HW6
Active and Passive Voice
Directed Learning Activity—Style 11
What is the difference between active and passive voice and what impact does voice have on a piece of
writing?
Purpose
Upon completion of this activity, students will be able to define the terms “active voice” and “passive
voice” and know when to employ each in their writing.
This DLA should take approximately 1 hour to complete.
Before You Begin
To complete this DLA, you will need to view the video “Active versus Passive Voice” from the University
of Guelph’s library. Then respond to these questions:
1) What is voice?
2) What is active voice? Define the term and give an original example.
3) What is passive voice? Define the term and give an original example.
4) Why is active voice preferred?
Exercise
This exercise comes from eslmaterialsdeveloper.wordpress.com. Read the newspaper article and
answer the questions that follow:
The Tamworth Herald
Woman’s plea after dogs are attacked.
By Nicola Robinson – News Editor
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A Tamworth woman is appealing for information after her two rescue dogs were viciously
attacked by another animal – leaving one needing surgery.
The incident happened as Lorraine Jones took her Yorkshire terrier-poodle cross Pepper and
Westie Bertie for a late-night walk, on December 21 near her home in Field Farm Road,
Belgrave.
“The dog launched at Pepper and clamped on her trying to drag her away and pulled me over at
the same time,” Ms. Jones explained. “I just screamed for help to get it off us.”
Fortunately Ms. Jones’ cries were heard by her neighbors who rushed to her aid. But as soon as
Pepper was freed, the dog then “clamped down” on Bertie’s neck.
She said: “It was shaking him violently and it bit me in the process. The owner just stood there
and said, “What do you expect me to do about it?”
Ms. Jones needed stitches in her left hand. Bertie suffered deep wounds to the neck and had to
have eight stitches and undergo an operation, while Pepper suffered cuts to her leg.
Both dogs have been prescribed antibiotics and pain killers and the drama meant Ms. Jones was
forced to cancel her plans to spend Christmas Day in Yorkshire.
Kind friends and generous members of the “Free to Collect Tamworth” Facebook page all
donated food so Ms. Jones could enjoy a festive meal, and old blankets to keep the shaven dogs
warm.
Ms. Jones added: “We’re so lucky my neighbors were there to help us or I don’t know what
would have happened.”
Anyone with information about the dog – described as tan colored and possibly a staffie-
American bulldog cross – or its owner, who was also walking a smaller black dog, is urged to
contact Staffordshire Police by calling 101, quoting the incident number 817 of December 21.
1) The article has six sentences that use passive voice. Write those six sentences in the spaces
provided below.
2) Next, determine the reason you think passive voice was used in each of the sentences. Write the
letter of the choices (listed below) in the boxes next to each sentence.
a. It is obvious who is responsible for the action.
b. To emphasize the action and not the agent
c. To add dramatic effect
d. It is referring to something in general rather than something/someone specific
e. To reduce redundancy
3) Now rewrite the five sentence above using active voice.
4) Finally, reread the newspaper article inserting your sentences written in active voice for the
sentences that were originally written in passive voice. What are the differences you see? Does
the article have the same effect? What generalization can you make about active and passive
voice and the impact each has on writing? Write or type 1-2 paragraphs responding to these
questions about voice. Do this on a separate sheet.
Review your answers with an instructor or tutor in the Virtual Writing & Reading Center. Be sure you can
answer the essential questions above.
- Essential Question
Purpose
Before You Begin
Exercise
SentenceVariety
Dire c t e d L e arning Ac t iv it y — St y le 10
How do I achieve sentence variety and why do I want to?
Purpose
Upon completion of this activity, students will know two ways to improve sentence variety.
This DLA should take approximately 1 hour to complete.
Before You Begin
To complete this DLA, you will need to view the video “How to Create Sentence Variety” by TenMarks
Amazon. Then respond to these questions:
1) What is the first tip for achieving sentence variety?
2) Combine the following sentences into one sentence to create sentence variety: Real patriotism
involves a concern. The concern is sincere. The concern is for welfare. The welfare is for other
citizens. The other citizens may be less fortunate.
3) What is the second tip for achieving sentence variety?
4) Combine the following sentences using a transition word/transition words: He was near the
lake. He discovered two more cases of malaria.
Exercise
The passage on the next page comes from Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. It has been put
into a style that lacks sentence variety. Revise and retype the passage using the tips you listed above to
achieve sentence variety and make the passage sound better.
It was a dazzling day. It was a cloudless day. It was the perfect day for a party. The men sat on
folding chairs in the yard. The chairs were rickety. They drank tea. They smoked. They talked.
Their voices were loud. Their voices were bantering. They talked about the Mujahideen’s plan.
Laila learned the outline of the plan. She learned it from Babi. The plan was that Afghanistan
was now called the Islamic State of Afghanistan. An Islamic Jihad Council was formed. The
Council was formed in Peshwar. The Council was formed by several Mujahideen factions. The
Council would oversee things for two months. The Council was led by Sibghatullah Mojadidi.
This would be followed then by a leadership council. This leadership council would be led by
Rabbani. Rabbani would take over for four months. A loya jirga would be held. The loya Jirga
would be held during those six months. The loya jirga is a grand council of leaders and elders.
The loya jirga would form an interim government. The interim government would hold power
for two years. After two years, there would be democratic elections.
Review your answers with an instructor or tutor in the Virtual Writing & Reading Center. Be sure you can
answer the essential questions above.
- Essential Question
Purpose
Before You Begin
Exercise
AvoidingRedundancies
Dire c t e d L e arning Ac t iv it y — St y le 09
What are redundancies and how do I eliminate them from my writing?
Purpose
Upon completion of this activity, students will be able to define the term “redundancies” as it relates to
writing and correct redundancies to make a passage clearer and more direct.
This DLA should take approximately 1 hour to complete.
Before You Begin
To complete this DLA, you will need to view the video “Stop Using that Horrid Grammar: Redundancies”
by TopSkills Auditing. Then respond to these questions:
1) What is a redundancy?
2) Give one example of a needless modifier.
3) Give one example of a redundant acronym.
4) Why should writers avoid redundancies?
Exercise
Revise the passage below, eliminating the redundancies.
Walmart is well known in the North American continent and U.S. for being the nation’s
largest food retailer (Supermarket News). Since it is the nation’s largest food retailer, its plan for
promoting healthy diets would turn out to be very effective in fighting diseases such as obesity.
Walmart is well known through the nation. That is simply because it is known for having
cheap prices and a wide range of choices for all goods. These goods do not just include foods,
but it also has consumer goods such as clothing, pharmaceutical products, and finally
electronics. Another factor that really assisted Walmart in getting where it is right now is the
services it offers. These services include tire changing, photo help center, and the banking
services that are placed in the Walmart store. These services make it easier for the consumer to
shop at Walmart and make this store the one destination they always want to go for almost
every necessity they need in life.
Statistics have proven that Walmart is the largest food retailer of the whole North
American region (Supermarket News). Even though Walmart started in the U.S., soon
afterwards it became a multinational firm that is now placed in more than 15 countries. Not
only have talks that have been on TV stated that Walmart is the world’s largest food retailer, but
statistics have proved these statements. The statistics state and prove that Walmart is the
world’s biggest retailer with revenue of 405 billion dollars, followed by Carrefour with 124
billion dollars revenue. Walmart has 2737 stores in the U.S. and a total of 8100 placed in 15
different countries. There are 7.2 billion transactions per year in which Americans spent 36
million dollars in Walmart per hour, with a ratio of 8 cents Americans spent in U.S. stores is
spent in this particular store. It is also for being the biggest company by number of employees,
which sums up to a total of 2,100,000 workers consisting of both males and females. Since it
contains this big amount of workers, then surely it owns a lot of assets. These assets consist of
147 distribution centers, 53,000 trailers, 7200 tractors and finally 7950 drivers. These facts are
good enough to prove that Walmart is definitely the world’s largest food supplier, including the
U.S.
Excerpt taken from UC Denver’s website.
Review your answers with an instructor or tutor in the Virtual Writing & Reading Center. Be sure you can
answer the essential question above.
- Essential Question
Purpose
Before You Begin
Exercise