funds for new computer equipment. In the paragraph following
this one, she makes the request for funding.
a. Currently, each student learns how to preflight the aircraft on a oneon-one basis with his or her individual flight instructor over the course
of many weeks. This individualized approach is quite labor-intensive,
time-consuming, and apt to result in a lack of standardization,
although it is generally effective. The flight instructor models his or
her own procedures and provides various comments about the
different tasks to be performed and the different significances of these
tasks. After being walked through the procedure as many times as
necessary, each student conducts the check while being monitored by
his or her instructor. The instructor evaluates the student's success
based upon her or his own individual criteria.
b. Currently, each student learns how to preflight the aircraft on a oneon-one basis with his or her individual flight instructor over the course
of many weeks. While generally effective, this individualized approach
is quite labor-intensive, time-consuming, and apt to result in a lack of
standardization. The individual flight instructor models his or her
own procedures and provides various comments about the different
tasks to be performed and the different significances of these tasks.
After being walked through the procedure as many times as
necessary, each student conducts the check while being monitored by
his or her instructor. The instructor evaluates the student's success
based upon her or his own particular criteria.
c. Currently, each student learns how to preflight the aircraft on a oneon-one basis with his or her individual flight instructor over the course
of many weeks. The individual flight instructor models his or her own
procedures and provides various comments about the different tasks
to be performed and the different significances of these tasks. After
being walked through the procedure as many times as necessary, each
student conducts the check while being monitored by his or her
instructor. The instructor evaluates the student's success based upon
her or his own particular criteria. While generally effective, this
individualized approach is quite labor-intensive, time-consuming, and
apt to result in a lack of standardization.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4S6
T
R
E
S
S
4
114
Old to New
Information Flow
Clear and Forceful Information Flow
fix ed
positions
TOPIC
STRESS
INFORMATION
LEVE L
movable
information
fix ed
positions
movable
story
elements
Long / Complex
Short / Simple
OLD
Subject
NEW
Verb
Complement
SE NTE NCE
LEVE L
Character
Action
1. Whenever possible, express at the beginning of the sentence
ideas already stated, implied, safely assumed, familiar –
whatever we might call Old, repeated, predictable or
accessible information.
2. Whenever possible, express at the end of a sentence the
least predictable, least accessible, Newest or most
significant information.
3. The sequence of the levels does imply priority: Information
Flow takes precedence over the Action Rule. You may need
to use a passive verb to keep Old Information in the Topic
position.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Clarity
115
Information Flow
How To Use the Stress Position Strategically

At the most general level, you can use the stress position to emphasize a
point in a sentence:
Lines 9-21 show that when the compounds are compared in terms of the gross
amount administered to the test animals in order to obtain the desired inhibition
of xylene uptake, the (+) isomer is about 10 times as potent as the (-) isomer.
At present, excessive flows from rainfall and groundwater are entering the City of
Hopewell and/or Churchville Sanitary District sewer systems, exceeding the
transport capacity in some reaches of these systems.

You can also use the stress position to create positive emphasis in your
document and to focus on reader benefits:
If the summer is hot and very dry, Kentucky bluegrass may go dormant: although
the leaves will brown and die, the crown and roots will remain alive and capable
of regenerating the plant when moisture returns.

You can use the stress position to create “negative emphasis.”
That is, if you’re writing a persuasive document and need to convince your
readers that they have a serious problem on their hands, then you can use the
stress position to focus on these troubles – which you go on to show your plan
will solve:
Currently, each student learns how to preflight the aircraft on a one-on-one basis
with his or her individual flight instructor over the course of many weeks. While
generally effective, this individualized approach is quite labor-intensive, timeconsuming, and apt to result in a lack of standardization. The individual flight
instructor models his or her own procedures and provides various comments
about the different tasks to be performed and the different significances of these
tasks. After being walked through the procedure as many times as necessary,
each individual student conducts the check while being monitored by his or her
instructor. The instructor evaluates the student's success based upon her or his
own particular criteria.

You can use the stress position as a signpost that alerts your reader
about what will come next in your paragraph, section, or document.
At present, excessive flows from rainfall and groundwater are entering the City of
Hopewell and/or Churchville Sanitary District sewer systems, exceeding the
transport capacity in some reaches of these systems. We propose to. . . .
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
116
Old to New
Information Flow
Stress as an Announcement of What is to Come
It is obvious that when you decide which information to put in the Stress
position you influence how your reader understands what you are writing
about in that sentence. It is less obvious, but nearly as important, to realize
that when you decide which information to put in the Stress position you
influence how your readers read the rest of your story.
The Stress position is often a signpost, and at times a subtle signpost, that
announces what will come next in the story.
The stress position is especially important in announcing what will come next
as the main idea of a paragraph or document:
 Readers will look to the stress position in the first or first few sentences in
a paragraph to help them know what to expect in the rest of the
paragraph.
 Readers will look to the stress position in the last few sentences of your
introduction to help them know what to expect in the rest of the
document.
For these important sentences at the beginning of a paragraph or at the end
of the introduction of a document, the stress position is a launching point
that casts your readers forward into the rest of the paragraph or document.
9
a. Murphy finally obtained a full pardon in December of 1989. Several
months of negotiations led to the decision to release him. But the
length of the talks did nothing to allay the joy of the newly freed man
or his attorneys.
b. Murphy finally obtained a full pardon in December of 1989. The
decision to release him was reached only after several months of
negotiations. But the length of the talks did nothing to allay the joy of
the newly freed man or his attorneys.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 117
Topic Strings
Tips for Managing Emphasis

Trim useless stuff from the end of the sentence. In the examples below,
what should be emphasized is italicized:
Sociobiologists are claiming that genes determine our social behavior in the ways we
act in everyday situations.
Sociobiologists are claiming that our genes determine our social behavior.

Shift less important stuff away from the end of the sentence:
Why that first primeval super atom exploded and thereby created the universe cannot
be explained in a few words.
No one can explain in a few words why that first primeval super atom exploded and
thereby created the universe.

Shift the most important stuff to the end of the sentence:
A discovery that will change the course of human history is imminent.
A discovery is imminent that will change the course of human history.

Most often, though, you have to disassemble the sentence and then
reconstruct it:
Under the Act, new national standards for the treatment of industrial waste water
prior to discharge into sewers leading to publicly owned treatment plants will be
promulgated by the EPA, with pre-treatment standards for types of industrial sources
being discretionary, depending on local conditions, instead of imposing nationally
uniform standards presently required under the Act.
Under the Act, the EPA will promulgate new national standards for the treatment of
industrial waste water prior to discharge into sewers leading to publicly owned
treatment plants. Unlike standards required under the present act, the new standards
will not be uniform across the whole nation. They will be discretionary, depending on
local conditions.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 118
Focus and Flow
Topic Strings
Cohesion: Topic String Patterns
FOCUSED TOPIC STRINGS
a) The light on Cephallonia seems unmediated by either the air or the stratosphere. It is
completely virgin, it produces overwhelming clarity of focus, it has heroic strength and
brilliance. It exposes colors in their original prelapsarian state, as though straight from the
imagination of God in His youngest days, when He still believed that all was good.
b) Bicine is a potentially useful zwitterionic buffer for use in biochemistry at the physiological
pH range (6.0–8.5) because of its low toxicity. This organic acid has been studied in aqueous
systems using potentiometric pH titrations. In these tests, Bicine has been found to have a
second stage dissociation constant, further suggesting its potential as a zwitterionic buffer.
CHAINED TOPIC STRINGS
c) The peculiarities of the plot, which centers on deviations from the historical and biographical
course, determine the overall uniqueness in time in a novel of ordeal. Such a novel lacks the
means for actual measurement (historical and biographical), and it lacks any localizing link
to particular historical events and conditions. The very problem of historical localization did
not exist for the novel of ordeal, because time in such novels is fundamentally psychological.
d) The relationship between steam economy and the overall heat transfer coefficient is shown in
Figures 3 and 4. Both graphs show that higher heat transfer coefficients reflect increased
steam economy. The steam economy, in turn, reflects the rate and amount of water
evaporated. These values are recorded in Table 2.
MIXED TOPIC STRINGS
e) Sulphur dioxide emissions from the Drax power station amount to 336,000 tons per year.
These emissions can, however, be reduced by two methods. Flue gas desulphurization (FGD)
and fluidized bed combustion can both reduce emissions to allowable levels. Either method
results in 90-95% sulphur removal. For example, emissions at Drax are expected to fall to
33,600 tons per pear once the plant is fitted with FGD.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 119
Topic Strings
The Movement of Sentences From Topic to Topic
In general, your sentence sequences should move from older, expected, betterknown, more predictable information to newer, less-known, less predictable
information. A sequence should begin with information that the reader already
knows or could predict.
Within sentences and clauses, the Old/New rule takes the form of the
Topic/Stress rule: Place older, repeated, expected information in the Topic
position; place newer, more important information in the Stress position.
Within larger chunks of texts (like a paragraph), the key words that appear in
the Topic positions in a sequence of sentences should form a COHERENT TOPIC
STRING. That is, those key words in the Topic positions should be enough related
to one another that your reader interprets each sentence as closely connected to
the others in the sequence.
Topic
Topic
Topic
Topic
Topic
Topic
Topic
Successful Topic Strings occur in three patterns:
(1) FOCUSED on one central idea, (2) CHAINED a series of
different ideas, or (3) MIXED strings that combine both.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 120
Focus and Flow
Topic Strings
I. A Focused Topic String
In this pattern, the key words in the Topic position of each sentence are the same
or one of a group of closely related words. Consequently, the Topic String is
consistently focused on a single character or idea, which comes to stand at center
stage in the story. In this pattern, Topics form a central, common thread which is
easy for readers to remember: they organize their understanding and memory of
your story around this common base of information.
TOPIC
Olda
Oldb
Oldb
Oldb
Oldb
(Sen. 1)
Topic A Stress
(2)
Topic
(3)
B
STRESS
Newb
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
B
Stress
Topic
(4)
B
C
Stress
Topic
(5)
B
D
Stress
Topic
(6)
B
E
Stress
Topic
B
F
Stress
G
Note: To have an effective string, it is NOT necessary to focus on the same word.
It is possible to focus on a small set of closely related words. Just how large that
set can be, and how complex its relationships can be, depends on how much
readers know.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 121
Topic Strings
The third type of
service we provide
is an audit.
An audit
normally examines balance sheets,
income statements, and statements
of changes in financial position to
see that records are kept in
accordance with generally
accepted accounting standards.
An audit
will certify that financial records
disclose information which would
enable users of the audit to judge
the company's financial position.
Audits
take more time to complete
than compilations or reviews.
At current billing
rates, an audit for a
small business
LRS
runs from $18-25,000.
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 122
Focus and Flow
Topic Strings
II. A Chaining Topic String
In this pattern, the key word in the Topic position of each sentence repeats or refers
back to a word at the end of the previous sentence.
Chaining Topic Strings make it easy to get from sentence to sentence: they ask
readers to remember only one sentence’s worth of information. But Chaining Strings
don't always help readers find the common base of information they need to generate
a coherent understanding of the passage. When that common base of understanding
is simple or familiar enough that readers can be trusted to keep track of it without
your help, then readers are not troubled by the constant change of Topics in a
Chaining String. But when the common base of information is complex or unfamiliar,
a Chaining Topic String makes readers work harder: while helping them get from
sentence to sentence, it leaves them on their own to relate each sentence to the
common base.
Are Chaining Strings a problem? Not with knowledgeable readers or an obvious
common base of information. Do they have advantages? Yes. They can make a
passage move quickly and effortlessly, creating a sense of causality, as though the
movement from one sentence to the next is inevitable – which can be helpful when
you want a sequence to have the force of a logical argument or when you wish to
emphasize a progression.
TOPIC
Olda
Oldb
Oldc
Oldd
Olde
(Sen. 1)
Topic A Stress
(2)
Topic
(3)
B
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
B
Stress
Topic
(4)
C
C
Stress
Topic
(5)
D
D
Stress
Topic
(6)
The University of Virginia
STRESS
Newb
Newc
Newd
Newe
Newf
E
E
Stress
Topic
F
F
Stress
G
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 123
Topic Strings
On March 22 and
23, Alumni
Affairs
paid William Carlos and Gloria
Silverstein $6000 to give
telemarketing productivity
seminars to our employees.
These training
seminars
were quite poorly attended
by our staff:
out of 110
telemarketers
only 19
came to hear the two
consultants' presentation.
The presentation
Because of this high
rate of absenteeism,
we
LRS
could have benefited even
our best telemarketers, and
many of those who were
absent could have learned
the most.
received very little in
return for our $6000.
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 124
Focus and Flow
Topic Strings
III. The Most Common Pattern: Mixed Strings
[1]The matching
section of our icon
tes t
is based on the concept of " near" and "far"
articulatory dis tance described by
Blankenburger and Hahn .
[2] Blakenburger
and Hahn
show that
[3] near icons
are more quickly recognized by tes t s ubjects and
are correctly matched with their intended
functional meanings .
[4] Our matching study
[5] It
tes ted for near icons by allowing subjects to
choos e a matching function for each icon from a
lis t of nine function groups .
did not as k subjects to choose one bes t icon
for each particular function group.
[6] By asking subjects to choose
from all nine function groups ,
we
[7] our matching tes t
[8] its fit
[9] In this way, we
[10] certain function
groups
The University of Virginia
ensured that
would not force s ubjects to
select an icon becaus e
was "least bad," thus artificially
raising the percentage of
res ponses to a particular icon.
could determine that
had no good icons at all.
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 125
Controlling the Story
Topic Strings
1
0
a. For beginning and intermediate skiers one of the best skis is the Hart
Queen. A very thin layer of tempered ash, ash direct from the
hardwood forests of Kentucky, makes up its core. And to provide
added strength and flexibility, there are two major innovations used in
its outer construction. Two sheets of ten-gauge steel are securely
molded to the layer of ash for increased strength, . A wrapping of
highly active fiberglass surrounds two steel sheets for increased
flexibility. Most conventional bindings can be used with the Queen.
The Salomon Double functions best, however. All the standard
lengths are in the Queen's size range, although the five to six foot
range is the easiest to obtain. Fortunately, any of six different colors
can be ordered.
b. One of the best skis for beginning and intermediate skiers is the Hart
Queen. Its core consists of a very thin layer of tempered ash direct
from the hardwood forests of Kentucky. Its outer construction
employs two major innovations to provide extra strength and
flexibility. For increased strength, the layer of ash has molded to it
two sheets of ten-gauge steel. For increased flexibility, the two steel
sheets are then wrapped with highly active fiberglass. While the
Queen can be used with most conventional bindings, it functions best
with the Salomon Double. It comes in all the standard lengths, but it
is easiest to find in the five to six foot range. Fortunately, it can be
ordered in any of six different colors.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 126
Focus and Flow
Controlling the Story
1
1
a. At higher Reynolds numbers, where the absolute velocities are higher,
the scattering of measured velocity data across the theoretical line
was more profound. Since the presence of transit time effects as
particles enter and leave the sample volume results in the Doppler
ambiguity process obscures the spectrum of the random velocity
(reference), this dispersity is likely to be the result of the relatively
small sample volume used. Because the velocity gradients are much
higher close to the wall than in the core of the flow, the existence of
different velocities in the sample volume would be more pronounced at
Re=1000. Therefore by spatial averaging of the velocities in the
sample volume, the measured velocity spectrum can be broadened.
b. When the fluid moved at higher absolute velocities, and so the
Reynolds numbers were higher, the measured velocity data were
scattered more profoundly across the theoretical line. It is likely that
the data were dispersed because the sample volume was relatively
small: the random velocity data used as a reference was dispersed, but
its dispersion was obscured because there are transit time effects as
particles enter and leave the sample volume, which results in the
Doppler ambiguity process. The velocity data in the sample volume
were more dispersed at Re=1000 than at Re=500 because the velocity
gradients are much higher close to the wall than in the core of the
flow. Therefore, when the velocities in the same volume are averaged
spatially, the measured velocity spectrum can be broadened.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 127
Controlling the Story
1
2
a. A determination of involvement of lipid-linked saccarides in the
assembly of the oligasaccaride chains of ovalbumin in vivo was the
principal aim of this study. In vitro and in vivo studies utilizing
oviduct membrane preparations and oviduct slices and the anitibiotic
tunicamycin were undertaken to accomplish this. The inhibition of
tunicamycin on the synthesis of N-acetylglucosaminyl-lipid catalyzed
by hen oviduct membrane preparations was confirmed by the in vitro
experiments. For another monosaccharide-lipid, mannosylphosphoryldolichol, no inhibitory effect on synthesis was observed. Earlier
reports on the effect of tunicamycin in other systems agree with these
results.
b. The principal aim of this study was to determine how lipid-linked
saccarides are involved in the assembly of the oligasaccaride chains of
ovalbumin in vivo. To accomplish this, studies were undertaken in
vitro and in vivo, utilizing the anitibiotic tunicamycin on oviduct
membrane preparations and oviduct slices. The in vitro experiments
confirmed that tunicamycin inhibited the synthesis of Nacetylglucosaminyl-lipid catalyzed by hen oviduct membrane
preparations. Tunicamycin showed no inhibitory effect on the
synthesis of another monosaccharide-lipid,
mannosylphosphoryldolichol. These results agree with earlier reports
on the effect of tunicamycin in other systems.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 128
Focus and Flow
Controlling the Story
13.
a. The federal regulations promulgated pursuant to 16 United States
Code § 470h-3 at 36 Code of Federal Regulations Part 18 (see
attached), set the procedures that NPS must follow to lease an historic
property. A review of the legislative history of the lease provision
indicates that the purpose for enacting the lease provision was “to
ensure the preservation of an historic property” and “so that agencies
that wish to maintain ownership of an historic property may assure its
continued preservation without the need for direct agency use.” 1980
U.S. Congressional and Administrative News 6378, 6402. Pursuant to
the National Park Service Planning Process, the Director of the NPS
must make a written determination (in most cases this responsibility
is delegated to the Park Superintendent or the regional office) that the
proposed use of the property is consistent with the purposes for which
the park is established. The regulations also state that no lease will be
entered prior to consultation with the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, a presidential advisory organization based in
Washington, D. C. Once it has been determined that a specific
historic property would be offered for lease, the regulations require
that a public notice of the opportunity must “be published at least
twice in a local and/or national newspaper of general circulation,
appropriate trade publications, and distributed to interested persons.”
b. In order to lease an historic property, you and the NPS must follow
federal regulations (which were promulgated pursuant to 16 United
States Code § 470h-3 at 36 Code of Federal Regulations Part 18; see
attached). The provision under which you will lease the property was
intended “to ensure the preservation of an historic property” and allow
“agencies that wish to maintain ownership of an historic property [to]
assure its continued preservation without the need for direct agency
use.” 1980 U.S. Congressional and Administrative News 6378, 6402.
Accordingly, you must obtain from the Director of the NPS a written
statement that the proposed use of the property is consistent with the
purposes for which the park is established. In most cases, you can get
this statement from the Park Superintendent or the regional office.
Before you can obtain the lease, the NPS must consult the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation, a presidential advisory organization
based in Washington, D. C. Finally, once you have obtained the
Director‘s agreement to lease a specific historic property, a public
notice of the opportunity must “be published at least twice in a local
and/or national newspaper of general circulation, appropriate trade
publications, and distributed to interested persons.”
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 129
Controlling the Story
Metadiscourse
You can make it difficult for your reader to identify the Topics in your sentences in
three ways: you can put new information in the Topic position; you can write long,
complex subjects; or you can hide your Topics behind a kind of verbal shrubbery we
call Metadiscourse. Compare these two sentences:
1a.
In my opinion, I can confidently say that it is very likely the case that China is
on the verge of an industrial explosion.
1b.
China is probably on the verge of an industrial explosion.
In the first, the writer opens with throat-clearing, verbiage that says “high degree
of probability for what follows!” That’s Metadiscourse. Metadiscourse is writing
about writing. Metadiscourse can refer to your reader: “As you can see, . . .” It can
refer to the writer: “I believe that. . . .” It can refer to the discourse itself: “In the
second place. . . .”
All discourse needs some metadiscourse. But writers usually use metadiscourse for
no good reason. Most of the time, metadiscourse only adds unnecessary words.
Moreover, in sentence 1a the metadiscourse forces the reader to search for the real
Topic of the sentence: China. In sentence 1b, the writer states the Topic clearly and
concisely up front, then tucks the qualifier “probably” behind the verb.
Compare these paragraphs
This paper will reintroduce consideration of the sociological school of literary criticism,
whose main work was done in the 1920's in Russia, to the perspective of the field of modern
stylistic study. My view is that, in an aspect of their particular work, they stand in a
position toward which a large number of the most advanced critic positions at the present
time—which I see as represented, for example, by Stanley Fish—are still caught in a bind,
one may well call this a double bind, which it lacks the means to successfully overcome. It is
at this particular point that I see the insights of the long hibernating Russian school being
introduced. What is at stake in this, as I tend to understand it, is a matter of controversy
that is at once threatening to the old objectivist prejudices of Anglo-American stylistic research
activities, and, simultaneously, seems to offer rather meagre and in some special
instances monotonous or boring "truths" as compensation for any abandonment of the prior.
Most advanced literary critics are working toward a perspective on stylistic study that is very
close to the sociological school of Russian literary criticism of the 1920's. But these critics are
caught in a double bind that they share with some of the most advanced current critics, Stanley
Fish for example, and that they cannot overcome. The insights of the long hibernating Russian
school, however, may be relevant here. This is a controversy that threatens the old
objectivist prejudices of Anglo-American research into style and [God only knows what the rest
of this means].
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 130
Focus and Flow
Controlling the Story
Choosing a Focus for Your Topic String
You can use Topic Strings to organize your readers’ understanding, to have them
remember your story in a particular way. As your readers construct the cognitive
model that they will use to understand your story, they will try to build their
understanding around the character or idea that you have made your focus:
 When your readers are quite familiar with the character or idea that you have
made your focus, they will have many mental connections between that concept
and other aspects of their knowledge. Those many connections make it easy for
them to build a mental model for understanding your story.
 When your readers are unfamiliar with the character or idea that you have made
the focus of your story, they will have few mental connections between that
concept and other aspects of their knowledge. As a result, they’ll have to work
much harder to build a mental model for understanding your story, because they
must work harder to build connections as they try to remember what you’ve
written. And readers may not build their connections in the way that you’d like:
unfamiliar characters and ideas also decrease your margin of error, or increase
the chance that readers will take home a story other than the one you wanted to
tell.
 When readers have no clue about the character or idea that you make your focus,
they will be unable to build mental connections between that concept and other
aspects of their knowledge. As a result, they will end up reading your passage as
thought it were simply a list — and we all find our capacities quickly saturated
when we try to remember lists of items we do not know. Readers will end up
merely looking at words rather than reading sentences, and you won’t have
communicated much of anything.
So here's another use for Topic Strings:
When you want to convey difficult technical information,
use a Topic String focused on characters or ideas
thoroughly familiar to your readers. By focusing on a
concept that is already rich with connections in your
readers’ minds, you will help them organize your story
in a way they can understand and remember.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 131
Controlling the Story
The Particular Problem of Complex Data
The structure of Information Flow dictates that the most important information
come in the Stress position. This is particularly true when your important
information is in the form of numbers, and even more true when you combine
these numbers with dates, names, places, and other variables.
Frequently, the best way to handle numbers is to take them out of sentences
entirely – that is, to put them in graphs or charts. But when you must include
numbers in your writing, you must pay close attention to Information Flow. Most
of all you must focus your readers on a consistent theme, that is, focus them on
one or two kinds of information that can help them organize and sort through the
data. Compare these two passages:
a.
Changes in revenues are as follows. An increase to $56,792 from $32,934, a net
increase of approximately 73%, was realized from July 1 through August 31 in the
Ohio and Kentucky areas. In the Indiana and Illinois areas there was in the same
period a 10% increase of $15,370, from $153,281 to $168,651. However, a decrease
to $190,580 from $200,102, or 5%, occurred in the Wisconsin and Minnesota
regions.
b.
The following changes in revenue occurred from July 1 through August 31. In the
Ohio and Kentucky areas, revenue increased from $32,934 to $56,792, or
approximately +73%. In the Indiana and Illinois areas, revenue increased from
$153,281 to $168,651, or approximately +10%. However, in the Wisconsin and
Minnesota areas, revenue decreased from $200,102 to $190,560, or approximately
-5%.
In addition, when you must put numbers into text, use the following guidelines:
 Put at the beginning of the sentence the relative constants, particularly if
they are not complex. These make natural orientors: repeated dates, places,
categories, etc.
 Put at the end of the sentence the crucial information that you want your
readers to remember: changes in percentages, statistical reliability, direction
of change, rate of change, etc.
 Above all, be consistent. If you must ask your readers to juggle lots of
different kinds of information, they will do much better if they find a
particular kind of information consistently at the same place in your
sentences.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 132
Focus and Flow
Controlling the Story
Communicating Data
Write a paragraph expressing what you find here. Do not try to convey all this information: that is
better done by the graphs. Instead, present the information in light of a single theme – a particular
kind of change, the correlation between two specific factors, the trend over a specific period.
TABLE 1
Population/millions
Labor force/millions
20
50
80
200
290
no data
20
45
85
1800
1875
1900
1965
2000 (projected)
TABLE 2
1960
1970
1980
1-8 years
Level of Education
9-12 years
12+ years
30%
25%
20%
50%
50%
50%
20%
25%
30%
TABLE 3
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
55 or older
Percent of Labor Force
35-54
25-34
17%
18%
18%
17%
12%
44%
45%
43%
40%
41%
25%
22%
20%
26%
28%
TABLE 4
TABLE 5
Increase M/F Workers (base 100)
Male
Female
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
100
110
125
144
155
The University of Virginia
100
120
150
188
220
Distribution of Labor Force
1945
1954
1963
1972
1980
(in millions)
Services
Goods
26
34
40
50
62
30
30
30
33
35
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 133
Controlling the Story
Passives in Scientific and Technical Writing
Scientific and technical writers often have a special penchant for passive verbs.
One reason is that they have succumbed to the myth that scientific prose should
never use personal agents, and especially not the first-person agents I or we.
Since passives allow us to eliminate agents, science writers often get into the
habit of using — and overusing — passives. But there is a second reason: passive
constructions are often appropriate in scientific writing.
In scientific and technical writing, passive constructions are appropriate in three
typical situations:
1. You and your reader don't care who performed the action. This will often be
the case when we know generally who performed the action but don't care
about the identity of the specific person who performed the action
I got a ticket today.
[Some cop gave me a ticket.]
The prosthesis was again debrided using a lateral transtrochantic approach.
[Someone in the operating room did this. But unless we are involved in a malpractice
suit, readers will not care who on the operating team performed this action — and it's
likely that the author will not know which particular assistant did this.]
2. You want to avoid a string of sentences all beginning withI or we.
The gamma-ray spectra of the specimens were measured to determine the amounts of
radioactive nuclei deposited on the surface. Their surface characteristics were
determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron probe microanalysis
(EPMA). The specimens were mounted in epoxy resin and metallographically polished
to characterize the oxide layer structure. The elemental composition and profile across
the oxide layer were determined by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS).
[The author or the author's assistants did all these things. But an agent-action style
would focus too much on the author: "I measured . . . . I determined . . . . I mounted . .
. . I determined . . . .]
3. You are telling the story of the object you are studying or the apparatus you
have designed.
The passive screen offered less resistance to the intake flow than the traveling screen,
partly because it had no perforated plate, and partly because the screen frame
members were smaller. The screen and screen frame produced a head loss of only 0.07
m (0.23 ft), which corresponds to K1 = 0.6. However, the passive screen was designed
to allow for a larger flow area, A2 =2.7 m2 (29 sq ft), which compensated for the lower
head loss. As a result, the gate-well flow had a loss coefficient of K2 ≈ 1.5 or about the
same as for the traveling-screen system. As seen in Fig. 6, the gate-well flow was
increased by lowering the barrier plate into the intake bay (which increased the
pressure difference and K1).
[This is a story about the screen. When the action is one performed on the screen
rather than by the screen, we get a passive verb: "the passive screen was designed"
and "the gate-well flow was increased."]
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 134
Focus and Flow
Controlling the Story
4. You are writing about a concept or object that in your discipline has the
special status of an agent.
At Service Load, the limit-state criteria ensure that the fatigue life of a member is
controlled within acceptable limits. For fatigue and live-load requirements, the Guide
Specification invokes the same limit state criteria as the LFD. The Guide keeps stress
ranges within allowable fatigue limits and treats live-load deflections in accordance
with current practice. Furthermore, it requires that concrete cracking be controlled by
invoking the current AASHTO rules for distributing flexural reinforcement.
[The criteria and the Guide are, for bridge engineers, agents. They stand as
institutional actors within that discipline.]
The Problem of the First Person
Many writers and teachers believe that it is never appropriate to use I or we in
professional scientific and technical prose. Some science writers go so far as to
avoid even third-person agent-action structures, writing "In the classic research,
X was found by Smith and Jones" rather than "In their classic research, Smith
and Jones found X." In both cases those writers are mistaken. Good science
writers use the first person all the time, and there is no reason in the world to
avoid third-person agent-actions structures.
Good science writers who use the first person follow this general pattern.
1. When the action is one that only the author can perform, actions such as
state, study, conclude, decide, etc., then use the first person or a disguised
first person.
Not: Substantial agreement with the classical analysis was found in [the authors']
previous studies.
But: In previous studies, we found substantial agreement with the classical analysis.
Or: In their previous studies, the authors found substantial agreement with the
classical analysis.
Not: The conclusion that LDGB8 is not one of the affected structures must therefore
be reached.
But: We must therefore conclude that LDGB8 is not one of the affected structures.
2. When the action is one that anyone who repeated the research could perform,
actions such a measuring, calculating, testing, evaluating, etc., you can (i) use
the first person if you do so rarely and do not focus too much on yourself, (ii)
use a general agent (researchers, engineers, etc.), or (iii) use an agentless
passive.
Notice that the kinds of actions that call for the first person tend to be
concentrated at the beginnings and ends of articles and technical reports. Those
are the places where an author either uses metadiscourse to set up or comment
on the text or focuses the reader’s attention on what is original and important
about the author's research. The actions that call for agentless sentences are
concentrated in middles, where the presumed objectivity of the scientific method
should predominate.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 135
Controlling the Story
You should no more avoid first person constructions than you should avoid
passive constructions. Both have their uses. Your job is to understand their uses
and to use them when they are appropriate. Note how these two passages use
both active and passive constructions to tell their stories.
Moe has stressed that the surgeon must accurately measure the curve of the
spine and analyze levels of rotation. Moe also stresses that in order to determine
the flexibility of the lumbar curve, the surgeon must use preoperative supine
side-bending roentgenograms. He advocates that the thoracic curve be fused from
the superior neutrally rotated vertebra to the inferior neutrally rotated vertebra. If
a thoracic and lumbar curve are combined and the lumbar curve on side-bending
has been corrected to equal or exceed the thoracic curve, then Moe advocates
fusing only the thoracic curve.
Following the rules of strain strengthening, we can predict mechanical
properties (both tensile and compressive) in any direction or location in a part
formed by any of the basic deformation processes. These rules incorporate the
strength designation already explained, the uniaxial plastic stress/strain
characteristics of the material, and the strain history induced by the forming
process.
These rules were developed in extensive research into methods for
characterizing materials property and plastic deformation. The deformation
processes that were experimentally and analytically studied included the cyclic
axial deformation of cylinders, cyclic deformation of cubes in three
perpendicular directions, bending and unbending of flat specimens, cyclic
torsional deformation of cylinders, shearing of blanks, deep drawing of channel
sections and cylindrical cups, bar drawing, forward and back extrusion, and cold
rolling.
One basis for calculating the strength of a formed part is the uniaxial
stress/strain relationship of the original material, which can be determined by a
tensile or compressive test. The calculations determine the plastic behavior of the
material by using the exponential relationship,
 = o m
where s is the stress associated with a strain, , and o and m are the stress
coefficient and strain exponent, respectively.
A second requirement is that we know the strain history at the critical
location in the formed part. For the six basic deformation modes, the strain
history can be determined analytically. However, for complex shapes made by
two or more basic deformation processes, the engineer must obtain experimental
data from the shop floor. Most formed parts undergo more than one cycle of
strain when they are fabricated. For example, the metal may first be stretched and
then later compressed. Sometimes, three or four such cycles can occur…
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 136
Focus and Flow
Q
Quuiicckk &
&D
Diirrttyy R
Reevviissiinngg
Problems with Too Few Characters
As a professional, you’ll revise both your own and others’ written work. How do you tell if a
document contains too few characters?
Knowing you have used too few characters can be quite difficult at first. Thus we offer the same
advice in this session as we did in the last: read your writing aloud or get others to read and
critique it.
More specifically, when you read and revise your own and others’ professional writing, you can
use the following guidelines to determine if there is a problem with too few characters:
Diagnosis 1. Draw a line under the first six or seven words. Are no characters named? Or, if you
do find a character named, is it after the preposition “by” or “of,” or is it in the
possessive?
2. Circle the verbs. Are they unspecific and/or passive – “have,” “make,” “do,” “be,”
“occurs,” “was allowed,” “is needed,” etc.?
3. Underline possessive nouns. Are most of them before nominalizations?
Revision 1. Write down the main action of the sentence – WHAT is going on? Since obscure
sentences often hide their actions in nominalizations, transform those problematic
nominalizations into verbs. Also write down any verbs that are passive, in their
active form.
2. Determine the agent of the action – WHO is performing the action? First look for the
agent among the characters actually named in the sentence. If that fails, draw on
your background knowledge of the context in order to identify the characters only
implied in the sentence. Write down your WHO-WHAT pairs.
3. Try out a series of logical frames for these character-action, subject-verb pairs. What
you’re actually doing here is using a common set of connector words to paraphrase
the sentence:
Since _______ , _______ .
_______, because _______ .
Although _______ , _______ .
Before/after/when/where _______ , _______ .
Nevertheless/however, _______ .
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 137
Q
Quuiicckk &
&D
Diirrttyy R
Reevviissiinngg
Problems with Too Few Characters: An Example
Example [a] Utilization on an unlimited basis is permitted. [b] However, prior EGP registration
is required before any contact with the Legal Referral Service.
Diagnose You have a problem with too few characters because you have
1. Found no human characters in the first seven words: Utilization on an unlimited
basis is permitted.. . . ; However, prior EGP registration is required. . . .
2. Found that the verbs are not specific and/or passive: is permitted, is.
3. N/A
Write down the main actions of each sentence — WHAT is going on?
Revise 1.
Transform problematic nominalizations into verbs, and write down any verbs that are
passive.
WHAT:
WHAT:
utilization

utilize
is permitted

permit
registration

register
requirement

require
contact

contact

use (omit jargon)
2.
Determine the agent of the actions (the WHO). Since no characters are actually
named, you have to draw on your background knowledge of the context in order to
identify the character-agents implied in the sentence. Write down your WHO-WHAT
pairs.
WHO:
EMPLOYEES and their IMMEDIATE FAMILIES use
INFORMATION CONCEPTS permits

YOU and your IMMEDIATE FAMILY may use
WHO:
EMPLOYEES register
INFORMATION CONCEPTS requires

YOU must register
WHO:
EMPLOYEES contact

YOU contact
3. Try out a series of logical frames for these character-action, subject-verb pairs:
[a] You and your immediate family may use the Legal Referral Service on an unlimited basis. [b]
However, you must first register with HG each time you contact the Legal Referral Service.
LRS
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 138
Focus and Flow
FFA
AQ
Qss
?
“I’m uneasy that these rules are too mechanical. If I’m just following all of these rules,
what’s left of me in my sentences?”
LRS is not about rules. It’s about principles that give you strategies for controlling a range of styles.
You have to decide how you want to approach your readers, how you want them to understand what
you have to say. Then the LRS principles help you to know how to create a style to match your
objectives. Style is choice, and LRS is about giving you the ability to make the choices that best serve
your own purposes.
It is true, however, that LRS encourages you to think about the process of writing mechanically.
That’s actually one of its biggest advantages. Because they give you a way to achieve your goals
mechanically, you can apply these principles even when you’re too close to your draft, when you’ve
been though the material once too often, or when you’re too tired to work through your writing with a
cold, clear eye. The mechanical part of LRS helps you to see your own work as your readers will.
Just because LRS offers mechanical procedures, that doesn’t mean it will make your writing
mechanical. Rather, LRS principles help you avoid getting lost in the problem of how to achieve your
goals, freeing you up to concentrate on the question of what those goals should be.
The LRS approach has one more key advantage. Because LRS principles help you focus on keeping
your story straight as you tell it, they also help you to get your story straight in the first place. Most
writers find that LRS principles impose a helpful discipline on their thinking. When you use LRS
principles, you
• make sure that you are yourself clear about what happens and who is responsible for the actions;
•
have a story to tell, not just a collection of empty sentences with “to be” verbs;
•
have to decide which objects and concepts are important enough and familiar enough to your
readers that you can treat them as characters in your story. Eventually, you will find that you have
to begin to choose among characters, further shaping and molding your story to make it yours.
?
“Do all subjects have to be agents?”
No. It’s a good idea to make the subject the agent or “doer” of the action. Readers will generally
follow your story more easily if you do express agents in the subject position. So you should make an
“agent-action” style your default style – the style you use when you have no particular reason to do
otherwise.
But when you do have a good reason, you can write clear and effective sentences that do not have
agents as subjects. The subject is a position, the slot in the sentence that normally comes before the
verb and that answers the question you get by putting “who” or “what” before the verb. Subjects
usually come first in clauses, but they do not always have to:
In unpredictable fits and starts spoke the stranger.
The reason for this decision we cannot understand.
There is a spider in my shirt.
Many writers remember the advice to “get the subject up front.” But that’s as misleading as the
definition of subject as doer. The subject will almost always be up front, even in the most unclear
sentences:
The failure to understand the reason for the decision to terminate the program is a result of
ignorance of the actual processes of the committee.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 139
FFA
AQ
Qss
What you do want to get up front in the subject position is a character – some person, object, or
concept that is so important to your story and so familiar to your readers that you want to make it the
centerpiece of your story.
?
“What do I do when I am the agent of the action? My teachers say I should never use ‘I’ or
‘we’?"
Over the years, students have been given a lot of misleading advice about using “I” and “we.” Since
your default style should use agents as subjects, you should use “I” as your subject if you have
performed the crucial actions in your story and you don’t have a good reason to do otherwise. The
complication is that there might be a number of good reasons not to. You might want to start your
sentence with a character other than yourself. Or you might be writing in a field that avoids “I” or
“we” in order to be “objective.” In fact, writers in those fields use “I” and “we” all the time – when
the action they write about is one that only they could have performed. When, however, the action is
one that is supposed to turn out the same no matter who performed it – for example, the actions a
scientist performs in the lab – then writers often avoid making themselves the character in the
sentence and put some other character in the subject position.
?
“How do I know what my reader will take as the focus of my sentence?”
What a reader takes as the focus of your sentence depends on what you put in the Topic position of
the sentence and on how your previous sentences have disposed your reader to understand each new
one.
What would you say is the topic of this sentence?
In 1933, Germany fell under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.
Most readers of this sentence would probably say that Germany was the Topic, and in many contexts
this answer would be right. But not in this context:
Few years in the 20th century have been more significant than 1933. That year was the
beginning of the Great Depression in this country. It marked the first of a series of famines in
Asia that. . . . And the year’s worst disaster of all came in Europe. In 1933, Germany fell
under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.
Readers will look to the beginning of a sentence to find its focus. If they find more than one
substantive word near the beginning of a sentence, they will take as the focus the one that is most
important in relation to what they found in previous sentences.
?
“I remember that my teachers used to tell me not to begin sentences in the same way . Won’t
a focused Topic String make my writing boring?”
No. Your writing will be boring when your reader is bored by what you have to say . Unless you
write a string of short, simple sentences, few readers will even notice that your sentences begin in the
same way. And the more they are interested by what you say, the less they will notice.
?
LRS
“So my teachers were wrong?”
The University of Virginia
4
4
Page 140
Focus and Flow
FFA
AQ
Qss
They gave you advice that is no longer very useful. It may have been useful when you were younger.
Many writers in junior high school need to enlarge their vocabulary and to get more ideas into their
writing. So, teachers encourage students to vary their words and sentences as much as possible –
hoping that the students might learn a new word or, better still, have a new idea. As you come closer
to being a professional, your problem changes. Most professionals know far too many words and have
to communicate ideas that are too complex for many of their readers. When you write as a
professional, your readers need to find familiar things at the beginnings of your sentences in order to
help them work their way through your story. When you write as a professional, it’s better not to
worry about problems that you probably haven’t had since junior high.
?
“Let’s get back to this Dick-and-Jane question. I feel that my writing is getting so simple
that it sounds simple-minded.”
You may overdo a bit at first. But as you become more comfortable with a direct, action-oriented
style, you will find that your writing becomes more varied and that you will learn to use somewhat
more complex sentences to good advantage. Your goal should be to avoid passages like (a), but not to
sound as bad as (b). The style you should aim for is more like (c) or even (d):
a.
The Czar's 1860 emancipation of serfs resulted in newly freed peasants choosing to live on
agricultural communes for mutual dependence and support. It is the contention of the
Russian historian Boris Mironov that the objective of each commune system was the social
equalization of the peasants. Despite initial success in the reduction of all the members of
communes to low economic status, government power was insufficient to overcome
traditional social distinctions in the peasant mentality.
b.
In 1860, the Czar emancipated the serfs. Many newly free peasants, chose to live on
agricultural communes. In these communes, they could depend on and support each other.
The Russian historian Boris Mironov contends that each commune system strived to
equalize the peasants socially. Communes reduced peasants to a low economic status. The
systems could not equalize the people socially. The government had inadequate power to
overcome traditional social distinctions in the minds of the peasants.
c.
When in 1860, the Czar emancipated the serfs, many of these now free peasants chose to live
on agricultural communes where they could depend on and support each other. According to
Russian historian Boris Mironov, each commune system strived to equalize everyone. But
though communes did at first reduce all the peasants to a low economic status, the system
failed to equalize the peasants socially because the government had insufficient power to
erase from the minds of the peasants traditional social distinctions.
d.
When in 1860, the Czar emancipated the serfs, many of these now free peasants chose to live
not alone, but on agricultural communes where they could depend on each other and share
the burdens of their new freedom. According to the Russian historian Boris Mironov, the
commune system managed at first to economically equalize the peasants; however, the
communes failed to eradicate social distinctions among the peasants because the
government had insufficient power to erase from the minds of the peasants long standing,
traditional, and deeply embedded social attitudes.
The University of Virginia
LRS
Focus and Flow
Page 141
E
EX
XE
ER
RC
CIIS
SE
ES
S
a.
A statement of additional evidence in regard to recent changes in employment figures, however, is necessary to
respond to this objection.
b.
Two major objectives — a reaffirmation of America as a military superpower and the restoration of the health
of the American economy — were in Reagan's mind when he assumed the office of the Presidency. The drop in
unemployment figures and inflation, and the increase in the GNP testifies to his success in the second. Our
increased exposure to international conflict without any clear set of political goals indicates less success with
the first.
c.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that with oil priced at $20 per barrel, the U.S. will depend on imports
for about 60% of its oil needs by 1995 if the economy continues to expand at its present rate. The U.S. at the
time of the 1973 Arab oil embargo was importing just over 36% of its oil at a cost of less than $5 per barrel.
What havoc could an oil embargo wreak in 1995, if the nation's economy went into a tailspin in 1973?
d. Although fluid forces on the rotor generated by the pressure field are sufficient for rotordynamic
applications, the study of other flow details such as the influence of fluid inertia on mean velocities is
extremely important to an understanding of the nature of the flow.
e.
The obligation of the Purchasers to repay the principal amount and interest in accordance with the terms of the
Note will be guaranteed by Abco, and such guarantee shall be secured by a Security Agreement executed in
favor of Defco. The Security Agreement will constitute a first charge on all of the assets and undertakings of
Abco, and will be subordinated only to security granted by Abco in favor of the Bank in order to secure a
maximum of $2 million of financing in the ordinary course of business and the obligation of Defco to complete
the transaction will be subject to the Bank agreeing to such terms.
LR
LRS
S
The University of Virginia
4