Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!uunet!world!jcf
From: jcf@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
Subject: Re: Rhythm in English (fwd)
Message-ID: <D6Kx40.KxF@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <Pine.ULT.3.91.950405125749.9401G-100000@zeus.towson.edu>
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 20:33:35 GMT
Lines: 17

cr <cranki1@zeus.towson.edu> writes:

>If students knew how to control longer sentences, that is, if they were 
>taught grammar, then they would write more rhythmic sentences.

For some counterexamples (& some interesting ruminations on this whole
subject) see Fowler's _Modern English Usage_ (any ed.) s.v. rhythm.

IMHO, deafness to rhythm in speech is part of American culture.  The
ordinary American, trying to repeat (say) a limerick, will not even
_try_ to make it scan, tho that would help him in the task of
remembering (and indeed, on some accounts, formal meter was invented
partly for that reason).
-- 
        Joe Fineman             jcf@world.std.com
        239 Clinton Road        (617) 731-9190
        Brookline, MA 02146
