Unit 2: Parts of Speech
2.9 Predominant Parts of Speech
Sometimes particular parts of speech predominate in a text, causing particular effects, as in the texts below:
A. Any complaint received by a hospital administrator should be taken seriously. A negative, defensive attitude should be avoided, each complaint or criticism being regarded with complete objectivity, towards either the complainant or any member of staff concerned.
Complaints are usually made by letter, but sometimes by a personal visit, or occasionally over the telephone. In all cases, it is vital to obtain a thorough appreciation of the hospital's "side" of the case - but enquiries should be carried out immediately, as delay may increase the critic's resentment.
NHS circular
B. I felt like a Run, so I left my jacket near the Pole I'd been at the day Diggs had come with the news, and tucked the catapult tightly between my cords and my belt. I tugged my boots to running tension after checking my socks were straight and unruffled, then jogged slowly down to the line of hard sand between the seaweed tidelines. The drizzle was coming and going and the sun was visible occasionally through the mist and cloud as a red and hazy disc. There was a slight wind coming from the north, and I turned into it. I powered up gradually, settling into an easy, long-paced stride that got my lungs working properly and readied my legs. My arms, fists clenched, moved with a fluid rhythm, sending first one then the other shoulder forward. I breathed deeply, padding over the sand. I came to the braided reaches of the river where it swung out over the sands, and adjusted my steps so that I cleared all the channels easily and cleanly, a leap at a time. Once over, I put my head down and increased speed. My head and fists rammed the air, my feet flexed, flung, gripped and pushed.
Ian Banks: The Wasp Factory, 64-5.
