The uses of grammar

The author explores three ways in which generative grammar has been or can be of use to rhetorical study. First he proposes that the generative grammar can be a tool for the scientific analysis of style. This assertion is demonstrated by an analysis of the sentence embedding devices in “typical” sentences by Hemingway and Faulkner. The structural characteristics disclosed by the analysis are compared. Next the author addresses the application of “generative” grammar in the teaching of writing. His contention is that form can “force” subject matter and thus be an important stimulus to invention. Specifically, if students understand grammatical structures, they can be taught to use them to generate discourse. This notion leads the author to suggest that students appropriately “programmed” could generate discourse in a more or less “automatic” way. Finally, the argument is made that the sudy of generative grammar, because it is precise and scientific, will encourage humanists to a greater appreciation of the “other” culture.