Transcript ENGL 101 - Washington State University

Introduction to Passive and Active Voice
ENGL 101
GOALS AND OUTCOMES
Our goals today are:
A. to understand the difference between passive and active voice
B. to understand the role of audience in determining which to use
C. to understand the role of purpose in their use
Related outcomes:
Rhetorical awareness
Critical Thinking
More information about these outcomes can be found on the
course outcomes statement
KEY DEFINITIONS
Leading questions:
What, in your view, is “passive voice”?
What, in your view, is “active voice”?
How are they different?
UNDERSTANDING
Audience Awareness—what does it mean to be
aware of audience in writing?
Purpose Awareness—what does it mean to be
aware of purpose in writing?
Knowing who our audience is and what they
need is crucial in determining whether we
should use active or passive voice. Clearly
knowing our purpose will help us make that
decision.
Passive voice example:
500mg of drug A-2 were administered to patient Fox-1
at 20:00 today. No immediate response to the drug was
noted in patient Fox-1, and patient Fox-1 continues to
be monitored by interns.
Questions:
What parts of this example use passive voice? What
indicates the use of passive voice?
What does the use of passive voice here tell us about
the audience(s)? Does the use of passive voice tell us
anything about purpose?
How might we change this to active voice?
Active voice example:
Mr. Smith wrote to us with a complaint about the kind
of concrete we proposed for the sidewalk outside the
main plaza. He feels our current choice will not look
good against the tiling we agreed on for the plaza.
How is this example different from the previous?
What does it tell us about the intended audience and
the purpose?
How might we change it to passive voice?
A QUICK QUIZ
Are the following examples active or passive voice?
A. Remission was defined according to the symptom–severity
component of the consensus criteria . . . as a rating of three
or less.
B. In an effort to explore this discrepancy, we first summarize
our current knowledge about pharmacological,
psychological, social, and other emerging treatments for
schizophrenia.
C. Weather forecasters in Washington State have ideal jobs
because they will always be right half the time.
D. Despite the presence of the sun this morning, it has been
determined that the rest of the day will be lousy.
QUESTIONS?
References
Jäger, M. ; Riedel, M. ; Obermeier, M. ; Schennach-Wolff, R. ; Seemüller, F. ;
Messer, T. ; Laux, G. ; Pfeiffer, H. ; Naber, D. ; Schmidt, L.G. ; Gaebel, W. ;
Klosterkötter, J. ; Heuser, I. ; Kühn, K.-U ; Lemke, M.R. ; Rüther, E. ;
Klingberg, S. ; Gastpar, M. ; Bottlender, R. ; Möller, H.-J. “Time course of
antipsychotic treatment response in schizophrenia: Results from a
naturalistic study in 280 patients.” Schizophrenia Research, 2010,
Vol.118(1), pp.183-188
Tandon, Rajiv ; Nasrallah, Henry A. ; Keshavan, Matcheri S. “Schizophrenia,
“Just the Facts” 5. Treatment and prevention Past, present, and future.”
Schizophrenia Research, 2010, Vol.122(1), pp.1-23