The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002
17.3. Organising information - Order and emphasis
Unit seventeen. Focusing
Sections 411-414
Instead of the subject, you can make another element the topic, by moving it to the front of the sentence. This shift gives the element a kind of psychological prominence, and has three different effects:
(i) Emphatic topic
(ii) Contrastive topic
(ii) Semi-given topic.
Task one **
Indicate which type of topic is fronted in the following sentences - Underline the fronted element E- emphatic topic; C-contrastive topic; S-semi-given topic.
- Some awful films they have recommended.
- Poor they may be, but they are generous to a fault.
- Most of this work an assistant should do.
- Some days he works very late, but others he’s home by lunch-time.
- Hard work you say it is!
- Not many people want to live in an old property; but new houses in a traditional style, buyers are willing to pay a lot for.
- Stupid he isn’t, but he’s often careless.
- Romantic novels you can buy cheaply; serious works you must pay a lot for.
- You’re diving straight into the pool. This I must see.
- I’m good at remembering people’s names. Street names I always forget, though.
Task two **
Rewrite the following sentences so that the part underlined is the topic of the sentence. State what kind of topic it is.
- They just don’t look afterthat catproperly.
- The company has already put into practicethese new working conditions.
- They showsome foreign films, but they don’t showthe really important ones.
- He may bevery clever, but he isn’tpractical.
- She behavedin a very strange wayat the meeting.
- They painted the house an awful colour,didn’t they?
- His speech at the funeral offendeda lot of people.
- I don’t understandthe reason for this celebration.
- They gave the money to her; but they gave the paintingto him.
- The management looked intothe problems you’re speaking aboutlast week.
Task three ***
Rewrite the following letter freely, making the following elements of the story into topics: i.e. subject or fronted topics:
story structure
shifts between characters
name of main character
movement of characters in the story
descriptions
the philosophy
opportunity for others
Dear Edward,
Many thanks for giving me a chance to read your story. I think it is of importance to all people like us and most will find it reflects their own experience. I was very impressed by the structure of the story. I liked the way the story shifted back and forth between the two protagonists and, because of this, shifted between the seasons to show the development of the main character. I was a bit frightened by the introductory monologue. I think this was because I am shy of exposing myself and you had written this in the first person. I was relieved when I discovered you had called the character Tim. I liked the way the characters moved in and out of the story reflecting the parallels of experience.
I also liked the way you described the town, the sea and the vineyard. I could imagine myself there, especially by the sea and in the vineyard. I found the philosophy underpinning the story interesting. There is never a beginning. Where we think there is a beginning, it is really a development of ideas and events that have gone before. You conveyed this brilliantly.
Well done, Edward. Many thanks again for letting me read this. I hope others will have this opportunity. Your story has a lot to say.
Yours,
Ivan