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6.5: Applying Grammar to Reading

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    308590
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    2.2.5.1. Exercise 7-Active or Passive

    Passive voice is frequently found in academic textbooks. Recognizing passive voice can help readers understand who or what the receivers (direct objects) and performers (subjects) are. This chapter’s reading on Japanese Americans used passive voice. Reread the sentences looking for the receiver and performer. Label the sentences as either active or passive.

    1. The attack on Pearl Harbor also launched a rash of fear about national security, especially on the West Coast. (Paragraph 2)

      a. active

      b. passive

    2. In February 1942, just two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066. (Paragraph 2)

      a. active

      b. passive

    3. The eastern boundary of the military zone was an imaginary line along the rim of the Cascade Mountains. (Paragraph 3)

      a. active

      b. passive

    4. Within weeks, all persons of Japanese ancestry — whether citizens or enemy aliens, young or old, rich or poor — were ordered to assembly centers near their homes. (Paragraph 4)

      a. active

      b. passive

    5. Persons of Japanese ancestry in western Washington State were removed to the assembly center at the Puyallup Fairgrounds near Tacoma. (Paragraph 5)

      a. active

      b. passive

    6. In 1943 and 1944 the government assembled a combat unit of Japanese Americans for the European theater. (Paragraph 7)

      a. active

      b. passive

    7. One of the most stunning ironies in this episode of American civil liberties was articulated by an internee. (Paragraph 10)

      a. active

      b. passive

    2.2.5.2. Exercise 8-Critical Reading

    When history is told using the passive voice, at times important performers are hidden. The storyteller is focusing on the victim while protecting the image of the performer. Look at the examples below.

    1. George Floyd was killed.

    2. Native Americans were often relocated by force.

    Why is the passive voice used in these examples? Who are the performers, and why aren’t they mentioned? Look at the sentences from Chapter 4 and 5’s readings. Discuss with a partner why the performer has or has not been included. If the performer has not been included, speculate who the performer is.

    1. Over 4,000 Native Americans died from either starvation or disease while they were being relocated. (Life on Reservations, Paragraph 3)
    2. Persons of Japanese ancestry in western Washington State were removed to the assembly center at the Puyallup Fairgrounds near Tacoma. (Japanese Relocation During World War II, Paragraph 5)
    3. Persons who became troublesome were sent to a special camp at Tule Lake, California, where dissidents were housed. (Japanese Relocation During World War II, Paragraph 6)
    4. the Japanese American community of Tacoma, Washington, had been sent to three different centers. (Japanese Relocation During World War II, Paragraph 8)
    5. Mitsuye Endo is entitled to an unconditional release by the War Relocation Authority. (Japanese Relocation During World War II, Paragraph 9)

    This page titled 6.5: Applying Grammar to Reading is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Rebecca Al Haider via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.