GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
n
o
acti
SUBJ
PRED
D.O.
I.O.
link
ing
S.C.
Sentence 36
Obsequious
adj.
sycophants
n.
surrounded
v.
Caligula
and
n.
conj.
stoked
v.
his
adj.
sociopathic
adj.
malice.
n.
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subj.
AVP
D.O.
AVP.
D.O.
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no prepositional, appositive, or verbal phrase
______________________________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------independent clause------------------------------------------------------------------------a simple declarative sentence
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Grammar:
This sentence has real structural substance: one subject, sycophants, has two action verbs (a compound action verb)
surrounded and stoked, and each action verb has its own direct object. A sentence such as this one gives the mind
strong structural content and is not tedious. We do not use a comma before the and in a compound verb.
Vocabulary:
The adjective obsequious means excessively obedient, servile; sequ means follow. The noun sycophant does not
have stems that appear in Word Within the Word list thirteen, but it is a good word and refers to a person who is a
servile flatterer. A sociopath is a manipulating person with no conscience, and with antisocial attitudes; the stem
path or patho means disease. Obsequious is a very strong—even extreme—derogatory word. W13
Poetics:
The sentence hisses its disgust with both the sycophants and Caligula; almost every word has the s sound, which
appears in a combination of alliteration (sycophants surrounded stoked sociopathic) and consonance (obsequious
malice). Alliteration and consonance often work together.
Writing:
Q: Perhaps sycophant implies obsequious already; should we remove obsequious or keep it?
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