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Bilgewater: Grammar
Task B - our answer
The following sentences are elliptical to some degree:
4, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 38, 39, 40,
42, 46, 47, 48, 49, 55, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66, 69.
This means that 36.6% of the sentences in the text are elliptical. This
is a very unusual proportion, and so needs explanation. This high proportion
of ellipsis is one of the ways in which the viewpoint of the candidate
is instantiated. In 'Fur. Nice fur.', for example, we appear to get sequential
flashes of thought going though the candidate's mind about the coat she
has just seen. Sentences which just consist of phrases are very helpful
in producing this sort of effect. We can see the same sort of thing in
sentences 38-40, for example, where the candidate ruminates in a kind
of 'thought telegraphese' on her position at the beginning of the third
interview:
(38) And now, here we are. (39) The third interview.
(40) Meeting the Principal.
Finally, notice how the ellipsis is not very prominent at the beginning
of the prologue (only one instance in the first fourteen sentences), as
it would hinder our understanding at the very beginning of the writing.
When it starts, it tends to cluster at points when the perceptions and
reactions of the candidate are being expressed.
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