Write Right Rule

1
The Active Voice

• Write Right Rule
• Sophomore English

2
What is the active voice?

• A sentence is in the active voice when the
  subject does the acting instead of being the
  recipient of the acting.
• Active Jim wrote a report on the study.
• Passive The study report was written by Jim.

3
What is an active verb?

• A verb that conveys actionas opposed to a
  verb that merely links the subject to a thought.
• Active Jim tossed the report away.
• Linking Jim was tired of the report.

4
Active verbs just naturally go with writing that
is in the active voice.

• When you put the subject front and center,
  doing something, you will probably find yourself
  using stronger, more interesting verbs.

5
The active voice is generally stronger.

• Both kinds of verbs are useful in writing.
  Thats why we have both.
• But, unless youre a diplomat or bureaucrat
  or some other kind of weasel, you need to rely on
  the active voice more than the passive.

6
Advantages of active voice

• Shorter, more direct
• More forceful
• Greater clarity (The reader knows immediately who
  is doing what.)
• Sharper imagery

7
Compare passages in the active and passive
voices to see for yourself which is more
effective.

• Stay away from the hot wire. It can kill
  you.
• The hot wire should be avoided. You can be
  killed by it.

8
Should you ever use passive voice? Yes.

• Lazy Joe says that if you try to write
  entirely in the active voice, you are likely to
  produce something unreadable.
• Hes right. The active voice is great, but
  you can have too much of a good thing.

9
The passive voice is useful

• 1. When you want to change pace or
  emphasis. The active voice works well for
  dramatic scenes or for key actions.
• The passive voice may be better for other
  material.
• A series of sentences in the active voice may
  be relieved by one in the passive voice.

10
The passive voice is useful

• 2. When the actor is unknown or unimportant.
  (The knife was found beside the body.)
• Or when you want to focus on the receiver of
  the action more than on the actor. (The teacher
  was fired for his political activism.)

11
The passive voice is useful

• 3. When it is an economical way to highlight
  a key idea. (The mayor was killed Tuesday in a
  fall.
• You could put that sentence in the active
  voice, but at little if any gain.)

12
The passive voice is useful

• 4. When you want a gentler or more
  diplomatic approach. (A teenage girl was killed
  Tuesday by a gunshot wound that police said was
  self-inflicted.)

13
The passive voice is useful

• 5. When you want to strengthen the
  impression of objectivityas, for example, in a
  research report.

14
The passive voice is useful

• 6. When you want to achieve a particular
  effectwhether it be wry, sardonic, sarcastic or
  comedic.

15
Good writers use both voices.

• As a guideline, use the active voice is
  good advice most of the time. But as with the
  show, dont tell rule, dont follow it off a
  cliff.
• You need to know when to use one voice or
  the other, and when to use them together.

16
Works Cited

• Rains, John Active voice The Fayette Observer
  14 May 2007 evoice.ppt