Tuesday, April 6, 2021

"We are the Subject-Predicate People"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How might we describe our civilization--indeed, how might we describe our very psyches--to visitors from another planet? 

Reflect that, in our civilization, the subject/predicate formulation is the basis of how we view the world. The way we organize knowledge and understanding of the world is built right into our grammar: subject/predicate: something doing something.  We organize knowledge like this at all levels or scales.

Level or Scale
Something
Doing Something
Sentence
Subject
Predicate
Paragraph
Topic
Topic Sentence
Points about the topic
Supporting Sentences
Essay
Thesis (subject or proposition)
Main points (paragraphs)
Book
Thesis (subject or proposition)
Main points (chapters)

We put our finger on something, and we say something about it.  Any questions?

 

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