If you have ever sat through a Powerpoint presentation that felt like it was never going to end, one that left your brain feeling substantially more jelly-like then when it began, you will appreciate this. It’s the greatest Powerpoint presentation of all time, delivered with style and panache. And it proves once again that there is nothing in this world that cannot be improved with flowcharts.
Geoff Nunberg is a linguist who you are probably most familiar with from his frequent appearances on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” He’s wicked smart, a lover of language, and possesses the wonderful ability to generate passion and excitement about writing and wordplay.
I squealed with delight a few weeks ago when he appeared on said program with his essay “Our Friend the Passive Voice.” I’ve always felt that the monolithic rule to always write in active voice has its heart in the right place, but ultimately wipes a lot of color and flavor from writing.
To wit:
The writer Julia Kristeva once said that learning the passive is one of the basic steps in forming our humanity.” It’s the device that enables us to put ourselves in the place of the people who wind up as the direct objects of history, the done to rather than the doers. You think of all the nouns we derive from the passive forms of verbs: the abused, the oppressed, the persecuted, the dispossessed. And the passive voice is particularly useful to have around in a time when the people who are being laid off, tossed out of their homes, dropped from their medical plans, and generally worked over.
The whole wonderful essay is online. It can be read by you.
Recent Comments